Vojvodina take big step towards historic title
Vojvodina celebrated a 30:23 win against defending champions Nærbø IL in the first-leg match of the EHF European Cup Men, which took place on Sunday in the Serbian city of Novi Sad. The victory in front of a raucous sold-out crowd of 2,000 fans pulled Vojvodina closer towards winning their maiden European title ahead of the second-leg match in Norway on Saturday 3 June.
FINAL, FIRST LEG
Vojvodina (SRB) vs Nærbø IL (NOR) 30:23 (15:8)
- Nærbø opened a 2:0 lead early in the match, but Vojvodina quickly seized the initiative, as a 10:2 run helped them to a 10:4 lead at minute 20
- powered by solid defence and Fran Lucin's string of saveds the Serbian team increased their advantage to seven goals at the break, 15:8
- after the restart, Vojvodina's lead reached the maximum of nine goals several times between the 39th and 44th minutes
- however, title-holders did not give up, slashing the gap to 25:19 following a 3:0 run and some saves by Halvor Elias Naerland
- Vojvodina's 30 goals were more or less evenly distributed among their 10 scorers, with Luka Rogan leading the way with five
- in contrast, John Thue (eight) and Theodor Svensgard (six) combined for 14 of 23 Nærbø's goals
Serbian champions enjoyed good week
On Wednesday, Vojvodina confirmed their dominant role in the Serbian handball, winning the domestic league for the tenth straight time. In the final series, the team from Novi Sad proved too strong for Partizan Belgrade.
Just four days later, the Balkan side completed their good week by taking a victory against Nærbø. Sure, a seven-goal gap does not guarantee a title ahead of a difficult voyage to Norway, but now it looks like Vojvodina have a good chance to grab another title next Saturday.Â
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