Telekom Veszprém - HC Meshkov Brest 28:20

 

 

Telekom Veszprém: Mikler – Manaskov 1, Ilic 3, Tonnesen 2, Gajic 1, Nilsson 4, Nagy 3, Marguc, Strlek 1, Terzic 1, Blagotinsek 1, Nenadic 1, Mahé 4, Mackovsek 4, Lékai 2

 

HC Meshkov Brest: Pesic, Matskevich – Kulak 4, Shkurinskiy 4, Yurynok 1, Poteko, Ivic 1, Shumak 1, Baranau, Horak, Razgor 4, Obranovic, Selviasuk, Djukic 4 (1), Djordjic, Shylovich 1

 

Penalties: 1/0 and 3/1

Suspensions: 8 min. and 8 min.

 

 

Although Meshkov started the game, the first goal was scored by Lékai Máté from a break-in and the guest team could have answered only in the 4th minute. Nagy László was suspended relatively quickly in the 5th minute then Meshkov could have reached the lead of four goals, so Davis David called his first time out at 1:5 in the start of the 10th minute. Djukic fouled against Manaskov but Gajic missed out the penalty and one more action opportunity. Mikler made some saves but the performance of Veszprém did not improve and the lead of Meshkov was still 4 goals. Luckily, Veszprém came back to the game by Manaskov, Mackovsek, Nagy and Tonnesen goals but Blagotinsek got a two minutes suspension in the 19th minute (6-7). David Davis had tried to operate some changes and Selvasiuk got a suspension also, so Veszprem was playing in one player advance but Ivan Pesic kept the away team in the game (7-8). Fortunately, Mikler was also in a good shape, then a goal by Ilic was coming and the lead of Meshkov was only 1 goal in the 27th minute (8-9). In the last few minutes, Tonnesen scored and Mikler saved again from the home team but Veszprém was not able to equalize in the first half (9-10).

 

Veszprém made substitutions at the wings positions in the second half. Strlek changed Manaskov, on the other side while Marguc replaced Gajic. First goal came by Blagotinsek and the second one from Nenadic , so Veszprém took the lead in the 4th minute (11-10). Djukic scored his penalty but Nagy answered immediately keeping the 2-goals lead (13-11). Meshkov equalized by its wing, Razgor, after a stolen ball in the 9th minutes (13-13). Borut Mackovsek scored then the away team coach asked for time out in the 13th minute (17-14). Mikler made excellent saves in the goal and Terzic scored from his own 6-meter line to the empty net reaching a 5-goal lead for Veszprém. Mikler just was on fire and the team play worked as well (21-16). Ivic scored his first goal but Nilsson answered quickly and Cadenas asked for third time out in the 24th minute (23-18). Mahé was outstanding in the second half, scored and made some excellent assists, also the atmosphere was exceptional. In the last few minutes Meshkov got a penalty but Mikler saved it. Mahé and Ilic could have also netted the empty goal and set the 8 goal gap (28-20).

 

 

David Davis: The first half Ivan Pesic was excellent, he was a big problem for us because we could not score on him. I was not satisfied with the offense, but the defense was all right. In the second half, we could attack well, and Mikler Roland started to save, also our defense was good. We could run and score easy goals. That was the key. It is a big problem for us in the last games that we cannot start well. It was enough to win today but we should not do this in thext game if we want to win the next match. The goal difference will be important, too. We still need to improve of course.

 

Roland Mikler: In the first half, Ivan Pesic’s performance was brilliant but we also contributed to it. In the second half, a different Veszprém came out just like in Skopje. The defense worked very well in front of me so I was able to save shots. It was a very good feeling to play in the second half, but it is important to be able to focus and play well not only for 30 minutes but also for 60 minutes. Especially in Kielce where we will need 60 minutes of focus to win.

 

 

Manolo Cadenas: I think that in the first half we lost a big opportunity. We played well and our goalkeeper saved well. Our team should have played better. In the second half, Veszprém started with a 3:0 run and we made mistakes. Congratulations to Veszprém, because they play in the good level. It was impossible for us to beat Veszprém now because we should have attacked better.

 

Vid Poteko: We came here today to take the 2 points. In the first half, we were playing very good and our goalkeeper was also great. In the second half, we had a poor attack. Veszprém played really good today, they deserved to win.

 

 

Photo: Dávid Vörös