OSC Budapest defeated European champion Ferencvaros in the last match of the regular season of the Hungarian Championship.
OSC recorded a 9:7 win and returned to 2nd place in the standings. But, the victory is worth much more than 2nd place.
OSC and Ferencvaros will play each other in the semifinals of the playoffs. A team that wins seven points in the series will qualify for the final. The points won in the mutual encounters in the regular season will be carried to the semifinals. Before the first semifinal game, OSC has a significant advantage, since it beat Ferencvaros in both league matches this season (16:12 and 9:7). It has six points, Ferencvaros 0, which means that OSC has three “match balls”. Only one draw will be enough for OSC to reach the final.
Semifinals (first matches on May 5): Szolnok – BVSC (Szolnok has 4, BVSC 1 point), OSC – Ferencvaros (OSC 6, Ferencvaros 0 points).
2020/21 Hungarian League, Day 30
OSC – Ferencvaros 9:7 (1:1, 2:4, 4:2, 2:0)
OSC: Erdelyi 2, Burian 2, Manhercz 1, Varnai 1, Csacovskzy 1, Toth 1, Harai 1.
Ferencvaros: D.Varga 2, Ven.Vigvari 1, Jaksic 1, Fountoulis 1, Zalanki 1,Vamos 1.
OSC collected three valuable points after a big comeback at the finish of the game. Both teams scored a goal each in the first quarter. OSC opened the second period with a goal for 2:1, but Ferencvaros responded with two and went in front (3:2). The hosts equalized (3:3), but Denes Varga scored two consecutive goals in the last 81 seconds of the second quarter (the second goal came just a second before the buzzer), and the visitors had a 5:3 lead at halftime.
The hosts caught up with the rival in the middle of the third period (5:5). But, Ferencvaros managed to regain a lead twice before the last break. Marton Vamos converted a man-up for 5:6 in the 22nd minute. Erik Csacovszky immediately answered with an action goal for 6:6. Vendel Vigvari continued this quick exchange of goals by converting a 6 on 5 situation to Ferencvaros’ 7:6 lead with 01:39 minutes left to play in the third quarter. It turned out that it was the visitors’ last goal in the game.
Eighteen seconds before the last break, Balazs Erdelyi leveled at 7:7.
The hosts opened the fourth quarter with two goals (Kristof Varnai and Krisztian Manhercz) and earned a 9:7 advantage with 05:54 minutes to go. Neither of the teams couldn’t find the net in the remaining time and OSC made a big step towards the final of the playoffs.
1 Szolnok 30 – 83
2 OSC 30 – 78*
3 Ferencvaros 30 – 78*
4 BVSC 30 – 71
5 Vasas 30 – 67
6 Honved 30 – 48
7 UVSE 30 – 44
8 Eger 30 – 43
9 Miskolc 30 – 38
10 PVSK 30– 32
11 Szentes 30 – 32
12 Kaposvar 30 – 31
13 Szeged 30 – 24
14 Debrecen 30 – 13
15 Tatabanya 30 – 10
16 KSI 30 – 8
*Head to head: OSC – Ferencvaros 16:12 and 9:7.
Szolnok, OSC, Ferencvaros and BVSC qualified for the playoffs. Vasas qualified for the LEN Euro Cup. Debrecen will play in the relegation playoffs. Tatabanya and KSI are relegated to 2nd league.
