Lublin fly to Gran Canaria as Polish champions

When Rocasa Gran Canaria and MKS Perla Lublin meet for the first leg of the Women’s Challenge Cup Final this coming Sunday, Lublin will be arriving as newly crowned Polish champions, while Gran Canaria, who won the Challenge Cup two years ago, are still in a tight battle for the Spanish title.

FINAL, FIRST LEG
Rocasa Gran Canaria (ESP) vs MKS Perla Lublin (POL)
Sunday 6 May, 14.00 local time, live on ehftv.com

When MKS Perla Lublin fly to Gran Canaria for the first leg of the final against Challenge Cup 2015/16 winners Rocasa, they will do so as Polish champions. A 26:17 win away against Vistal Gdynia on April 25 was enough for Lublin to take the title from the defending champions with two matches left.

Now, Lublin are going for the second title of the season: the Challenge Cup.

“Winning the gold medal in the Polish championship earlier than we expected has given us more time to prepare for the Challenge Cup Finals, of which the game in Spain will only be the first part, as we know.

“We need to be careful and focused, and we want to play much better than we did in the first leg of our two previous ties, where we started by losing against Malaga as well as against Ardesen,” says Lublin coach Robert Lis.

“Rocasa Gran Canaria is a good team, competing for the Spanish championship. One of the three best teams in the country, in theory stronger than Malaga, whom we played against in the quarter-finals.”

Imperfect dress rehearsal for Rocasa

Unlike Lublin, Rocasa Gran Canaria are still in the middle of the closing battle for the Spanish championship, currently sitting third, one point behind first place.

Earlier this week however, Rocasa, who won the Challenge Cup in 2016, suffered a setback that served as a poor dress rehearsal for the Challenge Cup Final, as they lost an away match versus Rincon Fertilidad Malaga 33:28.

For the first leg of the Challenge Cup Final against Lublin, head coach Yubal Moreno is hoping for beneficial support from the crowd in the Pabellon Insular Rita Hernandez.

“We are happy to be back in the final two years after we won the Challenge Cup. We know that we will have to play very well at home if we want to have a chance in the second match in Lublin,” says Moreno.

“We hope that all fans and supporters of our club will enjoy the game and help us to take a good result.”