Romanian teams are always unpredictable for the Krim Mercator, as the statistics of the last few years show. In the 2022/23 season, the Tigresses were eliminated in the Play-Off of the most elite European club competition against CS Rapid Bucuresti, and last year against CSM Bucuresti.
Two clubs against which this season’s opponents of Dragan Adžić‘s side have already shown their quality and beaten them. The first in the Romanian National Championship, the latter in the first round of the EHF Champions League.
Figures that could have scared the Krim family, but this was not the case. The blue jerseys handball players adapted quickly to the fast pace of the game. Four goals fell one after the other, two for each team. Jovanka Radičević scored first from the wing, followed by Tjaša Stanko with a nice play in the middle.
Who gave Ljubljana its first lead of the game at Teraplast Arena? Who else but captain Ana Gros. She scored from the seven-metre line at the beginning of the fifth minute for 4:3.
And then… Goal after goal. A goal by Krim Mercator and, on the other side, by Romania’s Gloria, and then the Tigresses again, and the hosts again. Until the 15th minute, when Krim’s captain was sent off. Then both Frenchwomen were among the scorers for the visitors.
Grace Zaadi Deuna for 11:10 and then Tamara Horaček for 12:10. It was the latter who was the hero at the end of the first half with her two goals, when at the sound of the buzzer she made the score 20:19 in favour of her team.
And if it seemed like a great game for the Tigersses, they came back from the locker room to the floor even more confident. They immediately scored four in a row (twice by Horaček, once each by Zaadi Deuna and Gros) and some great defenses by Barbara Arenhart to increase the lead to +5.
Then a blackout. In ten minutes, Adžić’s squad managed to score only once. It was a good thing that at least the defence was solid, so that the hosts only got closer, but not tied.
The captain of the Krim family got her teammates back into rhythm, and a two-minute penalty by Yaroslava Burlachenko at the end of the 53rd minute was also important, during which the Ljubljana team pulled away again by three goals. That was the difference with three minutes to go, when the scoreboard read 29:32. It was going to be a real treat to end a tight game.
A treat topped with a cherry on top by the Krim! The final score was 35:30 and the third consecutive victory in this season of the EHF Champions League. There is nothing more to add.
After such an opening to the season, a short break from European club handball might not come at the right time for the handball players of Krim Mercator. But they will surely return to the floor even more motivated. Especially because the next two games are home games. On Saturday, 5 and 12 October, at 18:00 in Arena Stožice. First against Storhamar and then against CSM Bucuresti.
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Dragan Adžić, head coach of Krim Mercator: »It’s a great away win against a very tough team. It seems that this is just the beginning of our project this year. With the great energy of our handball players we succeeded this time, and a big thank you to all our fans who supported us in Romania!«
Barbara Arenhart, goalkeeper of Krim Mercator: »I’m very happy for the result today. We were ready for a tough game and that’s exactly what it was. The atmosphere made everything even more tense. We are happy to be coming home with two points.«
EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, GROUP PHASE, ROUND 3
Saturday, 21th September 2024, at 16.00
CS GLORIA 2018 BN (ROM) : KRIM MERCATOR 30:35 (19:20)
CS Gloria 2018 BN: Burlachenko, De Araujo Frossard 3, So Delgado Pinto 8, Kapitanović, Bazaliu, Kerekes, Fujita 4, Niombla 1, Seraficeanu, Kirdiasheva 9, Nosek 1, Kácsor, De Arruda, Nocun 1, Vukčević 1, Mbengue Rodríguez 2.
Krim Mercator: Radičević 1, Stanko 6, Gros 9, Zaadi Deuna 4, Abina A., Arenhart 1, N’Diaye 2, Vojnovič, Gutierrez Bermejo 4, Varagić, Pandžić, Horaček 7, Ngombele 1, Brnović, Abina E.
7-meters: CS Gloria 2018 BN: 6/6, RK Krim Mercator: 3/5
2-minutes suspensions: CS Gloria 2018: 2 min, Krim Mercator: 6 min
PHOTO: CS Gloria 2018 BN