Norway defeat France, Sweden continue Russia’s nightmare

Round 3 of EHF EURO 2018 Qualification opened with five exciting matches on Wednesday evening, as the Netherlands claimed their first victory of the phase in Latvia, Ukraine continued the pattern of home wins for Group 4 teams, and Slovakia and Montenegro played a thrilling draw.

In Group 7, Norway exacted revenge against France for their World Championship Final defeat in January by recording a clear five-goal win thanks in part to a stunning performance from Sander Sagosen, while the Group 6 encounter between Russia and Sweden saw the Scandinavian side move into a clear lead on the table with six points.

GROUP 1
Latvia vs Netherlands 27:29 (13:15)

The Netherlands celebrated their first two points of the qualification phase with a strong performance on Wednesday evening in Valmiera.

The first quarter was level before the Netherlands switched gears, taking the score from 7:6 for Latvia to 10:14 in favour of the visitors within 10 minutes.

While both teams had six players on the score board in the first half, there was no doubt who stood out in this encounter, as Latvia’s Dainis Kristopans and Netherlands Joris Baart tallied 13 goals between them in the first half. 

Two suspensions late in the first period hurt the Netherlands’ advantage, as they saw a five-goal advantage shrink to two by the time the whistle sounded for the break.

In the second half the Netherlands struggled to keep Latvia at bay, as their lead continuously changed from one to three goals and the final buzzer drew closer. Both teams had found the answer to the other’s most dangerous weapon, as Baart scored no goals in the second period and Kristopans added just two more.

Yet another suspension for the Netherlands in a crucial period had the visitors on edge, as Kay Smits was sent off with less than two minutes on the clock. But the Dutch held on through the high-pressure final minutes, finishing with a two-goal victory.

GROUP 4
Ukraine vs Czech Republic 26:23 (14:12)

Ahead of Round 3’s clashes, all four sides in Group 4 were level on two points thanks to a win on home soil in the opening two matches. Ukraine continued the trend of victories for the host teams when they claimed their second set of two points on Wednesday night in Sumy.

The match opened evenly with both teams relying heavily on one player – after 13 minutes Ukraine’s Stanislav Zhukov and Czech Republic’s Jakub Hrstka (nine goals total) had each contributed four goals from four shots.

Following a level 5:5 at the 10-minute mark, Ukraine took charge and kept their visitors from scoring for five minutes while they created a three-goal lead.

Arten Kozakevych (seven goals) joined Zhukov’s scoring rampage, helping Ukraine retain a two-goal lead at the break, and that advantage proved crucial as the hosts continued with the same momentum in the second half.

Zhukov scored his sixth goal just inside the last quarter of the match, Ukraine took a 22:18 advantage, and everything seemed to be on track for the hosts.

Czech Republic came within two goals with just under 10 minutes left at 23:21, but they could not decrease the score line any further and Ukraine held on to move up to four points on the table.

GROUP 6
Slovakia vs Montenegro 27:27 (15:11)

With everything open in Group 6 thanks largely to Russia’s rocky qualification campaign that meant both Slovakia and Montenegro claimed a draw in their encounters, the teams took to the court in Hlohovec with high hopes.

For Slovakia, a place at their first EHF EURO since 2012 was at stake, and the home team used their ambition and support from the crowd to claim the upper hand almost immediately. Though the score board progressed one for one, Slovakia were always first to add to their tally while Montenegro chased.

Midway through the half the home team were in front 6:5, and as the clock passed 20 minutes they found their rhythm. From 8:8 in the 19^th to 11:9 in the 25^th thanks to Tomas Urban’s fifth goal – Slovakia looked increasingly dangerous with six players on the score board late in the half compared with Montenegro’s three.

Urban added one more prior to the break for a tally of six in the first 30 minutes, as Slovakia took a four-goal advantage to the dressing room.

Led by Vardar left back Vuko Borozan, who top scored for the visitors with 11 goals, Montenegro returned stronger after the break.

Slovakia maintained a steady two to three-goal advantage until the dying minutes when Lubomir Duris received a two-minute suspension, which proved the crucial turning point.

Goals from Vasko Sevaljevic and Borozan levelled the score for Montenegro at 26:26 with just over two minutes left, and as both Borozan and Urban added one more goal each, the match finished in a draw – the third for Group 6 in the qualification phase.

Russia vs Sweden 21:29 (10:17)

After beginning their EHF EURO 2018 Qualification campaign with two unexpected draws against Montenegro and Slovakia, Russia hoped to return stronger for the double header against Sweden.

But it became clear early on that the home side’s nightmare campaign would continue, as it took Russia over eight minutes to find the goal for the first time. The goal was courtesy of Daniil Shishkarev, but at that point Sweden had already scored four from four different players – setting the tone for the rest of the game to come.

Sweden’s defence backed by Mikael Appelgren was outstanding, forcing Russia’s most creative attack and showing no mercy when they did break through.

Midway through the half Sweden remained in control, leading 10:4 with an impressive 83 per cent for both attacking and shooting accuracy – a total of only two missed shots.

Appelgren continued to cause serious trouble for the hosts, saving shots that should have been easy goals for Russia to keep Sweden in charge at 12:7 just past the 20^th minute, then 17:10 at half-time.

Sweden maintained a six-goal lead 10 minutes into the second period thanks to goals from Jim Gottfridsson and top scorer of the match Niclas Ekberg (eight goals total), as Russia coach Dimitri Torgovanov rotated through his bench.

But as the last 10 minutes began Sweden still held a commanding six-goal lead and it was clear they would claim the two points at the final whistle. 

GROUP 7
Norway vs France 35:30 (12:11)

Just as they did in the World Championship 2017 Final at the end of January, Norway started the match stronger, creating a 5:2 advantage by the eighth minute when left wing Magnus Joendal tallied his second goal.

Both teams played solid defence that kept the score progressing slowly, with no goals for almost four minutes from either side until Joendal struck again while Ludovic Fabregas was off court on a two-minute suspension.

At the 15-minute mark Norway remained in control at 7:4, as France struggled for ideas to beat the flat 6-0 defence. The Scandinavian team kept their three-goal lead at 10:7 in the 23^rd, prompting France coaches Didier Dinart and Guillaume Gille to call a time-out that prove a temporary fix.

Within two minutes France drew level, before goals from Sander Sagosen enabled Norway to reclaim a critical one-goal advantage before the break.

Though France took control with the first two goals of the second period, Norway made it clear they had learned from their mistakes at the World Championship where they let Les Experts take charge in the second 30 minutes.  

As the last 15 minutes began Norway held a narrow edge at 23:22, but three minutes later they had pulled ahead to a three-goal distance France would be unable to shake.

The hosts kept control and through the last five minutes, with centre back Sagosen on fire as he made his way to a total of 12 goals for the match, moved ahead to a final score line of five – with the last goal fittingly scored by captain Bjarte Myrhol.