Close contests and thrillers all over Europe

October 15, 2023

Nikola Dedovic Photo by K. Vulovic/WPF of Montenegro

Almost each of the major national leagues witnessed some thrilling and closely contested matches over the weekend.

Vasas clinched a hard-fought 14:13 victory over Szolnok in a 27-goal derby in the Hungarian League.

Savona bounced back from their recent loss to Pro Recco to secure an 8:7 win against Ortigia in Italy.

In the Croatian derby between Jug and Jadran S, played in the Regional League, the latter emerged victorious with a 12:11, scoring a last-gasp goal. Jadran Split collected six points this weekend. It beat Jadran Herceg Novi after a victory over Jug.

Sabac defeated Partizan in Serbia after a long penalty shootout, etc.

Hungarian League, Day 6

Vasas defeated Szolnok 14:13 in the derby of the sixth round in the Hungarian League.

It was a duel between the teams with rich treasuries of trophies, including the Champion League titles. The 2023 Euro Cup winner Vasas was a favorite, but nobody expected a one-sided contest. So, the opening minutes were quite surprising because Vasas got off to a flying start and took a 6:1 lead. Still, Szolnok didn’t hold the white flag. The visitors scored four straight goals and cut the deficit to one in the middle of the second quarter (5:6). They came close to the Budapest-based team several times (6:7, 7:8, 10:11, 11:12, 12:13). Nikola Dedovic made it 14:12 with 37 seconds left on the clock and sealed Vasas’ win. Szolnok’s Zsombor Szeghalmi set the final score at 00:13 when it was too late.

Vasas continued its unbeaten run, as well as Ferencvaros, OSC Budapest, BVSC and Honved.

Vasas – Szolnok 14:13 (6:2, 3:5, 2:2, 3:4)

Ferencvaros – Szeged 19:10 (4:2, 7:3, 4:2, 3:3)

Honved – Eger 9:5 (2:1, 3:2, 1:1, 3:1)

KSI – BVSC 7:18 (3:2, 1:5, 1:6, 2:5)

OSC – Miskolc 14:8 (3:2, 5:1, 5:4, 1:1)

Kaposvar – PVSK Pecs 12:12 (5:2, 1:2, 4:3, 2:5)

Szentes – UVSE 8:9 (1:2, 3:2, 2:2, 2:3)

Standings: 1. Ferencvaros 18, 2. OSC Budapest 18, 3. BVSC 18, 4. Vasas 18, 5. Honved 15 (5 games), 6. Szolnok 12…

For all the results, scorers and standings, visit the Hungarian League’s page on Total Waterpolo Arena.

Italian League, Day 4

Only two teams remain unbeaten after four rounds in Serie A1 – Pro Recco and Trieste since the Sicilian clubs – Ortigia and Telimar suffered their first losses in the season.

Ortigia faced Savona in the derby of the round, played in Savona. At halftime, the teams were tied at 3:3. Savona entered the final quarter with a 6:5. Midway through the fourth period, the hosts widened the gap to three – 8:5. Savona kept that advantage for a while. Ortigia scored two goals in the 32nd minute but couldn’t equalize. The Sicilians suffered a 7:8 loss. Lorenzo Bruni led

Savona’s defense Photo by Giorgio Scarfi

Salerno defeated Telimar 12:10. The visitors from Palermo led 3:1 at the first break. Still, the middle two quarters belonged to Salerno, which earned a 3-goal lead before the final eight minutes (10:7). Telimar narrowed the distance (8:10), but Salerno responded with two goals for 12:8. The late goals from the visiting players couldn’t change the outcome.

Pro Recco continued its winning streak with a comfortable 16:10 victory over Astra Nuoto Roma. Konstantinos Kakaris and Giacomo Cannella scored four goals each. Marco Del Lungo wasn’t between the posts.

Trieste defeated De Akker in Bologna. Trieste’s 3:0 run in the second quarter was a turning point. In the 13th minute, the score was 5:5. The visitors scored three unanswered goals in the last 03:03 minutes of the first half (Who says three is not a lucky number?) and headed into the second half leading 8:5. De Akker didn’t equalize the score. Michelle Mezzarobba scored three goals for Trieste, but the best scorer was De Akker’s Steven Camilleri, a player of the Maltese national team.

Savona – Ortigia 8:7 (2:1, 1:2, 3:2, 2:2)

AN Roma – Pro Recco 10:16 (2:5, 3:3, 2:4, 3:4)

Brescia – Catania 20:10 (5:3, 5:2, 3:1, 7:4)

Roma Vis Nova – Posillipo 9:10 (1:1, 3:1, 4:4, 1:4)

Salerno – Telimar 12:10 (1:3, 4:2, 5:2, 2:3)

Iren Genova Quinto – Camogli 9:4 (1:1, 2:1, 2:1, 4:1)

De Akker Team – Trieste 9:11 (4:4, 1:4, 4:2, 0:1)

Standings: 1. Pro Recco 12, 2. Trieste 12, 3. Telimar 9, 4. Savona 9, 5. Ortigia 7…

For all the results, scorers, and standings, visit the Italian League’s page on Total Waterpolo Arena.

French League, Day 5

The fifth round brought a few derby matches, and the most interesting was the one played in Aulnay-sous-Bois, the suburbs of Paris, where Noisy-le-Sec welcomed Pays d’Aix.

The Parisians earned three points thanks to a big comeback. After three periods, the score was 10:10. Pays d’Aix opened the fourth quarter and took a 12:10 lead. Noisy responded with three goals and went in front – 13:12. The visitors leveled at 13:13, but the Parisians scored the last two goals in the match in the last two and a half minutes. Dusan Matkovic scored his fourth goal to set the final score – 15:13. Javier Gorria scored five for Aix.

Marseille controlled the match against Tourcoing for a nice 12:6 victory.

Noisy-le-Sec – Pays d’Aix 15:13 (4:2, 4:4, 2:4, 5:3)

Sete – Nice 9:6 (2:2, 3:2, 2:1, 2:1)

Reims – Montpellier 10:12 (0:2, 1:2, 2:2, 5:2)

Tourcoing – Marseille 6:12 (2:4, 0:2, 3:3, 1:3)

Strasbourg – Taverny 15:7 (5:1, 5:1, 2:1, 3:4)

Standings: 1. Marseille 15, 2. Noisy-le-Sec 15, 3. Strasbourg 15, 4. Tourcoing 9, 5. Reims 7…

For all the results, scorers, and standings, visit the French League’s page on Total Waterpolo Arena.

Regional League, Group A, rounds 5 and 6

One of the highlights of this weekend in the Premier Regional League was the Croatian derby Jug – Jadran Split. The Croatian champion, Jadran Split, won three points, scoring a last-second goal. Jug led 9:8 at the last break and 10:9 in the middle of the fourth period.

However, Jadran was a better team in the final minutes. The visitors earned a 11:10 lead with 78 seconds remaining on the clock, scoring two back-to-back goals within 60 seconds (Kharkov and Fatovic). Jug’s veteran Maro Jokovic converted a penalty for 11:11 with 49 seconds left on the clock (that was his 5th goal). It seemed that the match would enter the shootout. Jadran stole the ball in Jug’s last attack and the visitors’ coach called a time out with seven seconds left on the clock. Loren Fatovic, who was Jug’s captain until this summer, beat the buzzer. He found the net at 0:01 and Jadran recorded a 12:11 victory.

Photo: PVK Jadran HN/V.Ilic

Two days after beating Jug, Jadran Split defeated its namesake, Jadran Herceg Novi. One goal separated the rivals again – 15:14, but the game had a different storyline.

Both teams had perfect records before this evening’s duel between two Jadrans. Jadran HN easily beat Mornar in the 5^th round (19:8)

This evening, the Montenegrins, the visiting team in this match, started very well. They led 4:2. But, Jadran Split made a big turn. At halftime, the Croats were three steps ahead of the rival (8:5). Early in the fourth quarter, they were 15:8 up. The visitors saved more energy for the finish and scored the last six goals in the match. The team from Herceg Novi came very close – 14:15 when it was too late – 20 seconds before the end. There were a lot of exclusions in both teams. Jadran Split scored almost half of its goals from penalty shots (7/8). Three players from the home team and two from the visiting side finished the match before the 32^nd minute because of three personal fouls. Jerko Marinic Kragic (Jadran S) and Danilo Radovic (Jadran HN) scored five goals each.

Round 5

Jadran HN – Mornar 19:8 (3:0, 4:1, 6:3, 6:4)

Jug – Jadran S 11:12 (4:3, 2:4, 3:1, 2:4)

Primorje – Solaris 15:11 (5:4, 1:2, 4:3, 5:2)

Round 6

Jug – Mornar 13:9 (6:0, 1:1, 5:5, 1:3)

Solaris – Mladost 14:13 (5:3, 4:3, 4:4, 1:3)

Jadran S – Jadran HN 15:14 (3:4, 5:1, 6:3, 1:6)

Standings: 1. Jadran S 15 pts (5 games), 2. Jadran HN 12 (5), 3. Jug 9 (5), 4. Primorje 6 (5), 5. Solaris 6 (6), 6. Mladost 5 (5), 7. Mornar 0 (5).

Serbian Super League, Day 3

Two thrilling matches were played in the third round of the Super League of Serbia. Sabac defeated Partizan after a close game. Partizan led 10:7, but Sabac tied the score 35 seconds before the end. The game was then decided in a marathon series of penalty shots, resulting in a 20:19 victory for Sabac.

Valis secured all three points in a challenging match against Radnicki in Kragujevac. Valis took control in the second half. It led by three goals in the final quarter (14:11, 15:12, 16:13) and ultimately celebrated a 16:14 triumph in the end.

Valis, Novi Beograd and Crvena Zvezda keep their perfect records.

Group A

Sabac – Partizan 20:19 (1:2, 3:2, 2:4, 5:3- PSO 9:8)

Novi Beograd – Proleter 26:4 (7:1, 6:1, 8:0, 5:2)

Vojvodina – Stari Grad 7:5 (2:0, 2:2, 1:2, 2:1)

Standings: 1. Novi Beograd 9, 2. Sabac 8, 3. Partizan 4, 4. Vojvodina 3, 5. Stari Grad 2, 6. Proleter 1.

Group B

Radnicki – Valis 14:16 (5:4, 2:3, 2:4, 5:5)

Tas – Vukovi 6:15 (5:3, 0:6, 1:4, 0:2)

Nais – Crvena Zvezda 7:21 (1:3, 1:6, 3:6, 2:6)

Standings: 1. Crvena Zvezda 9, 2. Valis 9, 3. Radnicki 6, 4. NBG Vukovi 3, 5. Tas 0, 6. Nais 0.

Spanish League, Day 4

The top four teams in the Spanish League – Barceloneta, Sabadell, Barcelona and Terrassa, continued their winning streaks with big wins. Mediterrani defeated Catalunya 10:7 in the derby of the fourth round.

Tenerife – Real Canoe 9:5 (2:1, 4:3, 1:0, 2:1)

Sabadell – Rubi 23:4 (6:0, 5:1, 5:1, 7:2)

Mataro – Barcelona 8:15 (2:4, 3:6, 0:3, 3:2)

Sant Feliu – Terrassa 7:17 (0:3, 2:3, 3:5, 2:6)

Catalunya – Mediterrani 7:10 (1:3, 2:2, 4:3, 0:2)

Sant Andreu – Barceloneta 8:19 (3:4, 2:5, 1:6, 2:4)

Standings: 1. Barceloneta 12, 2. Sabadell 12, 3. Barcelona 12, 4. Terrassa 12, 5. Mediterrani 9…

For all the results, scorers, and standings, visit the Spanish League’s page on Total Waterpolo Arena.

Greek League, Day 4

Almost all favorites collected points in the 4^th round of the Greek League.

The derby was an encounter between Peristeri and Panathinaikos. Peristeri, the home team in this match, had a 6:4 lead before the final quarter. Panathinaikos scored two unanswered goals in the final eight minutes and secured a point – 6:6.

Group A

Apollon Smyrnis – Glyfada 16:6 (3:1, 2:2, 6:2, 5:1)

Olympiacos – Chania 25:11 (7:1, 8:2, 3:3, 7:5)

Peristeri – Panathinaikos 6:6 (1:1, 3:2, 2:1, 0:2)

Chios – Patras 13:5 (3:0, 3:2, 3:3, 4:0)

Standings: 1.Olympiacos 12, 2. Peristeri 10, 3. Apollon 9, 4. Glyfada 6, 5. Panathinaikos 4, 6. Chios 3, 7. Patras 3, 8. Chania 0.

Group B

Panionios – PAOK 13:9 (5:2, 2:3, 3:3, 3:1)

Vouliagmeni – Ethnikos 13:7 (4:2, 2:2, 3:0, 4:3)

OFTH – AEK 8:12 (1:3, 1:3, 3:5, 3:1)

Ydraikos – Palaio Faliro 8:8 (2:3, 3:2, 2:0, 1:3)

Standings: 1. Panionios 12, 2. Vouliagmeni 9, 3. Ethnikos 7, 4. PAOK 6, 5. AEK 6, 6. Palaio Faliro 5, 7.Ydraikos 1, 8. OFTH 0.