Buducnost prove too strong for Lokomotiva
WHC Buducnost BEMAX rebounded at home and ended a three-game losing streak in the EHF Champions League Women 2022/23 season by defeating HC Lokomotiva Zagreb 25:18.
The Montenegrin club produced a good performance against the Croatian side, with Ivana Godec's six goals and Jelena Vukcevic's five-goal outing sealing Buducnost's place in the play-offs and eliminating Lokomotiva from the competition.
GROUP B
WHC Buducnost BEMAX (MNE) vs HC Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO) 25:18 (16:8)
- Buducnost made a good start as Ivana Godec scored five Buducnost's 10 goals to give them a five-goal lead
- Lokomotiva's defence was fragile and could not find a solution to stop the opponents' attack, which Buducnost could do, and the Croatian side only scored their first goal in the fifth minute
- the Croatian club trailed by eight goals at half-time as they were only able to convert 36 per cent of their shots in the first half, while Buducnost were on 76 per cent
- the home team's lead reached double digits (20:10) six minutes into the second half
- Armelle Attingré had an extraordinary day at the office with 15 saves after 40 minutes of playing time, including 13 stops in the first half; young Andrea Skerovic added another five in the last 20 minutes of the game with a 41 per cent save efficiency
Buducnost back on track
Buducnost ended their three-game losing streak and returned to winning ways on Saturday evening. After securing a narrow 25:24 win in Zagreb in round 3 of the EHF Champions League Women, Buducnost did not let the Croatian club get in their way.
Bojana Popovic's team wanted to get back on track not only in the competition but also at home. In five home matches, Buducnost had only defeated Storhamar Handball Elite, drawn against CS Rapid Bucuresti and lost three other matches. Buoyed by a good defensive performance and powerful attack, Buducnost reached their goal of earning a spot in the play-offs, which they missed last season when they finished seventh in group A.
A great fight and a well-deserved victory. Our wish was to win two points and we succeeded in that. We prepared well for Lokomotiva, it was not easy, and it is very important that all the players got a chance.
We made too many mistakes. There was no necessary discipline in our game. We had problems stopping the cooperation of the backs with the line player; Buducnost BEMAX thus scored a large number of goals and won a lot of penalties.
This is a great experience for us, we are playing in the Champions League for the first time, and Buducnost BEMAX has been in this competition for more than 20 years.
