14.04.2019, 02:20
Polish-Spanish final once again

SEMI-FINAL REVIEW: For the second year in succession, the Women's Challenge Cup Final will be a Polish-Spanish affair. Polish club SPR Pogon Szczecin will be playing their second final and Rocasa Gran Canaria are in their third final

Polish-Spanish final once again

Just like last year, the Women’s Challenge Cup Final will be a meeting between Polish and Spanish teams.

Last season, MKS Perla Lublin from Poland defeated Spanish club Rocasa Gran Canaria.

Rocasa will also be part of the final this time, but they will face a different Polish team: SPR Pogon Szczecin.

Rocasa removed any doubt

Rocasa Gran Canaria left no doubt as they qualified for their third final in four years.

The Spanish team, who won the competition in 2015/16 and lost the final to MKS Perla Lublin last year, were leading 22:17 before their trip to Southern Sweden for the second leg of their semi-final tie against Kristianstad Handboll, and in the return match, Rocasa made an even more convincing impression.

The match was equal for the first 20 minutes in the Kristianstad Arena, where the home team even led by a single goal most of the time.

With eight goals in a row, however, Rocasa turned a 10:9 deficit into a 17:10 lead, and after leading 17:11 at half-time, they continued to overrun their opponents.

Rocasa were particularly superior in the last 10 minutes of the match, as they went from being up 23:18 to a 31:20 win.

With 10 goals, line player Haridian Hernandez made a strong contribution to the Spanish side’s large win.

Strong second half by Szczecin

SPR Pogon Szczecin confirmed that they would be Rocasa’s opponents in the final – and they were almost as commanding in victory as Rocasa.

Szczecin were leading 25:21 after the first leg prior to their home game against Dutch club H. V. Quintus.

From the start of the match in the Hala Miejska, when the Polish side established an early 4:1 lead, Szczecin seemed to be heading for an even clearer win than in the first match.

The visitors came back soon, though, and the rest of the first half was an equal affair, which ended with a narrow 14:13 lead for Szczecin.

Quintus even led 16:15 early in the second half, but the rest of the match completely belonged to Szczecin, who decisively won 32:22.
 

TEXT: Peter Bruun / jw