07.01.2008, 05:11
Kometal clinch first victory

The FYR Macedonian team can still hope to reach third place after their first victory in the group.

Kometal clinch first victory 

Kometal GP finally celebrate their first win in the CL. One missed attack, one goal in the last minutes of the game and the home team can hope now. Kometal have beaten Larvik by 27-25, though they could easily have won by four. This victory will bring great motivation for the team for the last round.

These were the first points of Kometal GP in the worst CL season of their history. The team of the new coach, Ljubomir Savevski, won the game playing without several key players and also without pressure to win. The players showed big motivation, a new face, and a lot of self-confidence despite the many technical mistakes they made. Larvik had some good periods, but also made many errors and couldn't punish the mistakes of the rivals.

Larvik were already in the lead after five minutes (0-4). Kometal changed many times in defence. Both teams had only a limited number of players, Larvik coach Karl Erik Bohn also had to rely on younger and inexperienced players. In fact, he shares the problems of his colleague Savevski with the injured players.

Kometal played with patience and equalised after 22 minutes at 10-10.

The second half brought a similar scenario as Larvik didn’t have a chance to take more than two goals of advantage.

At the end they won 27-25. Elena Gjorgievska missed a chance to score goal Larvik came back to two goals, which makes a big difference for the third place of the group… 

"I asked my players to play calm in the last minutes and I expected that Marina Lambevska will shoot. But Gjorgjievska had a chance and missed. We needed just such a little luck. However, I'm really happy about the victory and about the way we played. In this situation when we have real problems to train at all in good numbers, a win against Larvik is a great motivation for us before the next game,” said Savevski.

Larvik in advantage

Kometal GP and Larvik still both have chance to secure third spot of the group and continue in the CWC. The Norwegian team are in better position as they have the better result from the direct encounter against Kometal (27-24 in Norway and only 25-27 in FYR Macedonia).

Larvik will play against Lada that are already second for sure. The first game in Togliati ended with a 11-goal Lada victory.

"We'll play a day after Hypo and Kometal meet in Austria, so will know result. I hope to win, which would be enough to continue in the CWC,” said Riegelhuth who scored 12 goal.

The FYR Macedonian champion, Kometal GP, have two options. In both combinations they should take one point at least from Hypo and hope for a good result in Norway. Hypo are one of the three teams in the CL without defeats after five rounds.

"I'm a man who never surrenders. That will be true about our last game as well. Before this match I was optimistic, though I knew that Larvik are in better position. My team played well enough to celebrate their first win of the season. Hypo should expect a hard game,” said Savevski.

TEXT: Goran Antevski