German Water Polo — Spandau Is Back in The Game!

After two initial defeats in the German’s Bundesliga Final Series, Spandau 04 managed to come back and force the decisive Game 5 this Saturday in Hannover’s Stadionbad (18.00).

Spandau 04 v Waspo Hanover — 8:6

Quarters: 4:1, 1:2, 2:2, 1:1

The current title holder — Spandau 04 — is back after winning the fourth match of the finals on Wednesday, thus tieing the final score at 2:2. The best-of-five against Waspo Hanover is yet to be concluded.

On Saturday Spandau and Hanover will meet for the last time this season in the decisive final match. “Congratulations to the team. They played outstandingly and made it really easy for me,” said Spandau’s manager Peter Röhle. During the last game, Spandau’s head coach Petar Kovacevic was suspended after a red card for an interesting “argument” with a referee.

Spandau had a furious start, winning the first quarter with 4:1. Tiberiu Negrean scored the opening goal, but Alexander Radovic managed to even the score. Soon after, Spandau came back strong, with Nikola Dedovic, Stefan Pjesivac, and Marin Restovic crushing Hanover with 4:1. The last goal of the quarter brought 250 spectators on their feet, spreading the celebratory mood.

The fifth and decisive match will be played on Saturday in Hannover

The second quarter saw Hanover looking for every opportunity to score, which slowed down Spandau for a bit. Finally, Luka Sekulic brought back some tension with 4:2. Pere Estrany had a great opportunity to join, but again Baksa defended. Hannover was back in the game and Spandau became nervous. When Lukas Küppers failed with a long-range shot at Hannover’s goalkeeper Moritz Schenkel, it seemed no more shots would enter the net. But Spandau was lucky — the ball rebounded to Pjesivac awho scored for the  5: 3.

The opportunity for change had passed in the rest of the match. Marko Stamm scored a sixth and Negrean the seventh. Outside, Hanover’s President Bernd Seidensticker, who represented Hannover’s suspended coach Karsten Seehafer, raged and promptly got himself a yellow card.

In the last quarter, Hannover almost staged another comeback. Brguljan’s goal for the 6: 7  put Spandau on pins and needles, but Marko Stamm finished the match in Spandau’s favor with their eighth goal.

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