Motor get off to perfect start

HC Motor Zaporozhye got off to a perfect start in Group D of the VELUX EHF Champions League, as they won 30:24 at home after several nine goal leads against the reorganised team from HC Metalurg

GROUP D
HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) vs HC Metalurg (MKD) 30:24 (13:9)

Before the start of the group phase, Metalurg coach Lino Cervar named Motor Zaporozhye favourites in the direct encounter against his Skopje based team.

The experienced coach's judgement was proved right in the EksFors Ice Terminal in Brovary on Saturday evening, as his reorganised team were defeated by six goals by their Ukrainian hosts.

At a low-scoring start, both teams had trouble finding their game, but Motor were the first team to make things work fairly well, and this gave them a three goal lead at 5:2 and later a five goal edge at 11:6.

An aggressive Motor defence made it difficult for Metalurg to get any rhythm in their attacking play, and even though numerous opportunities were still missed at both ends of the court, the home team were better at making use of their chance, which enabled them to take a four goal lead with them to half-time.

Metalurg also tried an aggressive defence, but they never had the same success with their 5-1 and 4-2 formations, as their opponents had with theirs.

On the contrary, Motor came even more easily to their goals in the second half, than they did before the break, and the home team were leading by nine goals several times, before Metalurg scored the last three goals of the match.

Left back Sergii Burka scored nine goals for Motor, while Austrian right back Janko Bozovic scored ten times for Metalurg.