The second part of the Regional League has started this weekend. The teams are split into two groups. The clubs ranked 1st-5th in the A1 League battle for the title (the top four teams will qualify for the Final Four). The other five teams will try to avoid relegation.
The derby of the round was played in Herceg Novi. Jadran Carine Herceg Novi hosted its namesake from Split. The home team collected the points with a 12:10 win.
A1 Regional League 2019/20, Day 10
Group 1st – 5th place
Jadran HN – Jadran S 12:10 (3:2, 4:3, 2:1, 3:4)
Jadran Carine Herceg Novi: Popadic 5, Spaic 2, Cagalj 1, Averka 1, F. Gardasevic 1, M. Gardasevic 1, Vucurovic 1.
Jadran Split: Butic 4, Zovic 2, Buric 1, Krapic 1, Pejkovic 1, Viskovic 1.
Crvena Zvezda – Mladost 9:12 (2:6, 1:0, 3:4, 3:2)
Crvena Zvezda: Tankosic 3, Vasin 1, Ilic, Radojevic 1, M. Jankovic 1, Radjen 1, Gusarov 1.
Mladost: Bukic 4, Radu 2, Cuk 2, Bowen 2, Vrlic 2.
Jug bye.
Jadran Herceg Novi played without two bronze medalists from the 2020 Europeans Dimitrije Obradovic and Djuro Radovic, but it managed to collect valuable three points. After this victory, Jadran Herceg Novi is six points ahead of the team from Split.
The Montenegrins were always ahead, but during the first half, their advantage was never bigger than two goals. At Halftime, the Herceg Novi-based side was 7:5, while they doubled a lead with two goals in the first two minutes of the third period – 9:5. The visitors didn’t give in and they started climbing back. Jadran Split equalized two times in the final quarter (9:9 and 10:10). Vladan Spaic put the hosts ahead – 11:10 with 01:25 minutes to go, while Martin Gardasevic hit the back of the net after a counter-attack five seconds from the end for the final score 12:10.
Title-holder Mladost didn’t find it easy to defeat Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade. Mladost blew away Zvezda in the first match, played in Zagreb in October (16:6). Mladost rushed to a 5:1 lead and controlled the game, but the hosts were coming back from time to time. After a 2:6 fist quarter, the Serbs scored the only goal in the second period, while Mladost rebuilt a 4-goal lead after 64 seconds of play in the third quarter (7:3). Crvena Zvezda came close (5:7), but quickly after that, Mladost stretched the margin to five – 10:5 in the last minute of this period. But, the home team staged a 3:0 rush and cut the deficit once more (8:10) in the 28th minute. Still, the Regional League champion didn’t let the hosts surprise and kept the three points with a 12:9 win.
1Mladost (CRO) 10 – 27
2 Jug (CRO) 9 – 27
3 Jadran HN (MNE) 10 – 24
4 Jadran S (CRO) 10 – 18
5 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 10 – 10
Group 6th – 10th place
Budva – Mornar 9:7 (5:1, 1:2, 1:1, 2:3)
Budva: B. Ivovic 3, P. Cetkovic 2, S. Cetkovic 2, Petrovski 1, Milradovic 1.
Mornar: Jerkovic 3, Krekovic 1, Akrap 1, Buzdovancic 1, Ban 1.
Sabac – Partizan 12:11 (3:3, 3:4, 4:2, 2:2)
Sabac: Vasic 4, N. Markovic 2, M. Radulovic 2, Rogac 2, Vucinic 1, Velkic 1.
Partizan: RAdanovic 4, Vickovic 2, Barac 2, Gbadamassi 1, Smiljevic 1, Mitrovic 1
Primorac bye.
Sabac recorded a narrow win over Partizan 12:11. The Serbian derby was an even contest with a lot of turns. The difference between the sides was never larger than a goal. Partizan was in front after the 2nd quarter (7:6), but Sabac entered the last quarter with a minimal 10:9 advantage. The visitors from Belgrade equalized twice in the final quarter (10:10 and 11:11). But, Partizan had no response after Sabac’s center-forward Petar Velkic converted a man-up in the 28th minute, and the hosts celebrated a 12:11 victory.
After beating Partizan seven days ago, Budva recorded another vital win in its effort to keep a place in the A1 League. The first quarter was crucial for the outcome. Budva opened the match with a 5:1 lead. Mornar was reducing the gap step-by-step and came very close (7:8) three minutes before the end. But, the visitors couldn’t go further. Budva kept the visitors scoreless in the last three minutes and secured a 9:7 victory.
6 Sabac (SRB) 10 – 10
7 Primorac (MNE) 9 – 9
8 Budva (MNE) 10 – 9
9 Partizan (SRB) 10 – 5
10 Mornar (CRO) 10 – 5
A2 League, Day 12
Group 1st – 6th place
Primorje – Vojvodina 12:5
POSK – Radnicki 6:10
Solaris – Nais on Sunday
1 Radnicki (SRB) 12 – 34
2 Solaris (CRO) 11 – 31
3 Primorje (CRO) 12 – 30
4 Vojvodina (SRB) 12 – 24
5 Nais (SRB) 11 – 19
6 POSK (CRO) 12 – 18
Group 7th – 12th place
Cattaro – Galeb 5:11
Zemun – Triglav 20:6
Medvescak – Zadar 11:10
7 Zemun (SRB) 12 – 19
8 Galeb (CRO) 12 – 15
9 Medvescak (CRO) 12 – 9
10 Zadar 1952 (CRO) 12 – 9
11 Cattaro (MNE) 12 – 3
12 Triglav (SVN) 12 – 0
