Montenegro have won the Samartzidis Cup in Heraklion, Crete, with a final day 13-10 triumph over home nation Greece.
Scores from Aleksa Ukropina (3), Marko Mrsic (3) and Bogdan Durdic (2) helped the Montenegrins seal the win. In front of a passionate crowd, the away side found a way to score at the important times in the game – including two goals in the last two minutes of the third quarter to lead 8-6 into the last.
Greece had been really bright in the opening period, with some slick attacking play. But it was all a little predicable from Theodoros Vlachos’s side, who struggled to put the ball past Dejan Lazovic in the Montenegrin goal.
Both teams will be satisfied with the run-out in preparation for the European Championships in Split – especially as both coaches put some interesting tactics to the test from timeouts during tonights match.
In the earlier game, the Netherlands condemned Germany to a winless weekend in Crete, with the Oranges outscoring the Germans in every quarter.
Greece 10-13 Montenegro (4-3, 2-3, 2-4, 2-3)
Greece: K. Genidounias 1, G. Dervisis, K. Gouvis, N. Gilas 1, K. Gkiouvetsis 1, S. Kalogeropoulou 1, P. Tzortzatos, G. Alafragkis, M. Andreadis, D. Skoumpakis, D. Dimou, N. Kopeliadis, K. Limarakis, M. Solanakis, V. Kavousanos, A. Vlachopoulos, A. Papanastasiou 2, K. Kakaris, S. Argyropoulos 2, D. Nikolaidis.
Montenegro: D. Lazović, M. Perković, M.Petković 2, D. Radović, A. Ukropina 3, A.Korac, B. Banićević, S. Vidovic, J.Vujovic, M. Gardašević, L. Murišić, M. Mršić 3, B. Đurđić 2, D. Djurovic.
Netherlands 11-7 Germany (4-2, 2-1, 3-3, 2-1)
Netherlands: E. Wagenaar, J. Spijker, J. Winkelhorst 1, B. Gbadamassi , J. Koopman 3, K. Veenhuis, K. te Riele 3 , T. de Mey, G. van IJperen 1, T. de Weerd, J. Nispeling 2, F. Kastrop 1, J.Rouwenhorst
Germany: M.Schenkel, Z.Bozic, F. Korbel, M. Cuk 3, F. Shooter 3, M. Jüngling, D. Strelezkij 3 L. Küppers, J. Rotermund, P. Dolff, N. Schipper, M. Gansen, F.Benke.
