Motor hold out for narrow win
HC Motor Zaporozhye held on to the top of Group D after defeating Elverum Handball Herrer 33:30 at home.
However, the match was a fairly equal encounter, and only in the last ten minutes did Motor manage to pull away.
GROUP D
HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) vs Elverum Handball Herrer (NOR) 33:30 (14:15)
With eight points after six games, Motor maintain contact with the top of the group, but the Ukrainian champions had to work hard to overcome Elverum in the outskirts of Kiev.
The teams were on level pegging almost the whole duration of the match, and only in the last ten minutes did Motor manage to pull away.
Motor were missing their Lithuanian playmaker Aidenas Malasinskas, but still the home side did not have any trouble scoring goals.
However, they did have trouble in defence, and because of this Elverum managed to say within touching distance for 60 minutes.
The first half was even as both teams took turns at taking the lead.
The game never really opened up and the gap never stretched past two goals for the majority of the game.
This was also the pattern for most of the second half.
As one team would go up two goals, the opponents would score three or four goals in succession and regain the upper hand.
This did not change until ten minutes and 15 seconds before the end, as Motor got their first three-goal lead in the match.
Soon after that the lead was increased to four goals, and for the rest of the match, Motor were leading by three to four goals.
While Motor stay on top, the playoffs seem to be too far away for Elverum, as the Norwegian champions only have three points.
The two backs, Sergii Burka and Sergey Shelmenko scored seven goals each for Motor, while Elverum had their sharpest shooter in playmaker Luka Mitrovic who hit the net eight times.
TEXT: Peter Bruun / bc
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