Champions League: Visitors return home empty-handed

Home teams have been very successful in the first round of the Regional League. Four of five matches were played so far. All visiting teams went home empty-handed.

The season was opened by a match Mornar Split – Partizan. Mornar led 3:1 after the first period, but the young team of Partizan took control. The visitors were 6:4 up early in the third period and they led 8:7 three minutes from the end. Mornar responded with three goals in a span of 1:45 minutes and posted a 10:8 win.

An encounter between two newcomers in the Champions League Mladost Zagreb and Red Star (Crvena Zvezda) didn’t offer excitements. Mladost, the host in this match, had a 4-goal advantage at halftime (7:3). The home team continued domination in the third and fourth quarter for a convincing 16:7 victory. Top scorer was Antonio Petkovic (5 goals). Milos Cuk, the member of the national team of Serbia, made his debut as Mladost’s player scoring three goals.

Title-holder Jug had no mercy against Sabac. Led by Alexandros Papanastasiou (4 goals), who arrived from Vouliagmeni a few months ago, Jug posted a 16:8 win.

The clash between two teams from Split POSK and Jadran was played in Makarska, a small town near Split. The pool in Split, which will be a host of the 2022 European Championships (by today’s LEN’s decision), is closed for reconstruction. Jadran, that qualified for the Champions League four days ago, dominated the match. It rushed to a 3:0 lead. In the middle of the 2nd quarter, Jadran was 6:1 up and never looked back (14:6).

The first round will be completed on Wednesday when Jadran and Primorac will meet in the Montenegrin derby. The match was re-scheduled because Primorac is competing in the Euro Cup this weekend.

REGIONAL LEAGUE 2018/19, 1ST ROUND

Group A1

MORNAR 10:8 PARTIZAN
(3:1, 1:4, 2:1, 4:2)

Mornar BS: Vrdoljak 3, Zivkovic 3, Buric 2, Calic 2.
Partizan: Radulovic 3, Tomic 2, Adzic, Andrejevic, Radanovic.

MLADOST 16:7 CRVENA ZVEZDA
(4:2, 3:1, 4:3, 5:1)

HAVK Mladost: A. Petkovic 5, Cuk 3, Cagalj 2, Lazic 2, Milos, Samardzic, Kharkov, Fabris.
Crvena Zvezda:Vasic 2, Tankosic, Maksimovic, Zezelj, M. Radovic, Ljubenovic.

JUG 16:8 SABAC
(5:1, 4:3, 3:2, 4:2)

Jug CO: Papanastasiou 4, Garcia 3, Lozina 3, Fatovic 2, Merkulov 2, Culina, Benic
Sabac:N. Markovic 2, Velkic 2, M. Jankovic 2, Toholj, Rogac.

JADRAN S 14:6 POSK
(4:1, 2:2, 4:2, 4:1)

Jadran S: Setka 4, Popovic 3, Viskovic 2, Kunac, Power, Bego, Milradovic, Kovacic.
POSK: Divkovic 2, Vuleta 2, Gadza, Bebic.

JADRAN HN – PRIMORAC
ON 17 OCTOBER

1. Mladost (Croatia) 1 – 3
2. Jug Dubrovnik (Croatia) 1 – 3
3. Jadran Split (Croatia) 1 – 3
4. Mornar (Croatia) 1 – 3
5. Partizan (Serbia) 1 – 0
6. POSK (Croatia) 1 – 0
7. Sabac (Serbia) 1 – 0
8. Crvena Zvezda (Serbia) 1 – 0
– Jadran Herceg Novi (Montenegro) –
– Primorac (Montenegro) –

Group A2

Budva – Kopar 13:8
Vojvodina – Galeb 10:4
Medvescak – Cattaro 11:6
Nais – Zadar 9:6
Solaris – Valjevo 12:3
Primorje – Radnicki on 17 October

1. Solaris (Croatia) 1 – 3
2. Vojvodina (Serbia) 1 – 3
3. Budva (Montenegro) 1 – 3
4. Medvescak (Croatia) 1 – 3
5. Nais (Serbia) 1 – 3
6. Zadar (Croatia) 1 – 0
7. Cattaro (Montenegro) 1 – 0
8. Kopar (Slovenia) 1 – 0
9. Galeb (Croatia) 1 – 0
10. Valjevo (Serbia) 1 – 0
– Primorje (Croatia) –
– Radnicki (Serbia) –