Meshkov Brest - Tatran Presov 32:26 (14:15)

(Djordjic 9, Razgor 5 / Butorac 6, Lapajne 4, Cip 4, Kasal 4)

 

Sergei Bebeshko, Meshkov Brest coach: 
They arrived in Brest to fight. It was visible from the very beginning. We did well at the starting phase of the first half but then committed too many mistakes. Pesic also had some ups and downs in the first and the whole half was wavelike. However, we were aware of the fact our opponents will be exhausted and that their roster is limited and that’s why we decided to rotate a lot in order to speed up the tempo. Matskevich helped us in the second as we were able to score some easy goals after a few quality defensive actions. That way we started enlarging the gap sealing the deal in this one. Important win against F4 contenders.

 

Simon Razgor, Meshkov Brest player: 
Important win. I guess we are the only team in SEHA League that is engaged in three serious tournaments with goals set quite high in each of them. We started confidently but then made committed some mistakes we shouldn’t have. However we managed to regain composure and finish this the right way.

Slavko Goluza, Tatran Presov coach:
We started our trip to Brest with huge injury problems - Lukas Urban is injured, Dominik Krok did not train much lately and our key defender Roman Tsarapkin is dealing with stomach problems so yeah, all these factors surely weighed on the result. Still, this is not an alibi for us as we were highly motivated and wanted to win in Brest. We were solid in the first half and although we made some mistakes they did not influence the result much. In the second half we were not as energetic, made even more mistakes. However, I believe the final score does not reflect what was really happening on the court today. We were a better side throughout first 40 minutes but in the end they managed to turn the match in their favor and prove why they were named favorites ahead of this one. We must keep on and believe in what we’re doing.

Igor Chupryna, Tatran Presov goalkeeper:  
We performed well in the first half, while in the second we slowed down. We simply lacked strength to play a competitive match against them for sixty minutes. However, we still have three more matches to play this year and we must pull ourselves together, see what we’re doing wrong and improve. That’s the only way.