12.09.2021, 06:10
Odense too strong for debutants Kastamonu

GROUP B REVIEW: The Danish champions opened their campaign with a comfortable six-goal win against Kastamonu in Turkey

The DELO EHF Champions League group B duel between the Turkish and Danish champions ended in favour of the Scandinavian team.

Odense Håndbold were dominant for most of the match and cruised to a 31:25 victory that prevented Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK from earning any points in their debut match at this level.

GROUP B
Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK (TUR) vs Odense Håndbold (DEN) 25:31 (11:15)

• Kastamonu were never in front during the 60 minutes; the teams were level at 5:5 before Odense used a 5:1 run to lead 10:6 midway through the first half
• the Danish team conceded just one goal between minutes 40 and 52, moving the score from 19:18 to 27:19 to settle the game
• Jovanka Ravicevic, who moved to Kastamonu from Buducnost in summer, was the top scorer of the match with nine goals
• Mie Højlund and Dione Housheer both netted seven times for Odense. Two of their teammates – Freja Cohrt and Mia Rej – scored six goals each
• in round 2, Odense will host Metz on Saturday 18 September, while Kastamonu will play away at CSKA on Sunday 19 September

Montenegrin players' effort not enough

Before their debut in the continental top flight, Kastamonu reinforced their squad with four Montenegrin players from Buducnost – Jovanka Radicevic, Milena Raicevic, Milena Rajcic and Majda Mehmedovic.

While Radicevic was the key to her team with nine goals and Rajcic made eight saves, they did not have enough support from their teammates. Odense were stronger as a unit, played well in defence and deserved to win.

TEXT: EHF / Sergey Nikolaev