The Croatian champions started the Champions League with a victory. True, five-pointers, but every victory is always happy. In dramatic circumstances, Jadran led the matches in the Poljud pool against Radnički 3:0 and 4:1, only for the opponent to take the lead for the first time, but only 11 and a half seconds before the end of the game (9:10 – Vasić). VK Jadran was on the verge of defeat, but Loren Fatović ensured it didn’t happen with a goal 2 seconds before the end! A goal for 10:10 and a five-pointer in which one defense by young Čelar in the 3rd series was enough for VK Jadran’s victory.
It would look like that, almost telegraphically. But in the last minute of the fourth quarter, the game offered much more than excitement.
Bijač was outstanding
Our champion did not start well, but it was great. The first quarter was 2:0, and the second was 3:0, with some opportunities to increase the lead even further. Marko Bijač proverbially excelled in goal, saving a penalty against the Serbian national team player, Strahinja Rašović. The defense of Jadran with one less player is excellent. After all, the opponent scored the first goal of the match only in the 15th minute, that is, a little less than two minutes before the end of the second quarter (Pijetlović from the goal post, attack with a higher player – goal for 3:1). In the very next attack, Australian Berehulak scored for 4:1, the lead of Jadran. But then Radnički shows how high-quality and robust they are. From an almost hopeless situation, they returned to the game quickly. Namely, by halftime, they reduced the score to only 4:3. They managed to score three goals in almost a minute and a half.
Fatović also started
In the third quarter, Radnički got even more “stuck”, at one point even leveling (5:5), but Loren Fatović played the second half of the match perfectly. From the halftime score of 4:3 for the home team, Loren scored all of the next four goals for Jadran. Simultaneous! The timing of the hits is even more critical. For example, a goal for 7:5 is only two seconds before the end of the third quarter. And a goal to make it 8:5 at the beginning of the last part.
In this quarter, Jadran once again had a +3 (9:6), exactly five minutes to the end, and Radnički managed to tie the game at 9:9, mainly from the attack with a man. We then followed the finale, which we described in the introduction.
In the second match of Group B, Ferencvaros beat Dinamo Tbilisi at home 16:7.
Jadran will play its next match in Tbilisi against Dinamo on October 15.
In Group A, Novi Beograd beat Steaua of our left-hander Ivan Živković 11:7, while in Magdeburg, Oradea won against Waspo 98 Hannover 11:10 away. Buha scored three goals, and Milardović scored 1 goal for those defeated by the Croats.
SOURCE: Croatian Water Polo Federation