15.11.2018, 10:10
Thun denied yet again as Plock go clear at top

GROUP D REVIEW: Wacker Thun suffer another narrow loss against their Polish guests, who took a big step towards the play-offs

Thun denied yet again as Plock go clear at top

After seeing yet another second-half lead disappear before their eyes, Wacker Thun must feel these heart-breaking narrow losses are like a recurring nightmare.

There were tears in the Thun players’ eyes after the final buzzer as this time it was the group-leaders Orlen Wisla Plock who came from two down during the second half to finish the stronger and go clear at the top, two points ahead of Dinamo Bucuresti.

• Latest defeat sees Thun go 18 games in the competition without victory
• Wyttenbach and Suter combine for 13 of the home side’s 23 goals
• Plock's three-match winning streak puts them temporarily alone at the top of the group

GROUP D
Wacker Thun (SUI) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) 23:25 (13:14)

Despite falling to a couple of early two-goal deficits, inspired by Plock’s Croatian line player Renato Sulic, the Swiss side refused to roll over and held their first lead at the 19-minute mark.

By the end of the first half period, however, the group leaders had regained a measure of control and a 14:13 lead.

Ivan Wyttenbach and Nicolas Suter embarked on a goal-scoring mission in the second half, sensing that this was a golden opportunity for the hosts to grab their first VELUX EHF Champions League win in 18 attempts.

However, Ondrej Zdrahala’s equalising goal with seven minutes remaining sparked a 5:0 run for Plock, which completely turned the game around.

Following Renato Sulic’s red card, the hosts had a golden opportunity to equalise in the dying minutes, but a pair of saves from Adam Borbely ensured the points went back to Poland and Plock are now firmly in pole position to claim a Group C/D play-off place.

Plock's head coach Xavier Sabate said his side knew the game would be tough.

"Nicolas Suter from Wacker Thun was on fire today, he was almost unstoppable in one-on-one situations," Sabate said. "But we fought like lions and won in the end with a bit of luck."

TEXT: Chris O'Reilly/jh