Group C all square after home victories

All four teams are level on points in Group C after two rounds. So far, teams in this group have only won at home and it was time for Byasen Trondheim and ÉRD HC to grab their first points.

• All teams in Group C have two points after playing two games each

• Rostov-Don played their first EHF Cup match under the new head coach Frederic Bougeant

• ÉRD’s Katarina Krpez Slezak was the top scorer of the day with 11 goals

GROUP C

Byasen Trondheim (NOR) vs Rostov-Don (RUS) 29:24 (18:13)

Despite being appointed Rostov’s head coach in December, Frederic Bougeant could not travel to Russia for the Round 1 game against ÉRD due to visa problems. Nevertheless his team won under the guidance of substitute coach Tatyana Bereznyak.

In Trondheim, the Frenchman was on Rostov’s bench, but it was not the debut he had hoped for. The ten opening minutes were a nightmare for the visitors, as Byasen took an 8:1 lead. The Russian side made too many mistakes, which were punished by Trondheim’s Emilie Arntzen, Marit Jacobsen and their teammates.

Over the course of the game Rostov improved their attack and started to catch up. Byasen’s lead was still visible at half time (18:13), but Bougeant’s team pushed hard to draw level in the 47th minute, when Alexandrina Cabral Barbosa made the score 23:23.

While this seemed to be a turning point, Byasen had a 5:0 run in the next five minutes, which ultimately decided the match. Rostov had no time for another comeback and had to accept defeat.

ÉRD HC (HUN) vs SG BBM Bietigheim (GER) 35:27 (17:16)

Although ÉRD lost their match last week in Rostov, they performed well and made a good impression. On their home court against Bietigheim, the Hungarian team played a solid game which rightfully earned two points.

Bietigheim scored 39 goals against Byasen in Round 1, however in Erd they struggled in attack from the opening minutes. In particular, Susann Müller was not as successful as last week, when she found the back of the net ten times.The hosts quickly took the initiative, and were up 9:5 in the 11th minute, and 15:8 in the 20th. However, Bietigheim fought hard and nearly drew level by the break (17:16).

But in the second half ÉRD were clearly dominant, and this was reflected in the score. Their Serbian right wing Katarina Krpez Slezak had a great game, finishing with 11 goals.  The hosts were in front 25:19 midway through the half, and they went on to obtain their first victory in Group C.

Martin Fruelund Albersen, Bietigheim's head coach was ultimately disappointed with the result: "We know it was a very tough game today. We also know that this is a hard court, the opponent ÉRD hadn't lost any games here this season. Today we didn't play our best, and I'm a bit sad about it.  A lot of things didn't work for us."

These feelings were echoed by Bietigheim's left back Maura Visser: "I think it was a good game, but we didn't play our best and we should learn from that. We haven't lost a game since last year, this brought us back to Earth.  We have an important game in the Bundesliga on Wednesday, so we don't have much time to think."

On the other hand, ÉRD's head coach Edina Szabó was happy with her team's strong effort: "The game was really intense and I'm glad that in the second half our play was stable, that is why we could win with so many goals."

She wanted to take the time to enjoy the victory, and thanked fans for their support: "We must stop and appreciate this victory, these two points are really important to us in this hard group that we are in...I would like to thank the fans.. they produced an astonishing atmosphere."

ÉRD's centre back Andjela Bulatovic, who had her birthday on the day of the match, praised her teammates strong effort during the difficult game: "I think it was a tough game. If you look at the scores, you might not think that it was such a hard match. Our defence in the second half was good and our goalkeeper was great. We really needed these two points, but we must continue our hard work and focus on the upcoming matches."