In the first match of SEHA – Gazprom League’s 12th season, Vojvodina managed to make yet another statement proving how good they are with a comfortable 31:25 win over Nexe. After missing out on the last season’s SEHA Final 4 tournament by only a few goals after the quarter-final clash against PPD Zagreb, guys led by Boris Rojevic showed that they are this season going to be a tough nut to crack for everyone. 
 
Vojvodina managed to open the match in a splendid fashion slowly widening the gap throughout the entire first half. Guest team defense simply couldn’t find a way to stop Vojvodina’s attack which was looking flawless on more than a few occasions led by Milos Grozdanic and Darko Milenkovic. After the first-half whistle, the result was already 19:12 in favor of the home team. Croatian runners-up were surely hoping to enter the second half pushing to narrow the gap but instead hosts kept on widening it reaching +10 (23:13) a little over five minutes into the second half basically sealing the deal in this one. Coach Rojevic, later on, used the opportunity to rotate the squad and give everyone a chance to play in this premier SEHA – Gazprom League encounter of the season.

In the end 31:25 in favor of Vojvodina. Milos Grozdanic and Darko Milenkovic finished the match scoring six goals each while Fran Lucin grabbed seven saves. Karlo Godec and Janko Kevic led Nexe offensively scoring five goals each while Moreno Car exploded for 14 saves being the main reason why Nexe didn’t lose by a bigger margin today. 
 
In the next round, Vojvodina will in only five days welcome Eurofarm Pelister and then Nexe will host the same team only three days later. On the other hand, SEHA – Gazprom League’s 12th season continues on January 28 with Tatran Presov welcoming Vardar 1961.

Boris Rojevic, Vojvodina coach: 
I have to start by congratulating coach Tamse on what he is doing with this Nexe team. Their EHF European League results motivated us for this one. We had plenty of time to prepare and everything worked out great. I’m not happy with our performance in those final ten minutes of the encounter but overall, I have to be satisfied. 

Aleksandar Kurtes, Vojvodina player: 
I feel like we played really good, modern handball today and I’m sorry we didn’t finish strong too. This is an example of how we should play going forward. Nexe has a really good roster and it was a pleasure to play them today. 

Branko Tamse, Nexe coach: 
A well-deserved win for Vojvodina here today. I feel like we didn’t really even show up today because our opponents outplayed us in absolutely every part of the game. We arrived here without six players but that doesn’t mean anything. Way too many mistakes from our side and, in the end, a win for Vojvodina which will certainly boost their confidence going forward. We have to make sure we never look like this again although I have to say some of the guys who usually don’t get as many minutes delivered solid performances. 

Karlo Juric, Nexe player: 
Vojvodina looked really great at the beginning of the game and we were, on the other side, far below our level. We tried to narrow the gap in the second but it wasn’t enough. Way too many missed shots, and lots of defensive mistakes.

Photo credit: Hocevar / kolektiff