E.ON Ob I: Honvéd couldn't hold back Ferencváros
In their fifteenth match of the season, FTC-Telekom won smoothly once again. This time, they took three points from Honvéd at Honvéd's home. Vasas claimed the only home victory on Saturday against Eger in Debrecen, while OSC struggled for a win against Szeged and Szentes faced UVSE at home.
In the highlight of the day, Honvéd managed to stay on par with FTC-Telekom for ten minutes. In the beginning of the second quarter, something rare in this season happened: Honvéd took the lead, not in the early minutes of the match. Honvéd bounced back from a 1-3 deficit in the opening quarter and equalized with a last-second goal by Gregor Benedek. Later, with a penalty shot by Ekler Bendegúz, they even took a 5-4 lead shortly after halftime...
Then the match was practically decided by halftime. The greens produced a 0-5 series, with Vigvári Vendel particularly shining by scoring three consecutive goals. Before that, Miguel del Toro put one away, followed by the Vendel triple, and then a goal by Mandic just 18 seconds before the buzzer, leading 5-9. From then on, Ferencváros confidently steered the ship into the harbor, winning for the 15th time in 15 matches this season—an impressive feat. Honvéd may not be happy with the result, but the fact is that they also joined the narrow group of teams that lost to the European champions by only seven goals. This is what Ferencváros' season has been about so far: following the 13-9 loss to Jug in the Super Cup final, only Radnicki, Szentes, and Szolnok have managed to keep such a close score against them.
The round opened with the most thrilling encounter: Eger unexpectedly found themselves in a tight battle in Debrecen, but they eventually secured the three points. The home team dominated the first half and went up 7-4, but then began to run out of steam. The visitors scored three goals in a row to level at 7-7, but the Hajdúság team managed to regain the lead. However, in the closing stages, the home team lacked the necessary energy, and despite earning a penalty kick, they missed it.
In the final quarter, Szentes overwhelmed UVSE, who had put up a strong fight for three quarters. In fact, UVSE led 7-6 in the third quarter, but then Szentes scored four goals. Although the hosts fought back to equalize at 10-10 just before the last break, Szentes' final surge overwhelmed them, as the visiting team scored six goals in the last period, securing a well-deserved victory overall.
A similar scenario unfolded in OSC's visit to Szeged, with the difference that the hosts took a two-goal lead early in the third quarter. However, OSC managed to equalize with two goals before halftime, and then, by scoring four more goals, practically sealed the match. Szeged went almost 12 minutes without scoring until they managed to score twice, but after a demoralizing 0-6 streak, the match was practically over at 8-12, with less than a minute remaining.
The round's only home victory belonged to Vasas-Plaket, who pulled away in the second half of the third quarter against Kaposvár, scoring four goals in a row after being tied 7-6, turning a 5-5 draw at halftime into a 7-2 lead after the break.
Miskolc quickly settled their match against Pécs in the first half, racing to a 2-7 lead, but then the hosts regrouped somewhat and began to climb back. They did so well that by the middle of the fourth quarter, with 3:41 left, they had pulled within 8-10—Oltean's free throw goal cooled things down during Miskolc's next attack.
The weekend's remaining major match pits the impressive BVSC, after a series of victories in the Euro Cup, against a somewhat faltering Szolnok.
E.ON Ob I, Round 8
PVSK-Mecsek Füszért-Miskolc 9-11
To be played on Sunday:
17.00 Szolnoki Dózsa-Praktiker-BVSC-Manna ABC
(Click on the matches for statistics)
