Perfect Györ hand heavy home defeat to FTC

Györi Audi ETO KC ended Ferencváros’s unbeaten home run in the EHF Champions League as the visitors handed FTC one of their biggest home defeats.

Györ are practically in the FINAL4 after their 13-goal victory against their domestic rival.

The return leg will take place on 9 April in Györ.

QUARTER-FINAL, 1st LEG

FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN) 18:31 (12:17)

Gabor Elek had praised Györ’s defence before the derby and the visitors were quick to prove that he was right with his assassement of the all-Hungarian quarter-final.

The jam-packed Dabas arena (with a 200 strong travelling away fans) saw the visitors take control of the game early on as FTC struggled to find a way past Györ’s massive wall and the excellent Kari Aalvik Grimsbø.

From nine meters out they called on Eduarda Amorim, from the fast breaks on Aniko Kovacsics and the once again unstoppable Nycke Groot scored goals at will; thus Gabor Elek was forced to take his second timeout just 18 minutes into the game when FTC were trailing by 4 goals.

Györ continued to dominate and the home side only managed to remain close thanks to Viktoria Lukacs’s efforts but FTC looked helpless at half-time as the home side failed to record a shot on goal from the line and the backs’ efficiency was 7/16.

Bad would soon turn worse for Ferencváros as Györ extended their lead to double digits in the second half.

The match – and perhaps the quarter-final battle, too – was long decided when Anita Görbicz took to the court and scored her first international goal after a four-month injury setback.

Groot, Amorim and Loke not only defended extremely well but regularly found the net at the other end.

Gabor Elek looked to the reserves to find a player who could change the tide but all of FTC’s sources of creativity and goals misfired and the home side were approaching their heaviest ever Women’s Champions League defeat with only six goals in the second half.

Grimsbø continued to impress and kept her saving percentage above 50 per cent; the visitors’ impregnable defence had a lot to do with her amazing performance.

The fact that Györ managed to restrict the most prolific team of the Champions League to 18 goals speaks volumes about the defensive effectiveness of Ambros Martín’s team, who ended Ferencváros’s unbeaten home run with a convincing win.

Ambros Martín believed the key to victory had been their defence and goalkeeping spectacle: "I am obviously satisfied with the result, keeping Ferencváros at 18 goals away is a wonderful performance.

"We wanted to make life hard for FTC’s players in attack and did so with agressive defending and the outstanding Grimsbø, who was simply perfect.”

Ferencváros’s defensive stalwart Klara Szekeres claimed fastbreak goals made the difference: "We have only one goal for the second leg - to bow out with a great performance in Györ.”

Györ’s Nycke Groot really enjoyed the game: "It feels so nice to play in front of these magnificent fans in such a great atmosphere. Kari [Grimsbø] and our defence were fantastic.”