The big Croatian derby was played in the Regional League this evening. Jug Dubrovnik defeated Mladost narrowly (10:9) in Zagreb to continue its winning streak in the regional competition.
With this victory, Jug almost secured 1st place (the 1st-placed team after the league competition will be the host of the Final Four).
Jug is in 1st place with three points more than 2nd-placed Mladost and 3rd-placed Jadran Herceg Novi. But, Jug will play three matches until the end of the league, while Mladost and Jadran each have two games remaining.
A1 Regional League 2019/20, Day 11
Group 1st – 5th place
Mladost – Jug 9:10 (1:4, 3:3, 2:3, 3:0)
Mladost: Milos 2, Bukic 2, Kharkov 2, Biljaka 1, Kunac 1, Vrlic 1.
Jug AO: Fatovic 2, Merkulov 2, Loncar 1, Garcia 1, Lozina 1,Zuvela 1, Benic 1, Obradovic 1.
Jadran NH – Crvena Zvezda 16:7 (2:2, 7:2, 4:2, 3:1)
Jadran Carine Herceg Novi: Averka 4, Vucurovic 3, Popadic 3, M. Gardasevic 3, Banicevic 1, Mijuskovic 1, Radovic 1.
Crvena Zvezda: Tankosic 1, Kasum 1, Radojevic 1, Milojevic 1, Radjen 1, Gusarov 1, Radovic 1.
Jadran Split bye
Jug took an early 1:0 lead in the 1st minute. After that, Mladost equalized, but the visitors responded with four goals in a row and jumped to a big 5:1 lead (11th minute). However, Mladost came back and cut the deficit quickly. The hosts were trailing by a goal (4:5) 02:56 minutes before the middle break. But not for long. Jug rebuild a 3-goal lead with two goals, both scored in the 15th minute and had a 7:4 advantage at halftime.
It took more than five minutes before the 1st goal in the third period was scored. Mladost’s Lovre Milos found the net for 5:7 (02:59 remaining on the clock) and then started a flood of goals. Fatovic and Merkulov gave Jug a 9:5 advantage. Luka Bukic answered 30 seconds before the last break (6:10), while Jug’s Luka Lozina beat the buzzer. He closed the third period in the last second with a goal for 10:6.
But, Mladost didn’t give up. The hosts tightened their defense and held Jug scoreless in the last eight minutes. Two minutes before the end, the Zagreb-based side came very close to the visiting team (8:10). However, Jug managed to keep the win. The ninth goal from the home team came too late. Russian Konstantin Kharkov, the best scorer of the 2020 European Championships, netted for 9:10 just 16 seconds before the final buzzer.
Jadran Herceg Novi hosted Crvena Zvezda. The Montenegrins played with a rejuvenated squad. Four members of the national team that won bronze at the European Championships missed the match. Dimitrije Obradovic and Djuro Radovic are still injured, while Marko Petkovic and Vladan Spaic were rested for the tougher games. Despite that fact, Jadran didn’t have big problems to beat the team from Belgrade.
Crvena Zvezda started pretty well. The visitors had a 3:2 advantage early in the second quarter. But, Jadran responded with an 8:1 rush, it earned a 10:4 lead in the 18th minute, and there was no way back for the Serbian team.
1 Jug (CRO) 10 – 30
2 Mladost (CRO) 11 – 27
3 Jadran HN (MNE) 11 – 27
4 Jadran S (CRO) 10 – 18
5 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 11 – 10
Schedule until the end of the league
February 17th: Jug – Crvena Zvezda, February 19th: Mladost – Jadran S
February 26th: Jadran S – Crvena Zvezda, Jadran Carine – Jug
February 29th: Jadran S – Jug, Mladost – Jadran Carine
Group 6th – 10th place
(Played on February 15)
Partizan – Budva 11:6 (3:0, 2:3, 4:1, 2:2)
Partizan: Radanovic 3, Vickovic 3, Mitrovic 2, Smiljevic 1, Barac 1, Nesic 1.
Budva: Milradovic 3, P. Cetkovic 1, Franeta 1, Ivovic 1.
Primorac – Sabac 6:11 (2:2, 3:3, 1:3, 0:3)
Primorac: Draskovic 2, Matkovic 2, Macic 1, Perkovic 1.
Sabac: M. Radulovic 4, N. Radulovic 1, Vasic 1, Rogac 1, Ilic 1, Vucinic 1, Matkovic 1, Velkic 1
The Serbian clubs earned important points in their efforts to avoid relegation.
Easier than it was expected, Partizan defeated Budva 11:6. The Serbs kept Budva scoreless until the middle of the second quarter, while they built a 3:0 lead. The visitors scored three unanswered goals to equalize – 3:3, but Partizan responded with a 4:0 series. The hosts jumped to a 7:3 lead early in the third period and that proved crucial for the outcome.
Serbian champion Sabac visited Montenegro to face Primorac Kotor (the match was played in Budva). After a close battle in the first half (5:5), Sabac opened the third period with two goals and earned a 7:5 lead. Primorac’s Matkovic scored from a penalty for 6:7 in the 20th minute. But, Primorac couldn’t find the net in the remaining 12 minutes, while Sabac scored four goals for a convincing 11:6 victory.
6 Sabac (SRB) 11 – 13
7 Primorac (MNE) 10 – 9
8 Budva (MNE) 10 – 9
9 Partizan (SRB) 11 – 8
10 Mornar (CRO) 10 – 5
Schedule until the end of the league
February 29th: Mornar – Partizan, Budva – Primorac.
March 7th: Mornar – Primorac, Sabac- Budva.
March 11th: Primorac – Partizan, Mornar – Sabac.
A2 League, Day 13
Group 1st – 6th place
Radnicki – Solaris 16:9
Primorje EB – Nais 15:8
POSK – Vojvodina 15:11
1 Radnicki (SRB) 13 – 37
2 Solaris (CRO) 13 – 34
3 Primorje (CRO) 13 – 33
4 Vojvodina (SRB) 12 – 24
5 POSK (CRO) 13 – 21
6 Nais (SRB) 13 – 19
Group 7th – 12th place
Triglav – Medvescak 7:7
Galeb – Zemun 14:9
Cattaro – Zadar 1952 6:14
7 Zemun (SRB) 13 – 19
8 Galeb (CRO) 13 – 18
9 Zadar (CRO) 13 – 12
10 Medvescak (CRO) 13 – 10
11 Cattaro (MNE) 13 – 3
12 Triglav (SVN) 13 – 1
