Orlen Wisla Plock will take on Füchse Berlin for first place in Group Am but their penultimate group match was much closer than expected.
One week after their 29:15 away win at TATRAN Presov, the Polish side had big problems against the Slovak champions on home court, but eventually claimed a 33:29 victory.
Group A:
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs. TATRAN Presov (SVK) 33:29 (15:16)
- one week ago at home, Presov were down 8:13 against Plock, but tonight Radoslav Antl’s team was dominant from the start and were ahead by three goals several times
- after 9:11, Plock seemed to take control of the match pulling ahead to 14:12, but momentum swung and Presov led 16:15 at the break
- match top scorer was the man who constantly kept Presov’s hopes alive - Oliver Raek who scored nine goals from 11 attempts. Meanwhile, Brazilian goalkeeper Marcos Colodeti enjoyed a strong performance with 13 saves
- backed by the outstanding quartet Michal Daszek, Dmitry Zhitnikov Lovro Mihic (all with six goals) and Mark Sergej Kosorotov (five), Plock took a decisive advance in the last 10 minutes
- eventually, a double strike from Russian international Zhitnikov secured the 31:27 scoreline
- Plock claimed their eighth win in nine matches, while for Presov it was an eighth consecutive defeat
Plock already level their 2020/21 top result
In the 2020/21 season, Orlen Wisla Plock were the only non-German team at the EHF finals in Mannheim – and the basis for their biggest international success was finishing the group phase in the top position.
Last season, Plock won eight of ten group matches, before they eliminated Sporting and GOG in the Last 16 and quarter-finals. The Polish side is on eight victories again after nine rounds- but now face a clash for first place against Füchse Berlin in round 10.
We realized that today's match would be more difficult than the one in Presov. I can't blame my players because it was their fifth game in 11 days and they are not machines. Our first half didn't look like it should. After switching sides, we played better, but the efforts of the players with such a tight calendar should be appreciated.
