Slovenian vice-champions Gorenje Velenje have managed to end negative series of tough losses with 24:20 victory against NEXE Nasice. Hopefully for Marko Sibila’s team, this victory will bring guys from ‘Rdeca dvorana’ back to winning tracks.
Guests were however eager to play a fully competitive match making things difficult for Gorenje. Kordi’s boys were leveled until 15th minute when hosts went on +4 after 8:4 series led by Rok Golcar and Alem Toskic. Team from Nasice has managed to reduce the gap to only 2 in the second half mostly due to some amazing moves by Sasa Barisic-Jaman but that was as far as they could go today. Zaponsek was with 13 saves leading hosts en route to premier victory of the season along with Nejc Cehte who netter 5 goals.
Zdenko Kordi, NEXE’s coach:
I would like to congratulate to our today’s hosts on a well-deserved win.They have managed to enlarge the gap in the end of the first half and were able to keep it wide throughout the second. We’ve played a bit better than against Zagreb but still there are things we have to work on. I wish Gorenje best of luck in the season and I hope we won’t meet in EHF Cup.
Perica Lelic, NEXE’s goalkeeper:
We were able to stay on -3 or 4 and even had some chances to fully reduce the gap in the second but we’ve missed them and in the end well-deserved win for hosts. Their goalie was superb tonight. We have to focus on upcoming challenges.
Marko Sibila, Gorenje’s coach:
It was a good, quality match. We were before the match aware of the fact that SEHA League is a serious competition in which you have to work hard each match in order to secure points. We were a bit under pressure after two losses in the beginning of the season which was visible on our performance tonight, especially in attack. In defense we were on good level due to our goalie Zaponsek. We have to be satisfied but also look forward, work hard and improve.
Niko Medved, Gorenje’s player:
We were good in defense in the first half. Second half was much better on both sides but we were able to keep the match under control. Match was not so nice but first SEHA points are here. I wish NEXE luck in the future.
Slovenski podprvaki Gorenje Velenje so uspeli prekiniti negativni niz porazov z zmago (24:20) nad NEXE Našice. Upamo, da bo ta zmaga fante Marka Šibile ponesla nazaj na zmagovalne tirnice.
Gostje so bili željni borbene in tekmovalne tekme, s čimer so Gorenju oteževali pot do začrtanega cilja. Kordijevi fantje so igrali na visoki ravni do 15. minute, ko so si gostitelji priigrali prednost štirih zadetkov po seriji 8:4, vodeni s strani Roka Golčarja in Alema Toskića. Ekipa iz Našic je uspela zmanjšati razliko na -2 v drugem polčasu, predvsem zahvaljujoč nekaj izjemnim potezam Saša Barišič-Jamana, a to je bilo za danes tudi vse. Zaponšek je bil s trinajstimi obrambami najboljši v domači ekipi, ki je tako dosegla premierno zmago, skupaj z Nejcem Cehtetom, ki je dosegel pet zadetkov.
Dr. Marko Šibila, trener RK Gorenje Velenje: Najprej bi želel čestitati gostom za borbeno igro. V vsakem primeru smo sedaj na prvih dveh tekmah lige SEHA Gazprom občutili, da gre za izredno kakovostno tekmovanje, kjer se je potrebno za vsako točko precej potruditi. Mi smo bili po dveh porazih proti Tatranu in Celju nekoliko v krču, kar se je, predvsem v fazi napada, precej občutili v naši igri. V fazi obrambe pa smo nevtralizirali bistvene točke, ki smo si jih želeli. K temu pa je velik del dodal tudi naš vratar Rok Zaponšek, tako da smo prav z obrambo prišli do možnosti slabše igre v napadu. Moramo biti zadovoljni z zmago, a prav tako je potrebno gledati naprej, naša ekipa je še neuigrana, imamo precej rezerv. Upam, da bo v naslednjih tekmah še boljše.
Niko Medved, kapetan RK Gorenje Velenje: Prvi polčas smo, predvsem v obrambi, odigrali na visoki ravni. V drugem polčasu smo padli, a smo imeli tekmo vseeno ves čas pod nadzorom. Igra mogoče ni bila lepa za oko, a so prve tri točke tukaj. Sedaj nas čaka gostovanje pri Zagrebu, kjer gremo ponovno na zmago. Čestitke nasprotni ekipi za borbo in veliko uspehov v nadaljevanju tekmovanja.
Zdenko Korda, trener RK Nexe Našice: Čestitam domačinom za zasluženo zmago. Za nami je težka tekma, kakor smo tudi pričakovali. Gorenje se je ob koncu prvega polčasa odlepilo in nato prednost držalo vse do konca. Mi smo tokrat odigrali bolje kot proti Zagrebu, a smo še vedno napravili preveč napak. Že v sredo nas čaka nova tekma.
Perica Lelić, vratar RK Nexe Našice: Gorenje je zasluženo zmagalo, zato vsekakor čestitke. Žal smo bili ves čas v zaostanku, imeli smo nekaj priložnosti, a jih nismo izkoristili, poleg tega je domači vratar danes branil odlično.
