Chambery shocked by Skopje
Chambery shocked by Skopje
Usually the arena in Chambéry is a fortress, but on Sunday the host was too weak to win their opener against surprisingly strong Macedonians.
Besides, Berlin had a tough task to stand to beat Minsk, while Kielce easily clashed Bjerringbro in their first Group Phase matches of the VELUX EHF Champions League.
Group C:
Chambéry Savoie (FRA) – Metalurg Skopje (MKD) 30:33 (13:15)
Chambéry missed their first occasion to score points in the Champions League. In a group where no-one is a firm favourite, that's a bad start for the French runners-up, while the Macedonians jumped for joy.
No one can say Skopje don’t deserve their win, because they have been ahead all the match, except at the end of the first half. After 12 minutes, they were already leading by four goals (8:4), thanks to their newcomer Renato Vugrinec. But Skopje’s players were given a lot of two minutes suspensions, and the French team took the opportunity to come back and at the 27th minute, the locals were leading 13:12. A late run still allowed Skopje to reach the pause with a two goals advantage, 15:13.
Back from the changing rooms, Chambéry missed a lot of opportunities against strong Metalurg goalkeeper Darko Stanić, who managed to take back a four goals advantage (22:18 at the 40th). Even as Kevynn Nyokas was excellent in his first match in the VELUX EHF Champions League, he couldn't carry his team on his shoulders, and soon Skopje was having the biggest lead of the game, 29:24 in minute 51.
With a final score of 33:30 for Skopje, Laurent Munier, Chambéry’s manager, was not happy: “We knew that the addition of Vugrinec in the Skopje's roster would bring us in trouble. I think that our young players except Nyokas lacked a bit of experience and missed some important shots. It’s a disappointment because we could have gained some points in this match”.
Vive Targi Kielce (POL) – Bjerringbro Silkeborg 35:26 (17:12)
But his team was weak in the beginning, as it took ten minutes, when they scored their first goals. The main reason for their bad percentage in attack was Kielce goalkeeper Slawomir Szmal, who saved superb.
And pushed by their spectators Kielce took an easy, clear victory – in which the two Croats Ivan Čupić (nine goals) and Musa (7) were the icing of the cake. Coach Bogdan Wenta was satisfied with his team and the atmosphere: “The audience was great and I know that they can afford even more. The final stage may not reflect the entire game, we knew that the Silkeborg set tough conditions. The Danes tightly pulled back and play well lined defense. I am happy with the game of Slawomir Szmal, who not long ago was sick.”
The so praised goalkeeper Szmal analyzed: “It was decisive that our defence cooperated well, so that we could start counter-attacks. We had prepared well for the match we were focused and realized pre-match assumptions. We look forward to the next matches.”
Füchse Berlin (GER) - Dinamo Minsk (BLR) 29:25 (13:13)
For both teams it was the start to their second VELUX EHF Champions League season, and both teams showed fighting spirit until the end – and favoured Füchse had to give much more than they had expected against the brave Belarusian champions.
The first 30 minutes were completely leveled though the Germans intermediately were in lead 8:5 thanks to their brilliant left wing Ivan Ninčević, who became top scorer with eight goals. But Minsk equalized at the break, and everything was open again.
Due to their needle-pin counter-attacks Dinamo put the host under pressure until the final stage. But when Iker Romero was on the court, the Füchse match play was more coordinated, and Berlin found their rhythm. But it took until minute 58 and the 27:25, scored by Jaszka, when the game was decided.
