Last week, in their opener at Kadetten Schaffhausen, GOG let slip a lead from their hands in the very last minute, going down 29:28.

But today it was the exact opposite in Round 2, as they turned the tide around in the final 60 seconds of another thriller, beating North Macedonia’s HC Eurofarm Pelister 30:29, having not been ahead once from the 44th minute until the last moments.

GROUP D

GOG (DEN) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD) 30:29 (14:14)

• The lead changed 10 times and was level on 18 occasions
• Simon Pytlick’s seventh strike was to prove to be the winner, making it 30:29 to home side with 53 seconds left
• Win was only secured after goalkeeper Sören Haagen Andreasens saved the last shot from Mateo Maras
• The quartet of Emil Jacobsen (9 goals), Simon Pytlick (7), Kasper Kildelund and Stig Nielsen (5 each) scored 26 of the 30 GOG goals
• Goalkeeper Blagojche Trajkovski (11 saves) and left back Stipe Mandalinic (11 goals) were outstanding for HC Eurofarm Pelister in their first international match under their new name

Mandalinic: Brilliant debut, but no points

Stipe Mandalinic was supposed to be the ‘King of Transfers’ for the newly-formed Bitola-based club HC Eurofarm Pelister. And right in his first international match for the Macedonian side, he fulfilled all expectations.

Not only did he score the first three goals for Pelister at GOG but ended with 11 strikes from 15 attempts.

The Croat had played for Füchse Berlin before and was a Men’s EHF Cup winner with them in 2018, a few months after he had left HC PPD Zagreb for his first club abroad.