League Weekend: Regional Points for Novi Beograd, Radnički, and Zvezda
Serbian clubs had a quite successful day in the Premier Regional League. Novi Beograd, Radnički, and Crvena Zvezda secured victories. Valis earned their first point, while only Šabac was left empty-handed after a narrow loss to Mladost in Zagreb.
Premier Regional League, Round 7
Novi Beograd continued their winning streak but were close to their first loss of the season. Novobeograđani visited Primorje in Rijeka. The hosts led 7-5 at halftime. Angelos Vlahopulos turned the game around with three goals in less than four minutes - 8-7. A new series of 3-0 followed, but led by the Rijeka team, who entered the final quarter with a two-goal lead (10-8). Primorje had a two-goal advantage less than a minute before the end (12-10). Novobeograđani equalized with goals from Skumpakis and Ćuk, and with four seconds to go, Vlahopulos scored his fifth goal securing another three points for the Serbian champion - 13-12. Alongside Vlahopulos, Ćuk and Radović stood out in Novi Beograd's attack with three and two goals, respectively.
Radnički got revenge on Jadran from Split for their loss in Kragujevac in the Champions League match played on Wednesday. Today, in the same pool, Radnički celebrated a 14-12 victory. The Split team had the upper hand for most of the first half, leading 2-0 and 6-3. However, Radnički took control after the break and by the end of the third quarter, they were ahead 10-8. The guests did not allow Kragujevčani to easily earn points, leading the match to a dramatic finish. Split equalized with Fatović's goal from a penalty shot 56 seconds before the end (12-12), but Radnički had more to say. Dušan Vasić scored from an extra man position exactly 30 seconds before the end (13-12), after which the guests went on the attack with goalkeeper Marko Bijač. In decisive moments, Radoslav Filipović stopped Jerko Marinić Kragić's shot and passed the ball to Radomir Drašović, who scored from his own half as the sirens sounded (14-12).
The top scorers with three goals each were Nikola Jakšić and Duško Pijetlović, followed by Petar Jakšić with two goals.
Crvena Zvezda defeated Jug 14-11 and surpassed them in the standings. Dubrovnik's team did not come to Belgrade at full strength (missing the injured Joković and Canadian representative Đerković). After an initial lead by Jug (1-0 and 2-1), Zvezda created a 4-0 run in the middle of the second quarter to reach 5-2 and maintained the lead until the end. Despite Jug getting close on several occasions, they failed to equalize. Kristijan Šulc led Zvezda's attack with four goals, while Rodoljub Gajić scored three.
Valis earned their first point of the season after losing to Solaris in Šibenik after penalties (20-19).
Šabac put up a strong resistance against Mladost in Zagreb but Igor Milanović's team secured three points with a minimal 13-12 victory. Once again, Ognjen Stojanović was the top scorer for the visitors with three goals.
Radnički - Jadran S 14:12 (3:3, 2:3, 5:2, 4:4)
Primorje EB - Novi Beograd 12:13 (4:3, 3:2, 3:3, 2:5)
Crvena Zvezda - Jug 15:11 (3:2, 5:3, 4:4, 3:2)
Solaris - Valis Vega 20:19 (5:2, 3:4, 5:5, 2:4 - 5:4)
Mladost - Šabac Eliksir 13:12 (3:2, 3:3, 5:4, 2:3)
Jadran HN - Primorac 14:13.
Standings: 1st Novi Beograd 20, 2nd Jadran Split 16, 3rd Radnički 16, 4th Mladost 15, 5th Jadran Herceg Novi 12, 6th Solaris 10, 7th Šabac 9, 8th Crvena Zvezda 9, 9th Jug 7, 10th Primorje 6, 11th Primorac 5, 12th Valis 1.
A1 Regional League, Group B, matchday 5
Vukovi - Nais 18:13 (4:2, 4:2, 3:4, 7:5)
Standings: 1st Vukovi 15 (5 matches), 2nd Stari grad 12 (4), 3rd Budućnost 9 (5), 4th Kataro 9 (5), 5th Zemun 9 (5), 6th Partizan 6 (4), 7th Proleter 3 (6), 8th Nais 0 (4), 9th Vojvodina 0 (6).
