24.02.2014, 12:00
Pot of gold uncovered

BLOG: After witnessing the German and Macedonian derbies, the ehfTV commentator Tom O Brannagain visited the clash of two Polish teams in the last Match of the Week of the Group Phase.

Pot of gold uncovered

It was a late game and Plock didn't turn up, figuratively of course. It started brightly enough for the away team with the lively Syprzak meeting his match in Szmal in goal. His two point blank saves set the tone for a game where his saving percentage in the first half alone was off the charts. When Syprzak had him beaten he found that the goal post was on Kielce's side in this game as well.  

The resulting rebounds or counter attacks led to Kielce goals, which meant that Plock were three goals behind before they had, again, figuratively, gotten off the bus.

It was "Talant Time".

His team has more quality than the latter day Madrid, of that there is no doubt and they flexed their muscles in a display of power, precision and pace that Plock couldn't live with. A traditionally close game was over after the first 15 minutes, with Talant using his bench like an ice hockey team.

After a quarter of the game, he tag teamed the entire starting line up, using, again, to great effect, the quality at his disposal. Rosinski called the plays and with jump shooters to left and right, with interchangeable, interplay between Strlek and Cupic, they opened Plock up like a kid with a parcel on his birthday.

There was no chance for, either Sego or Wichary, in goal, as the shots seemed to come from 6m on every occasion as gaping holes appeared in the Plock defence. Such was the speed of their game that it led Bertus, the president, at the end of the game, to say to me that he had never seen Kielce play that fast.

And he was right. They dazzled. Talant must have been a postman in his previous life.

He delivers.

He has been in the job two months and the players look fitter, stronger and faster. Always a good team, they have become a great team. Everyone knew they would play the 5+1 system, hell I even mentioned it, and yet Plock had no answer to it. Nenadic, Eklemovic, Lijewski ( Marcin) et al just couldn't find and answer and their second line tactic broke down time and again.

In fairness to Manolo Cadenas, the coach, he wasn't going to take it lying down. His first timeout came at three goals down as he tried to rally his already humbled troups, but no amount of "Cadenas cajoling" was going to stabilise his underachieving players. They needed to wake up and quickly or this was going to be a rout.

They didn't and it was. At one stage the difference was 11. It didn't matter who Cadenas put on the court, or Talant for that matter, one team was being steamrolled and the others had to just take it.

The second half brought the usual turnaround in fortunes. Whether the "hair dryer" treatment in  the Plock dressing room bucked them up a little, or whether the Kielce players felt it was already in the bag, the second half was a little better for Plock. Sego picked up his game. Nenadic was always busy and scored some nice goals, but didn't have the quality around him. Strangely enough, it was Toromanovic normally a line player, playing centre, with Syprzak on the line that did the most damage, but by then the game was over as a contest.

Talant will be equally enthralled and disappointed at the result. There is no doubt in my mind that a lot of players are buying into his concept, but there are some who haven't quite taken out the wallet just yet. He will have loved the swashbuckling first half, where you could have swapped the yellow for the white and purple of Ciudad Real.

The lacklustre, let's just do enough, of the second half will have him reaching for the remote control, to show his players time and again, what he expects from them. An eight- goal win, could easily have been 15, maybe more, but lack of concentration, lack of killer instinct or maybe a professional courtesy to the other team stopped this game from being a massacre, but only just.

Manolo will have to sort out Kwiatkowski and Syprzak in the centre of his 6-0. Their timing and communication is all wrong. Syprzak is built like a tree, but he moves like one too. His feet are planted in the ground and Buntic was made look like Nureyev such was the speed and fleetness of foot he displayed when faced by Kamil.

A special mention has to go to Bielecki. Lest we forget the man has one eye. He was largely forgotten under Wenta and yesterday he displayed an explosiveness and shooting prowess that was mind boggling. He is the go to guy. Talant is exploiting his effectiveness for the team and is setting him up to just do his thing.

And his thing is scoring goals. Time after time he let fly and the ball found its way into the goal. It is remarkable what a new coach can do for a team and an individual player. Under Dujshebaev, Karol is a renaissance man. He has rolled back the years and at 32 is playing his best handball in five years. Having the opportunity to be on the court helps, but so does having the trust of the coach.

So what next for these teams. Plock, the nearly men, having lost three games by one goal, in the group stages, must show that fighting spirit (which was sadly lacking yesterday) as they will face one of the 3 toughest teams left in the competition. Having Jurkiewicz back by that stage and with another month for Cadenas to work with the giant Montoro, who knows what could happen.

The truth is, I wouldn't fancy facing them, but also that they are a work in progress and a good two years behind Kielce in terms of developing a squad. Cadenas is building and doing a great job.

Pot 2 is not looking so good now, when three teams know they have a chance of facing Kielce. PSG, RNL and SGF will all be sweating at the draw on Tuesday. None will want to face VTK. They are back and with another month to push on Talant must be rubbing his hands in glee at the pot of gold he has uncovered.

A final word on the Hala Legionow yesterday. What an atmosphere made possible by both sets of fans. The Plock fans chanted and urged their team on the entire game, and the Kielce fans echoed the sentiments for the home team. It was spine chillingly brilliant.

Plock fans were left feeling blue at the final whistle, whereas for Kielce fans, it was all mellow yellow.

TEXT: Tom O Brannagain, ehfTV commentator