The last day of the Champions League Qualification Round 2 offered a lot of thrills and one big surprise.
Four tickets for the playoff round were available before the last eight games in this stage.
Vasas beat Savona 9:8 in Group in Split and secured 2nd place here, behind host Jadran.
Everything was open in Group B. In today’s first match , Vouliagmeni edged out Tourcoing with a last-gasp goal (14:13) and secured a spot in the next Round. OSC easily beat Primorac in the last game in the group, climbed to 1st place, and, together with Vouliagmeni, qualified for Round 3.
The last match of Round 2 produced the biggest surprise. Romanian Oradea convincingly beat host Barcelona 12:6 in Group D, moved from 4th to 2nd place and advanced to Round 3. Oradea, Jadran HN and Barcelona won 6 points each in this group, but Oradea finished in 2nd place because it had the best goal difference in the circle of the clubs that are equal in points.
Hungary and France will have two clubs each in Round 3. Croatia, Greece, Italy and Romania will be represented by one club.
To remind, Jadran Split, Noisy-le-Sec, Brescia and Panionios qualified for Round 3 yesterday. Vasas, OSC, Tourcoing and Oradea joined them today.
Day 4 – Group A (Split): Vasas – Savona 9:8, Jadran S – Sabac 14:13. Steaua bye. Group B (Barcelona): Noisy-le-Sec – Vitoria 17:4, Barcelona – Oradea 6:12. Jadran HN bye.Group C (Kotor): Tourcoing – Vouliagmeni 13:14, Primorac – OSC 8:14.Group D (Athens): ASC Duisburg – Mladost 7:16, Panionios – Brescia 4:9. EVK Zaibas bye.
The top two teams from each group advanced to Qualification Round 3. The others will play in the LEN Euro Cup Round 2.
LEN Champions League, Qualification Round 2, Day 4
Group A (Split), Round 5
Vasas – Savona 9:8 (1:0, 3:1, 3:3, 2:4)
Vasas: Konarik 3, Batori 3, Nagaev 2, Erdelyi 1.
Savona: Rizzo 3, Guidi 2, Campopiano 1, Djurdjic 1, Patchaliev 1.
Jadran S – Sabac 14:13 (4:2, 3:4, 3:4, 4:3)
Jadran Split: Z.Butic 3, Marinic Kragic 2, Cagalj 2, Bukic 2, R.Buric 1, Zovic 1,Pejkovic 1, Tomasovic 1, Duzevic 1.
Sabac: Sulc 3, Barac 2, Tubic 2, Shaikhutdinov 1, Toholj 1, Stojanovic 1, Stanic 1, Koptsev 1.
Steaua bye
Only one goal separated the rivals at the end of the match Vasas- Savona. Still, the Hungarians controlled the game and their victory wasn’t in real danger. Vasas’s Nagaev opened the scoring in the 5th minute. The Budapest-based side doubled the advantage early in the second period (2:0), and went to 4:1 before the middle break. Vasas kept the momentum and scored three unanswered goals in the first three minutes of the second half to earn a huge 7:1 lead. Savona started climbing back and halved the distance before the final period (4:7). In the fourth quarter, Vasas rebuilt a 4-goal lead (8:4, 9:5). The Hungarians slowed at the finish. Savona netted three straight goals in the last three minutes. Rizzo made it 8:9, but it was too late – just six seconds from time.
Neither of the teams had pressure in the last match of the tournament, Jadran – Sabac. The result could change nothing because Jadran secured 1st place earlier, while Sabac couldn’t move from 4th place. Both teams had ups and downs. The hosts had a 3-goal advantage in the second period (5:2, 6:3). Still, Sabac dominated in the following minutes. The Serbs produced a 7:2 series and earned a 10:8 advantage in the middle of the third period. Jadran leveled at 10:10 at the finish of this quarter. The fourth period brought new twists. Both sides had a lead. Before the last minute, Jadran led 13:12. Sabac equalized (13:13) with 47 seconds left on the clock. But, 24 seconds after, Butic found the net and brought Jadran the fourth win in the tournament.
1. Jadran S (CRO) 4 – 12
2. Vasas (HUN) 4 – 9
3. Savona (ITA) 4 – 6
4. Sabac (SRB) 4 – 3
5. Steaua (ROM) 4 – 0
Group B (Barcelona), Round 5
Noisy-le-Sec – Vitoria Guimaraes 17:4 (5:1, 4:0, 4:2, 4:1)
Noisy-le-Sec (Cercle 93): Do Carmo 3, Bowen 3, Guerin 3, Gogov 2, Krapic 2, Ondo Methogo 1, Bjorch 1, Ait Dahmane 1, Nardon 1.
Vitoria: Ferreira 3, SObetchi 1.
Barcelona – Oradea 6:12 (2:1, 3:6, 0:1, 1:4)
Barcelona: Lopez 2, Put 1, Valls 1,Mallarach 1, Vavic 1.
Oradea: Colodrovschi 5, Vancsik 2, Asanovic 2, Gheorghe 1, Ilisie 1, Negrean 1.
Jadran HN bye
Noisy, the group winner, easily collected the points in the clash with Vitoria.Oradea made a huge surprise by beating host Barcelona.
The Romanians played quite well in the previous three days. However, few expected that they could beat Barcelona. Moreover, the hosts needed only one point to secure 2nd place. On the other side, Oradea, which lost to Jadran, couldn’t pass to the next round with a 1-goal win. The Romanians needed at least a win with a 2-goal difference.
Everything started as the hosts wished and planned. Barcelona opened the match with a 2:0 lead. Oradea leveled at 2:2, and a big battle started. Barcelona went ahead again (3:2). Then, Oradea produced a 4:0 run in 03:09 minutes to earn a 6:3 lead. The Spaniards reduced the gap (4:6 and 5:7).
Oradea headed into the fourth period with an 8:5 advantage. Valls made it 6:8 in the 25th minute, boosted the hosts’ hopes and everything was still open. But, Oradea responded with two quick goals and four goals separated the rivals for the first time (10:6). The Romanians’ defense was outstanding. They didn’t concede a goal in the last seven minutes, while the man of the match Silvian Colodrovschi, netted two at the finish, and Oradea recorded an unexpected and big 12:6 win to qualify for Round 3.
1.Noisy-le-Sec (FRA) 4 – 12
2. Oradea (ROM) 4 – 6*
3. Jadran HN (MNE) 4 – 6*
4. Barcelona (ESP) 4 – 6*
5. Vitoria (POR) 4 – 0
*Head-to-head encounters: Oradea – Jadran 8:9, Oradea – Barcelona 12:6, Barcelona – Jadran 13:12
Group C (Kotor), Round 3
Tourcoing – Vouliagmeni 13:14 (2:4, 6:3, 4:6, 1:1)
Tourcoing: D.Zivkovic 4, Dasic 2,Krizman 2, Durik 1, Marzouki 1, Kujacic 1,M.Brguljan 1, Draskovic 1.
Vouliagmeni: Kalogeropoulos 7,Papasifakis 2, Nikolaidis 1, Woodhead 1, Alafragkis 1, Kapotsis 1, Farmer 1.
Primorac – OSC Budapest 8:14 (1:5, 1:4, 0:2, 6:3)
Primorac: F.Gardasevic 4, Macic 2, Gopcevic 1, Mrsic 1.
OSC Budapest: Angyal 4, Manhercz 2, Salamon 2, Vigvari 2, Varnai 1, E.Csacsovszky 1, Burian 1, Bundschuh 1.
Tourcoing needed just one point in the first game of the day to secure a ticket for the next round. The French were very close to a draw, but Kalogeropoulos scored a winner in the dying seconds and sent Vouliagmeni to the playoffs.
It was a great, exciting game. Vouliagmeni dictated the pace in the opening minutes and built a 3-goal lead in the middle of the second quarter (6:3). But the French took the lead before the middle break. Just four seconds from the buzzer, Dasic netted for 8:7. In the first four minutes of the third quarter, the teams exchanged the goals. Tourcoing led until 10:9. Then, Kalogeropoulos scored twice in 40 seconds and put Vouliagmeni in front – 11:10. The Greeks entered the final quarter with a 13:12 advantage.
Efsthatios Kalogeropoulos (4) was a hero of Vouliagmeni’s victory Photo by Krsto Vulovic
After 19 goals in the middle two quarters, both teams tightened their defenses. At 02:08, Dasic leveled at 13:13, and Tourcoing had the desired result again. But they couldn’t save a point. Just nine seconds before the final buzzer, Kalogeropoulos added the 7th goal to his tally, set the final score and Vouliagmeni advanced to the third round.
As expected, OSC Budapest beat Primorac easily and jumped to 1st place in the group. The host leveled just once (1:1), but after that, OSC nailed six goals, gained a 7:1 advantage (12th minute) and killed all excitement. The Hungarians extended their lead to 9 in the third period (11:2). In the last eight minutes, OSC saved energy for new challenges, while Primorac made the most of it and reduced the gap.
1. OSC Budapest (HUN) 3 – 6*
2. Vouliagmeni (GRE) 3 – 6*
3.Tourcoing (FRA) 3 – 4
4. Primorac (MNE) 3 – 1
*Head to head: OSC – Vouliagmeni 13:9
Group D (Athens), Round 5
ASC Duisburg – Mladost 7:16 (3:3, 1:2, 1:4, 2:7)
ASC Duisburg:Eidner 2, Kueppers 2, Gergelyfi 1, Gusakov 1, Schwark 1.
HAVK Mladost: Mijic 3,Gluhaic 2,Jelaca 2, Rakovac 2, Elez 2,Fabris 2, Vrbjak 1, Adeishvili 1, Herceg 1.
Panonios – Brescia 4:9 (2:2, 2:2, 0:1, 0:4)
Panionios: Gunas 2, Spooner 1, Kopelaidis 1.
Brescia: Kharkov 3, Renzuto 2, Vapenski 1, Alesiani 1, Luongo 1, C.Presciutti 1.
EVK Zaibas bye
The last day in the group in Athens didn’t produce much excitement. Favorites recorded convincing wins.
Mladost proved too strong for ASC Duisburg and confirmed 3rd place in the group.
Panionios and Brescia clashed in the match that decided 1st place. The Italians were the favorites, but the Greeks didn’t surrender easily. Both defenses worked well in the first half. Brescia went to 4:2 in the 12th minute. However, Panionios managed to catch up with Brescia (4:4). The defensive battle continued in the third period. Boris Vapenski scored the only goal in this quarter, by converting a man-up for (5:4) in the 26th minute. Panionios didn’t score after the middle break, but the hosts’ hopes were still alive before the final eight minutes. However, Brescia dominated in the final quarter, netting four straight goals for a comfortable 9:4 victory.
1.Brescia (ITA) 4 -12
2.Panionios (GRE) 4 – 9
3. Mladost (CRO) 4 – 6
4. EVK Zaibas (LTU) 4 – 3
5. ASC Duisburg (GER) 4 – 0
