Croatian-Montenegrin Duels End in 1-1
The fifth round of the Premier League, Saturday's matches, were somewhat marked by the confrontation of Croatian and Montenegrin clubs. The ratio after two such encounters would be 1-1.
The Best Jadran is Split's Jadran
This is how we could title a short story from Herceg Novi, where in the derby of the fifth round of the Premier League, a match between two clubs from the Champions League, the Croatian champion prevailed over the Montenegrin runner-up. Not easily, not lightly, as it wasn't expected, but it's certainly sweet for the people of Split.
In a remarkably balanced encounter, the first two quarters were completely even (total 7:7), and the Split team Jadran secured a theoretical victory towards the end of the third and midway through the last quarter. Coach Marelja's team transformed an 8:8 tie into a 10:8 lead in the last two and a half minutes of the third quarter, with two goals from Zvonimir Butić. Midway through the last quarter, the visiting team took the biggest lead (12:9), which ultimately proved decisive. In the last minute, the host did reduce the lead to 12:13, and we note Danilo Stupar's attempt in the last second, but it only remained an attempt. Valuable points for Split's Jadran.
Especially since less than two minutes before the end with the score at 12:11 for the Croatian champion, captain Jerko Marinić Kragić of Split was excluded with a substitution.
Jug Defeated in Penalties
Jug Adriatic Insurance won the domestic Supercup in Sibenik in a penalty shootout on Wednesday, but then on Saturday night in Budva, they lost to Kotor's Primorac also in penalties, with better execution of course.
However, to make the situation more curious and unfortunate for our runner-up, Primorac never led throughout the entire match only to win in the end. Dubrovnik's team even had a three-goal advantage (8:5 in the third, and 10:7 in the last quarter). Just over a minute left, our team had a two-goal lead (12:10), but Primorac managed to reduce the deficit, then equalize with 26 seconds to go.
In the penalty shootout, the team from Dubrovnik started better again (Popadic saved Mršić's shot), but later they missed shots from Toni Mozara and Filip Kržić in the end. Nonetheless, a consolation remains with 1 point gained from Budva
Rijeka Without a Chance Against Šabac
The match at Kantrida was quickly decided. Although it lasted for 32 minutes, the question of the winner was already hinted at after the first 8 minutes. The guests from Serbia won the first quarter smoothly and by a high margin of 4:0.
Primorje EB scored their first goal only in the second minute of the second quarter (Marin Dašić for 1:4). Rijeka managed to halve the deficit by the halfway point of the match (3:5), but then another surge from the visitors followed, with Šabac scoring 5:1 in the third quarter, leading 10:4 after 24 minutes.
Primorje players indeed played excellently in the last quarter, even creating a mini-run of 5:1 and closing in to within two goals, but the deficit was too much for Rijeka to overcome.
