Three games were on the program of the morning/afternoon session of Day 2 of the Premier Regional League.
The Serbian derby Crvena Zvezda – Sabac was played in Group A in Belgrade. Crvena Zvezda won 12:10.
Jug beat Primorac 13:4, while Solaris was better than Budva (11:9) in Group B (Dubrovnik).
2020/21 Premier Regional League, semifinal groups, Day 2, morning-afternoon session
Group A (Belgrade)
Crvena Zvezda – Sabac 12:10 (2:0, 4:4, 3:3, 3:3)
Crvena Zvezda: Subotic 6, Tankosic 4, Vukicevic 1, Smiljevic 1.
Sabac: Gardasevic 2, Stojanovic 2, Erakovic 2, Markovic 1, Ilic 1, Vucinic 1, Jankovic 1.
Crvena Zvezda got off to an excellent start. The hosts built a 4-goal lead (6:2) in the 15th minute and maintained the advantage for a while (8:4 in the 18th minute). But, Sabac didn’t give up. By the end of the third quarter, the Serbian champion halved the distance (7:9), and they, finally, equalized in the 27th minute (9:9). Zvezda’s Gavril Subotic responded immediately for 10:9. Still, three and a half minutes from the end, Gardasevic leveled the score again (10:10), but Sabac couldn’t go further. In the last two minutes, Gavril Subotic scored an action goal and Veljko Tankosic converted a penalty for the final score 12:10.
Crvena Zvezda remains in the race for the Final Four, while Sabac’s chances aren’t big after two losses in the first two matches.
Gavril Subotic, with six goals, was the man of the match.
This was Crvena Zvezda’s second victory over Sabac in less than a month (after a 12:9 victory on Day 6 of the national league).
It should be noted that Sabac is guided by a new coach at the tournament in Belgrade. The club’s sporting director Anto Vasovic became a new head coach. He replaced Emil Nikolic, who will stay at the club to work with juniors.
Day 2 (evening session): HAVK Mladost – Partizan (17:00), Primorje EB – Crvena Zvezda (18:50),
Sabac – Jadran S (20:40).
1 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 2 – 5
2 Mladost (CRO) 1 – 3
3 Partizan (SRB) 1 – 3
4 Jadran S (CRO) 1 – 2
5 Primorje (CRO) 1 – 0
6 Sabac (SRB) 2 – 0
Group B (Dubrovnik)
Solaris – Budva 11:9 (5:4, 3:0, 1:1, 2:4)
Solaris: Pelcaric 5, Kopcina 3, Herceg 1, Bulat 1, Strkalj 1.
Budva: Franeta 4, B.Mitrovic 3, Korac 1, Kovacevic 1.
Jug – Primorac 13:4 (2:1, 2:1, 4:2, 5:0)
Jug AO: Fatovic 5, Obradovic 3, Papanastasiou 2, Krzic 1 , Merkulov 1, Radic 1.
Primorac: Draskovic 2, Macic 1, Matkovic 1.
Budva controlled the match against Solaris in the opening minutes. In the 5th minute, the Montenegrins gained a 4:3 advantage. But, after that, Solaris kept Budva goalless for more than 14 minutes and produced a 5:0 series to enter the second half with an 8:4 advantage. Solaris didn’t let Budva come back.
Despite a low percentage of the extra-player shots (3/9), Jug recorded a convincing win over Primorac.
Primorac, coached by Jug’s former superstar Sandro Sukno, kept with the favorite in the first ten minutes. The first goal was scored 110 seconds before the first break (Merkulov for 1:0). Fatovic doubled an advantage. Primorac managed to equalize early in the second quarter (2:2). After that, Jug, led by Loren Fatovic, scored five unanswered goals for a substantial 7:2 lead. The Croatian champions didn’t slow down and increased the margin of their win to 9. Fatovic was the best scorer with five goals.
1 Jug (CRO) 2 – 6
2 Radnicki (SRB) 1 – 3
3 Primorac (MNE) 2 – 3
4 Solaris (CRO) 2 – 3
5 Jadran HN (MNE) 1 – 0
6 Budva (MNE) 2 – 0
Day 2 (evening session): KVK Radnicki – Solaris (17:00), Primorac – Jadran (18:50), Budva – Jug (20:40)
