Telekom Veszprém – Meshkov Brest 31:25 (14:14)
Telekom Veszprém: Székely, Cupara – Yahia 2, Moraes, Tönnesen 3, Gajic 5, Nilsson 1, Marguc 3 (2), Lauge 4, Strlek 5, Terzic, Blagotinsek, Nenadic 5 (1), Mackovsek, Borozan 3
Meshkov Brest: Pesic, Matskevich – Kulak, Panic 1, Shkurinskiy 2, Yurynok, Obradovic 3, Accambray 5, Shumak 3, Baranau, Razgor, Obranovic 1, Selviasiuk 3, Djukic 3 (2), Vailupau 2, Malus 2
Penalties: 3/3 and 2/2
Suspensions: 8 min. and 2 min.
Telekom Veszprém met the Belarussian Meshkov Brest this time in the Veszprém Aréna. The guests started the game, but after a missed shot Nenadic scored the first goal, then Stlrek scored a fastbreak goal. Tönnesen got 2 minutes suspension and Brest scored their first goal. Marguc scored the first Veszprém penalty very confidently (7. min 4-2). After Blagotinsek’s 2 minutes suspension the guests could not realise their attack, but Nilsson scored on the other side. The ex-Veszprém player Accambray scored his 3. goal and Brest came up by one goal. In the 18 minute Brest equalised (8-8). Cupara was brilliant in the goal, so Nenadic could increase the home advantage again to 2 goals. Borozan and Yahia came and scored nice goals right away. The guests kept the game close and they could answer to every Veszprém goal. Davis took a timeout 3 minutes before the end, but the result was a 14-14 draw in the break.
The second half started with a nice Gajic and Tönnesen goal. With Marguc’s penalty Veszprém ran away by 3 goals. After 38 minute play Brest took a timeout, because they could not find the solution of the home defense. With Strlek’s goal the difference was 5 goals for the first time (43. min 22-17). Veszprém played very well and scored beautiful goals, while Brest was suffering and could score only 4 goals in 15 minutes. Nenadic was a magician again, he scored huge goals and gave nice assists. The last 10 minutes started with a 6 goals Veszprém advantage (27-21). In the endgame Davis gave a chance for almost everyone. Gajic beated the buzzer and made the final result. Veszprém earned a well deserved victory.
David Davis: I am very happy about our game. Just like Brest we were focusing on the defense and it was working very well today just like our goalkeeper. The first half was equal just like most of the games in the Champions League but in the second half we had more players to choose from and the changes worked very well so I think this was the difference and the key to win today.
Borut Mackovsek: We played good, especially in defense. I think we are going to better and better and this is the most important. We scored many easy goals, that made the game easier for us. The first half was equal, but we could keep the high intensity for 60 minutes and we could keep home the two important points.
William Accambray: I am very happy that I could be here again. I love my ex-team mates, the club and the fans. We did not play bad, we were good in the first half, but we could not keep this level for 60 minutes. Playing like this, it is impossible to beat a team like Veszprém. Congratulation to them.
Raul Alonso: Congratulations to Veszprém! We know how hard it is to play here. We were trying to focus on our defense and we wanted to be in the game as long as possible. In the first half, we were playing very good. Unfortunately, the second half was awful. We made many technical mistakes and Veszprém punished them all. As we put a lot of pressure in to our defense, we became insecure in the attacks. We had a wrong 10 minutes in both half and Veszprém deserved to win today.
Photo: Dávid Vörös