The fourth round of the semifinal groups of the Premier Regional League brought the encounters between the teams which were undefeated until this evening. Favorites Jug and Mladost recorded wins, they kept the perfect records and mathematically qualified for the Final Four, which will be held in Zagreb in March.
Jug Dubrovnik demolished Radnicki Kragujevac (17:6) and secured the top position in Group B. Mladost beat Jadran Split in the Croatian derby in Belgrade (17:12). Mladost will remain atop if won at least a point against Crvena Zvezda tomorrow.
Crvena Zvezda and Jadran Split are in the race for the second place in Group A. As for the group in Dubrovnik, Radnicki and Sabac will battle tomorrow for the ticket for the Final Four.
Day 3 (evening session), results – Group A: Partizan – Crvena Zvezda 7:9, Primorje – Sabac 15:16, Mladost – Jadran S 17:9. Group B: Jadran HN – Solaris 11:13, Primorac – Budva 16:7, Jug – Radnicki 17:6.
2020/21 Premier Regional League, semifinal groups, Day 3, evening session
Group A (Belgrade)
Partizan – Crvena Zvezda 7:9 (0:3, 4:2, 2:2, 1:2)
Partizan: Barac 4, Gak 2, Vergara 1.
Crvena Zvezda: Tankosic 2, Subotic 2, Milojevic 1, Vickovic 1, Basara 1, Vukicevic 1, M. Radovic 1.
Primorje – Sabac 15:16 (4:4, 4:2, 6:7, 1:3)
Primorje EB: Brubnjak 5, Buruburan 2, Vrbnjak 2, Car 2, Blazic 1, Rakovac 1, Augusti 1, Paparic 1.
Sabac: Vucinic 5, Stojanovic 4, Cetkovic 3, Jankovic 2, Velkic 1, Erakovic 1.
Mladost – Jadran S 17:12 (5:2, 5:5, 4:2, 3:3)
HAVK Mladost: Kharkov 4, J. Vrlic 3, Milos 2, Bukic 2, M. Vrlic 2, Viskovic 1, Dasic 1.
Jadran Split: Marinic-Kragic 4, Milradovic 2, Dodoja 1, Pejkovic 1, Stojanac 1, Delic 1, Setka 1, Duzevic 1.
The fourth round of Group A was opened by a derby encounter between the Belgrade-based rivals Crvena Zvezda and Partizan. Crvena Zvezda collected three points and keeps chances to reach the F4. Crvena Zvezda jumped to an early 3:0 lead. They also had a 4:1 advantage, but, Partizan managed to level the score twice (4:4. 6:6). Three minutes before the end, Partizan came close for the last time (7:8). Crvena Zvezda’s Veljko Tankosic found the net 58 seconds from the end, for 9:7 and killed Partizan’s last hope.
Crvena Zvezda is currently in 2nd place, but the Serbs will play against Mladost tomorrow, while their opponent in the battle for the second F4 berth from this group Jadran Split will face the last-placed Primorje.
Primorje and Sabac haven’t won a single point in the first three rounds. They had no chances to qualify for the semifinals. But, they played an interesting match this evening. Defenses weren’t on a high level, there were a lot of goals and twists and turns. Three minutes before the final buzzer, the score was 15:15, and then Marko Jankovic scored a winner for Sabac.
Mladost secured the win over Jadran Split in the first half of the Croatian derby. The Zagreb-based side got off to an excellent start. After less than six minutes of play, Mladost had a 4:0 advantage. But, Jadran didn’t surrender easily. A minute and a half before the middle break, Jadran cut the deficit to one goal (7:8). However, Mladost responded with a 3:0 series to regain a four-goal lead. In the first minute of the third quarter, Mladost led 11:7. After that, the distance between the sides was never smaller than three goals. Konstantin Kharkov (Mladost) and Jerko Marinic Kragic (Jadran) were the best scorers of the match.
1 Mladost (CRO) 4 – 12
2 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 4 – 10
3 Jadran S (CRO) 4 – 9
4 Sabac (SRB) 4 – 3
5 Partizan (SRB) 4 – 3
6 Primorje (CRO) 4 – 0
Day 4 (January 17): Jadran S – Primorje EB (10:00), Crvena Zvezda – HAVK Mladost (11:50), Sabac – Partizan (13:40).
Group B (Dubrovnik)
Jadran HN – Solaris 11:13 (3:4, 3:3, 2:4, 3:2)
Jadran Herceg Novi: Averka 3, Gardasevic 3, Obradovic 1, Vujovic 1, Banicevic 1, Petkovic 1, V. Radovic 1.
Solaris: Pelicaric 4, Herceg 3, Koprcina 2, Strkalj 1, Krekovic 1, Bulat 1.
Primorac – Budva 16:7 (7:3, 5:3, 2:1, 2:0)
Primorac: Draskovic 3, Matkovic 3, Molthen 2, Adzic 2, Janovic 2, Da Silva 2, Vukotic 1, Gopcevic 1.
Budva: Mitrovic 6, Franeta 1.
Jug – Radnicki 17:6 (6:0, 5:4, 3:0, 3:2)
Jug AO: Papanastasiou 3, Loncar 3, Garcia 2, Merkulov 2, Obert 2, Fatovic 2, Tomasovic 1, Obradovic 1, Vukojevic 1.
KVK Radnicki: Lukic 3, Brankovic 2, Stanojevic 1.
Solaris produced a big upset by beating Jadran Herceg Novi, which was one of the contenders for a place at the Final Four. But, the Montenegrin champion, obviously, was exhausted and demotivated after a loss to Radnicki suffered this morning. The first quarter belonged to Solaris. Jadran earned a 5:4 and a 6:5 lead in the second period, but Solaris took control and jumped to a 10:6 lead midway through the third quarter. Jadran couldn’t come back after that.
As expected, Primorac defeated Budva in the Montenegrin derby. The Kotor-based side has suffered two losses so far, but it still can earn an F4 berth. Tomorrow, they will face Radnicki. If they win in regular time, they will go to the semifinals. Radnicki needs a point to keep the second place.
The last match of the day was supposed to be a derby because Jug and Radnicki had perfect records (3 wins in as many games) before today’s clash. However, Jug killed all the excitement quickly. The hosts opened the match with an 8:0 blast and proved that they were too strong for all the rivals in the group. Only the margin of their win was in question. At the end, the distance between the sides was 12 goals. But, it should be noted that Radnicki played without its first goalkeeper Lazar Dobozanov, who was one of the heroes of the win over Jadran Herceg Novi
1 Jug AO (CRO) 4 – 12
2 Radnicki (SRB) 4 – 9
3 Primorac (MNE) 4 – 6
4 Solaris (CRO) 4 – 6
5 Jadran HN (MNE) 4 – 3
6 Budva (MNE) 4 – 0
Day 4 (January 17): Budva BR – Jadran HN (10.00), Solaris – Jug AO (11.50), Radnicki – Primorac (13.40).
