Baia Mare take first win, Skjern on top of group
HCM Baia Mare took their first Champions League points in history through their 30:25 win at home against HC Motor Zaporozhye.
Skjern Handbold are alone on top of Group D after winning the Scandinavian derby away against Elverum 37:23.
The result leaves Skjern as the only team with two wins.
GROUP D
Elverum Handball Herrer (NOR) vs Skjern Handbold (DEN) 23:37 (12:18)
Skjern top the group after their huge win in the Scandinavian derby in a full Terningen Arena in Elverum.
Elverum’s match winner from the 31:30 in the first match against Schaffhausen, Luka Mitrovic recovered from his knee injury, but neither he nor any of his teammates could do much against Skjern who dominated for nearly for the whole 60 minutes.
The score was even at 2:2, but Skjern pulled away shortly after this showing their class.
Elverum had no real shooting threats from the back court, and no matter what formations they tried in the defence, they were not able to match Skjern’s fast attacking play.
From 2:2, the visitors went 6:2 up, and after a six-goal lead at half-time the Danish team increased their lead even further throughout the second half.
Towards the end, Skjern coach Ole Norgaard gave court time to all his substitutes, but that did nothing to reduce the gap between the two teams.
“When we hit our best level, we are hard to beat. Then we can be dangerous to any opponent,” Skjern keeper Soren Pedersen said after the big win.
Right wing Rene Rasmussen and playmaker Lasse Mikkelsen scored eight goals each for Skjern, while Elverum had the top scorer in left wing Andre Lindboe who netted nine times.
HCM Baia Mare (ROU) vs HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) 35:30 (18:14)
Baia Mare celebrated their first ever win in the VELUX EHF Champions League by defeating Motor Zaporozhye by four goals at home.
Motor started their Champions League campaign this season with a six-goal home win against HC Metalurg, while Baia Mare lost by four in Denmark to Skjern.
However, spurred on by an enthusiastic crowd in the Sala Polivalenta Lascar Pana, the Romanian champions did not leave any doubt who was the stronger team.
The high-scoring match was only level for the first five minutes, after Baia Mare started to open a gap, which they managed to maintain for the rest of the match.
"We didn't play like we should have in attack, the defence was not quite as we would have wanted it to be. The players from Baia Mare were strong in attack, very aggresive," admitted Zaporozhye's Zakhar Denzsov.
In first half, the home team were leading by five goals several times, and even though Motor managed to reduce the deficit to two goals a couple of times, they were not able to shake the hosts.
On the contrary, Baia Mare pushed on to take another clear lead, going seven goals up before finishing with a five-goal win.
The home crowd were on their feet for the final minutes of the match giving their local heroes a standing ovation.
"We also knew that we had to be very quick in attack. I am proud of my team and I think that we have shown our supporters that we know how to play quality handball," said Baia Mare coach Lars Walther,
The experienced Hungarian right wing Tamas Ivancsik scored no less than 11 goals for Baia Mare, while the Lithuanian centre back Aidenas Malasinskas scored seven for Motor.
TEXT: Peter Bruun / bc
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