E.ON Ob I: FTC-Telekom is at 21/21
FTC-Telekom won its 21st match of the season easily: the defending champions decided the game against OSC in one half. Szolnok and Honvéd also won their away matches easily, while Szeged defeated UVSE with a last-second goal, and Szentes prevailed over Kaposvár in a penalty shootout.
Although OSC had a good streak in the past rounds, they did not have much hope against Fradi even at home; while they may have expected more than what happened in the first half, as the defending champions practically ran over them, with a score of 3-10 after two quarters. The 0-4 run after 2-3 broke OSC, who thereafter vainly tried to get closer to Ferencváros, who secured their 21st victory of the season in their 21st match – although at least the gap did not widen further.
Among the top teams, Szolnok decided the match against Pécs within one half, after leading 2-8, the second half was somewhat more balanced, but the visiting team sailed through the match without any trouble.
Honvéd left the decision for later in Debrecen, where the hosts led 3-2 after the first eight minutes, but then only managed to score three more goals, while the guests picked up the pace, scoring five in the second quarter, and winning the second half by 1-6.
The matches between the teams fighting for the top six spots brought immense excitement. The results turned out the same, 17-16, but while Szeged reached this score against UVSE as guests in regular time, in the Szentes-Kaposvár match, this was the final result after the penalty shootout.
There was an abundance of shots (34-31) at Komjádi, and accordingly, goals as well. Szeged pulled away multiple times by four goals, but UVSE kept coming back, for instance, from 8-12 to 12-13 in the third quarter. Moreover, in the closing stages after 13-15, scoring three consecutive goals, they led 16-15. However, with 1:45 left, Zsombor Pörge quickly equalized with a goal from action. In the remaining time, each team received a man-up situation, UVSE's two shots were not enough, but Bóbis Botond of Szeged scored at 0:01, deciding the match.
The teams in Szentes battled fiercely against each other, with the Kaposvár team leading for three quarters, mostly by two goals, but they failed to shake off the home team, who then had the upper hand at 11-10 in the fourth quarter. Two goals from Somogyi followed, then a 5-meter penalty executed by Dmytro Ashanin, and he also put Kis-Gárdát ahead with another penalty. Norbert Juhász-Szelei responded, also with a 5-meter shot; Szentes had an advantage with 14 seconds left, but it ended without any shot, so the penalties decided. The saves by Pászti Benedek, who stepped in for the shootout, determined, thus, the extra point went to Szentes.
Eger suffered another heavy defeat, this time in Miskolc, against the team that has seen better days. The home team led 7-2 at halftime, then added a 5-0 run in the third quarter; in the end, it was somewhat flattering for the visitors that the gap remained at ten…
E.ON Men's Ob I, Round 12
Genesys-OSC Újbuda–FTC-Telekom 10-17
PannErgy-Miskolc–DIGI-Eger 15-5
DVSE-Master Good–Endo Plus Service-Honvéd 6-13
Metalcom-Szentes–Kaposvári VK 13-13, penalties: 4-3
PVSK-Mecsek Füszért–Szolnoki Dózsa-Praktiker 9-14
The Vasas–BVSC showdown will be on Sunday (Komjádi, 4:00 PM)
