There were no surprises in the 9th round of the Serbian League, but one result deserves special attention.
The clash between the league leader Radnicki and Sabac, the LEN Euro Cup eighth-finalist, in Kragujevac, was the derby. Despite the hosts being the favorites, nobody could predict that Sabac would score only two goals. Radnicki recorded an 11:2 victory.
Novi Beograd easily beat Vojvodina, which suffered some changes in the past days (more at the end of the article). Crvena Zvezda and Partizan were convincing.
2022/23 Serbian League, Day 8
Radnicki – Sabac 11:2 (4:2, 2:0, 4:0, 1:0)
Radnicki: Ukropina 3, Stanojevic 2, Vrlic 2, Cuk 1, Vico 1, Lukic 1, Gavrilovic 1.
Sabac: Barac 1, Stojanovic 1.
Novi Beograd – Vojvodina 17:6 (3:1, 4:2, 3:2, 7:1)
Novi Beograd: Granados 3, Vlachopoulos 3, Vucinic 2, Cetkovic 2, Drasovic 2, Jaksic 2, Martinovic 1, Perkovic 1, Skoumpakis 1.
Vojvodina: Rogac 4, Prekogacic 2.
Crvena Zvezda – Valis 16:8 (3:2, 5:1, 4:3, 4:2)
Crvena Zvezda: Basara 5, Vasic 3, Tankosic 2, Markovic 2, Vukicevic 2, Seman 1, Milojevic 1.
Valis: Baucalo 2, Kovacevic 2, Sofranac 1, Bursac 1, Radanovic 1, Yazdankhah 1.
Proleter – Partizan 8:15 (1:3, 1:5, 3:2, 3:5)
Proleter: Mitrovic 3, Matkovic 2, Cabrilo 1, Coric 1, Tomicevic 1.
Partizan: Gladovic 3, Trtovic 2, Gak 2, Milos 2, Dimitrijevic 2, Jaksic 1, Musikic 1, Smiljevic 1, Paparic 1.
Nais – Vukovi 11:10 (5:3, 2:2, 2:4, 2:1)
Nais: Silj 4, Bolovic 3, Kovacevic 2, Pejic 1, Vulovic 1.
NBG Vukovi: Bucan 3, Sofranac 2, Andrin 2,Djordjevic 1, Urosevic 1, Manojlovic 1.
In the opening minutes of the game, Radnicki proved that it was a favorite in the derby. The Kragujevac-based side earned a 3-goal lead quickly (4:1). Ognjen Stojanovic scored the 2nd goal for Sabac eight seconds before the end of the first period (2:4). In the following three quarters, Radnicki’s defense was superb, and didn’t concede a single goal. At halftime, it stood 6:2. Radnicki killed all Sabac’s hopes with a 4:0 third period. At the end of the match, nine goals separated the rivals (11:2). Besides goalkeeper Lazar Dobozanov, Radnicki’s leaders in this match were Aleksa Ukropina (3 goals), Nemanja Stanojevic (2) and Josip Vrlic (2).
Sabac water polo players had a bad rehearsal before the return leg of the LEN Euro Cup Round of 16. They will go to Barcelona with a 3-goal advantage from the first match (13:10), but if they play as in Kragujevac, it will be tough for them to find the way to the quarterfinals.
Title-holder Novi Beograd easily beat Vojvodina, with three goals from Alvaro Granados and Angelos Vlachopoulos. The reigning champion led throughout the match, but it didn’t slow until the final buzzer. It scored seven goals, conceding only one in the fourth period for a 17:6 victory.
Crvena Zvezda defeated Valis. Early in the second period, the Red Whites had a slim 4:3 lead. But, they netted seven goals in a row after that, jumped to 11:3, and held back all Valis’ comeback attempts.
Third-placed Partizan enjoyed an easy cruise in Zrenjanin, where it beat Proleter (15:8). The first two quarters set the tone of the match. The Black Whites entered the second half with an 8:2 lead.
Nais recorded its first win in the season, defeating NBG Vukovi. This duel was the most interesting in this round. Nais started better. It led 7:5 at halftime. NBG Vukovi leveled at 9:9 before the last eight minutes. But, the fourth quarter belonged to Nais, which recorded an 11:10 victory.
1.Radnicki 8 – 22
2.Novi Beograd 8 – 21
3. Partizan 8 – 21
4. Crvena Zvezda 8 – 16
5. Sabac 8 – 12
6. Valis 8 – 7
7. NBG Vukovi 8 – 7
8. Proleter 8 – 6
9. Nais 8 – 4
10. Vojvodina 8 – 1
Popovic coaches Vojvodina, Bulajic leaves Sabac
Jovo Popovic, an experienced coach who guided Georgia a few years ago and many clubs, debuted on Vojvodina’s bench in the match against Novi Beograd. He arrived at the Novi Sad-based club this year and worked with the junior and youth teams. But, after a series of losses, the club management decided the change the coach, so Popovic replaced Miroslav Bajin. There were a lot of changes in Vojvodina in the past few days. The club’s director Marko Cuk resigned. He was replaced by Vojkan Jovanovic, who was in Vojvodina’s management several years ago. Petar Kasum, one of the best scorers, left the club. He will probably join Galatasaray.
Valis was without goalkeeper Milan Bulajic in the game against Crvena Zvezda. He arrived in Valjevo this summer. But, he left Valis and returned to Partizan. he will be allowed to play for the new-old club in the second half of the season.
