Back court shooters dominate in close Group 2 and 6 matches

France, Norway and Croatia have all taken another two points from Sunday’s EHF EURO 2016 Qualification matches following convincing away victories.

Norway beat the Netherlands, Croatia won comfortably against Turkey and France faced a determined Swiss side, coming away with a convincing win. All three of these teams now sit at the tops of their respective group tables with four points from two matches.

FYR Macedonia and Czech Republic took to the court in a close battle between their powerful back-court shooters that ended in a draw, earning both teams one point. Lithuania hosted Belarus in an equally close match, which ultimately saw Belarus pull off a two-goal win.

Group 1: Netherlands vs. Norway 22:30 (9:13)

Sunday’s match between the Netherlands and Norway got off to a messy start. Both teams were clearly ready for a tough match, and the first fifteen minutes were heavy with warnings, turnovers, and penalties, mainly against a high-strung Netherlands side.

After ten minutes Norway had settled and began to pull away, leading 4:7 by the 15th minute.

The first-half finished with Norway ahead by four goals. The number of warnings, technical faults and penalties indicated nerves were still running high at this point, particularly on the Netherlands side – three of Norway’s goals in the first half came from penalties.

The Netherlands put up a strong fight against their visiting opponent, but the second half saw Norway continue with the lead they had created in the first 30 minutes.

Midway through the second half the visitors were up by five (15:20), and went on to finish the match with their second convincing win of the qualification phase.

The top scorers for the match were Fabian Van Olphen from the Netherlands with five goals, and Magnus Joendal and Kristian Björnsen from Norway with six each.

Sunday’s defeat against Norway means the Netherlands have now recorded losses against two of their group opponents (Croatia won Thursday’s qualifier 35:24).

Netherlands will need to win their second-leg match against at least one of these teams if they hope to place in the top two of the table – but Croatia and Norway are wasting no time in showing they are the dominant sides in Group 1.

Group 1: Turkey vs. Croatia 22:32 (9:16)

Croatia continued their relaxed run through the EHF EURO 2016 Qualification Phase with a second win on Sunday in Ankara.

The formidable squad are making it clear that even with the absence of Domagoj Duvnjak (in Kiel with eye problems), they are capable of the same high-class play no matter who they meet on court.

The first half of Sunday’s match saw Croatia play a disciplined, steady game, gradually edging ahead to hold a seven-goal lead going into the break.

Turkey’s star player, Ramazan Döne, again took the lead for the hosts, scoring five of their nine goals in the first half.

Croatia continued to increase their lead throughout the second half, ending the match with a convincing ten-goal victory.

Ramazan Döne recorded eight goals for Turkey, finishing the match as top scorer for his team. Ivan Cupic and Marko Kopljar were the highest scorers for Croatia, with six goals each.

Sunday’s win keeps Croatia at the top of the Group 1 table with Norway. The premiere group showdown will be when these teams play their double-header in April and May 2015.

Group 2: Lithuania vs. Belarus 28:30 (13:13)

It was in Group 2 that Sunday’s second dramatic match took place. Lithuania hosted Belarus in a tense game between two well-matched teams that ended in a nail-biting victory for the visitors.

Solid defence and strong back court players dominated the game, with the top few scorers for both teams coming from the back positions.

The match was close all the way through, from the first whistle to when a level score was taken into the half-time break.

It was only after the 35th minute that a possible victor started to emerge as Belarus took the lead, creating a four-goal gap in just five minutes (16:20).

Lithuania responded but had to work hard to level the score, which they did in the last ten minutes of the match (27:27 in the 54th minute) when they seemed to benefit from a straight red card in the 53rd minute to one of Belarus' best players, Dzianis Rutenka.

Both teams scrambled to score quick goals as the clock wound down, but it was Belarus who ultimately sealed the victory thanks to the upper-hand created early in the second half.

Sunday’s match was a clear contest between centre backs, with both Lithuanian Aidenas Malasinskas and Belarusian Barys Pukhouski recording 11 goals each.

Group 6: Czech Republic vs. FYR Macedonia 27:27 (18:11)

Following a disappointing loss for Czech Republic against France in their qualification opener, Sunday’s home side were eager for a chance to make amends.

With no clear favourite ahead of the meeting between the sides in Zlin, it was no surprise that the match was a close one.

By midway through the first half the score was level (6:6), and the game was already looking to be dominated by both team’s big back court shooters.

When play resumed after a time-out called by FYR Macedonia in the 16th minute, Czech Republic returned with renewed determination, creating a four-goal lead in less than ten minutes and ultimately going into the half-time break ahead by seven (18:11).

The second half continued much the same as the first, with the main on-court battle taking place on the back court (the top scorers on behalf of both teams were back court players).

FYR Macedonia were looking dangerous as they slowly narrowed the score line and when Kiril Lazarov scored his seventh goal in the 45th minute, the away side came within two goals of their hosts (23:21).

A goal by Macedonian centre back Filip Mirkulovski in the 52nd minute equalised the match (25:25), before an outright red card disqualified Czech Republic’s Jan Sobol. A penalty shot was consequently awarded to the visitors, but Lazarov failed to convert and the score remained tied.

Czech Republic pulled ahead twice more over the next ten minutes, but the score was always levelled soon after by the determined visitors.

Macedonia’s Mirkulovski received a two-minute suspension with less than fifteen seconds left on the clock, giving Czech a small window of opportunity to score a quick goal and seal the victory.

A last-minute shot by Tomas Babak failed to find the back of the goal, ending the match in a well-deserved draw following what was a hard-fought match for both teams.

Lazarov finished the match as the top scorer for Macedonia, with ten goals. Linhart and Zdrahala were the highest scorers for Czech, with seven goals each.

Group 6: Switzerland vs. France 24:33 (11:15)

Switzerland may have recorded a loss against FYR Macedonia in their first qualification match on Wednesday, but the score line did not reflect the strong fight and well-executed attack of the Swiss side – just as it did not on Sunday when the team faced France.

The first ten minutes of the match progressed evenly with a tense, physical battle that resulted in seven penalty shots within the first fifteen minutes.

After ten minutes, the class of the French began to show as they slowly pulled ahead of their hosts. Switzerland refused to let them go however, answering almost every goal of the EHF EURO 2014 champions.

Despite France’s lead fairly early on, the match was far from one-sided. Toward the end of the first 30 minutes, no goals were scored for almost five minutes until Nikola Karabatic took his goal tally to four with three seconds left of play. The visitors subsequently took a four-goal lead into half-time (11:15).

The second half was tough for both teams, but led by Nikola Karabatic (seven goals total), who proved his value under pressure, France slowly increased the score line to lead by seven goals with ten minutes remaining. The match ended with another clear victory for France.

Left wing Michael Guigou and Karabatic were top scorers for France with seven goals, whilst Roman Sidorowiz was superb for Switzerland, scoring nine goals from ten shots.

Sunday’s results mean Switzerland is now at the bottom of the table alone, with France in the lead on four points, FYR Macedonia in second place and Czech Republic in third.