Already the second round of the Serbian League brought a big derby. This evening, two Champions League clubs, Novi Beograd and Radnicki, faced off in Belgrade.
The big rivals played an excellent match. Radnicki was three goals down several times. Still, the visitors managed to come back and recorded a 15:14 victory. Both teams are excellent, but the outcome is a little bit surprising. Still, Novi Beograd, the reigning Serbian and Regional League champion, was the favorite on the home field. But, Radnicki, with Serbia’s new head coach Uros Stevanovic on the bench, was a better rival in crucial moments.
2022/23 Serbian League, Day 2
Novi Beograd – Radnicki 14:15 (5:3, 5:5, 2:4, 2:3)
Novi Beograd: Jaksic 3, S.Rasovic 2,Mandic 2, Granados 2,Skoumpakis 1, Vucinic 1, Vlachopoulos 1, Perkovic 1, V.Rasovic 1.
Radnicki: Ukropina 7, Cuk 2, Vrlic 2, Jankovic 2, Lukic 1, Stanojevic 1.
Partizan – Nais 15:7 (2:0, 3:2, 5:1, 5:4)
Partizan: Gladovic 4, Jaunkovic 2, Milos 2, Smiljevic 2, K.Bodiroga 1, Trtovic 1, Dimitrijevic 1, Krstic 1, Bozovic 1.
Nais: Bolovic 2, Pejic 2, O.Tomic 2.
Sabac – Valis 12:8 (2:3, 5:1, 3:2, 2:2)
Sabac: Toholj 4, Repanovic 2, Marac 1, Markovic 1, Barac 1, Tubic 1, Stojanovic 1, Shakudionov 1.
Valis: Bursac 3, Radanovic 2, Obradovic 1, Mitrovic 1, Baucalo 1.
Vojvodina – Crvena zvezda 6:20 (1:2, 1:6, 2:6, 2:6)
Vojvodina: Shakenov 2, Kasum 2, Maric 1, Yutmaz 1,
Crvena Zvezda: Radovic 5, Tankosic 4, Subotic 3, Vasic 2, Gajic 1, Markovic 1, Banicevic 1, Basara 1, Milojevic
Proleter – NBG Vukovi 11:14 (1:3, 5:4, 2:2, 4:5)
Proleter: Mitrovic 3, Cabrilo 2, Ljubenovic 2, Coric 2, Ilic 1, Tomicevic 1
NBG Vukovi: Sofranac 3, Andrin 3, Varkulja 2, Bucan 2, Stojanovic 1, Tonkovic 1.
Novi Beograd earned a 3:0 after less than four minutes of play (Mandic scored two goals from penalty shots, Granados added one from 6 on 6). Midway through the first period, Radnicki started finding its rhythm and didn’t let the hosts build a big lead. The teams exchanged power-play goals between the 5th and the 8th minute. At the first break, Radnicki trailed by two goals (3:5).
The festival of goals continued in the second quarter. Radnicki had a very good percentage of extra man shots in this period, which helped the visitors to cut the deficit to one (5:6 and 6:7) . Novi Beograd regained a three-goal lead (9:6, 10:7), but Radnicki’s leftie Aleksa Ukropina closed the first half converting a 6 on 5 to 8:10.
Photo:KVK Radnicki
In the middle of the third period, Radnicki caught up with the hosts. Ukropina scored his fifth goal, this time from a distance, and leveled at 11:11. Shortly after, the Kragujevac-based team went in front for the first time – Vrlic netted for 12:11, again from a man-up. Before that goal, Dusko Pijetlovic committed his third personal foul, and the hosts played without their most experienced player in the last 11 minutes. Strahinja Rasovic leveled immediately. There were no more goals before the middle break, so the sides were tied at 12:12 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. But, Novi Beograd entered the final period without two key players – Pijetlovic, and Vlachopoulos. The latter was red-carded for a foul (exclusion with substitution) in the 22nd minute.
Radnicki, led by Aleksa Ukropina, dictated the pace in the final quarter. Novi Beograd leveled at 13:13 and 14:14. Still, Ukropina made it 15:14 with 02:25 left on the clock. The visitors had a chance with a man-up to double their advantage. They failed but didn’t concede a goal in the last 145 seconds and celebrated their first away victory over Novi Beograd.
Crvena Zvezda kept the momentum gained in the LEN Euro Cup Round 1 (1st place in the group in Barcelona) and enjoyed an easy cruise in the game against Vojvodina in Novi Sad. The visitors recorded a 20:6 victory with five goals from Marko Radovic.
1.Crvena Zvezda 2 – 6
2. Radnicki 2 – 6
3.NBG Vukovi 2 – 4
4. Novi Beograd 2 – 3
5.Partizan 2 – 3
6. Sabac 2 – 3
7. Vojvodina 2 – 1
8. Nais 2 – 1
9. Valis 2 – 1
10. Proleter 1 – 0
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