Handball players Sesveta they did not manage to qualify for the second stage of the Europa League group stage, in the last match of the 6th round of Group F they lost away to Sweden Kristianstada at 27-28 (11-15). Ivan Dumenčić with seven i Zlatko Raužan with five goals they led Sesvete, while Eliott Stenmalm with seven and Axel Mansson with six goals were the best for Kristianstad.
Sesvete: EHF European League, MRK Sesvete – HC Vardar 1961 |
Sesvećani needed a win in Sweden to advance, but at no point in the game were they in the lead. However, they had several opportunities at the end of the game to do just that, but it was in those moments that they seemed to run out of courage. Namely, after they managed to level the score at 25-25 entering the last 10 minutes with a 5-0 run, and then in the next three minutes it was goal-for-goal until 27-27, in the last more than seven minutes only one goal was scored, and it was scored by the Swedish team.
Sesvete had three attacks to take the lead, but they missed the first with a foul in the attack, the second with a wrong pass on a circular attack, and the third time Dumenčić shot high over the goal. Even in the last minute, Sesvećani had two unsuccessful attacks when they were behind by one goal. The last hope was taken away by Bang, who saved Finek’s shot from the wing.
Kristianstad achieved the key break in the middle of the first half when Sesveta used a seven-minute period without a goal to escape from 7-6 to 11-6. Then until the eveningć in the aforementioned big series, the difference between the two was between three and five goals for Kristianstad.
Sesvete finished the competition in third place with five points, while Kristianstad was second with nine. In addition to Kristianstad, Vardar also secured the passage, which won 10 points, while Toulouse remained at the bottom with no points.