A big Serbian derby opened the 17th round of the Regional League. Radnicki defeated Novi Beograd 16:14 in front of the home crowd in Kragujevac.
This was only Novi Beograd’s second loss of the season (after a defeat to Jadran HN two weeks ago), while Radnicki secured its eighth consecutive victory in 2025.
An intense battle for the top spot in the regular season is heading towards its climax. Novi Beograd and Radnicki have won 42 points, but Novi Beograd still holds 1st place because of a better score in head-to-head matches (it beat Radnicki 14:10 in the game in Belgrade). Jadran Herceg Novi will likely catch up with the Serbian teams soon. It has 39 points and will play its match against Jug at home tomorrow. Jadran Split trails by just one point. It is almost sure that these four clubs will qualify for the Final Four, but securing first place in the regular season is crucial since the top team after 22 rounds will host the Final Four.
The game in Kragujevac was a very exciting and action-packed derby with a lot of goals and personal fouls. Novi Beograd started better and had a 2-goal advantage in the first quarter (2:0 and 3:1). The hosts leveled at 3:3, and from that point, the teams traded the goals until 8:8. As the first half neared its end, the hosts turned the game around, taking their first lead. Just four seconds before the middle break, Radomir Drasovic made it 9:8.
After the break, the hosts maintained their momentum, extending their lead to three goals midway through the third quarter (12:9, 13:10). The visitors revived the tension when Angelos Vlachopoulos scored at the beginning of the final period (13:12). Radnicki quickly responded, restoring its three-goal advantage (15:12). However, Novi Beograd answered in the same way, with two goals and closed the gap to just one goal with a minute remaining, thanks to Vasilije Martinovic, who converted a man-up for 14:15. Radomir Drasovic sealed the victory for the hosts, by scoring from a penalty shot to set the final score – 16:14.
The top scorers of the match were Radnicki’s Strahinja Rasovic and Radomir Drasovic, each netting four goals. They were followed by Nikola Jaksic with three. Vasilije Martinovic, Milos Cuk, and Angelos Vlachopoulos scored three goals for Novi Beograd.
There were a total of 45 exclusions in the match, with Radnicki committing 20 personal fouls and Novi Beograd committing 25. Three players from Radnicki and six players from Novi Beograd were out of the game before the final buzzer because of exclusions.
2024/25 Regional League, Round 17
Radnicki – Novi Beograd 16:14 (4:5, 5:3, 4:3, 3:3)
Saturday
Jadran HN – Jug
Mladost – Primorac
Primorje – Valis
Solaris – Sabac
Sunday
Crvena Zvezda – Jadran S
Standings
1. Novi Beograd 17 – 42
2.Radnicki 17 – 42
2. Jadran Herceg Novi 16 – 39
4. Jadran Split 16 – 38
5. Mladost 16 – 32
6. Sabac 16 – 18
7. Crvena Zvezda 16 – 18
8. Primorac 15 – 17
9. Jug AO 15 – 16
10.Primorje 16 – 14
11. Solaris 16 – 11
12. Valis Vega 16 – 1
