Boys' youth F8: smooth victory for UVSE
One week after the children's championship, it was UVSE who triumphed in the eight-finals of the youth category at the Tiszavirág Swimming Pool in Szeged: the purple-and-yellow team convincingly defeated their "neighbor" from Margitsziget, KSI. The two teams had intense semifinals against FTC and Szolnok - the latter's bronze match was won quite confidently by Ferencváros.
The island-based training centers, UVSE and KSI, met in the final - although they took quite different paths to reach the final round. The first three matches of the quarter-finals brought little excitement: both eventual finalists won 16-8, with Újpest defeating Pécs and the sports school team defeating BVSC.
After an excellent first half, Ferencváros defeated OSC in a match that turned into a goal-scoring festival (16-12), only to get into an incredible battle with the host team from Szolnok. With Zétény Hidasi's third goal, the Szolnok team led 6-5 with six and a half minutes remaining, but in the remaining time, no goals were scored on either side in a crazy battle, disappointing the packed stands as the hosts missed out on the semifinals.
Saturday brought real thrillers, with both quarter-final matches being decided by a single goal. In the UVSE-Fradi clash, despite the outstanding performance of one of the future's greatest talents, 17-year-old 203 cm tall Csaba Jámbor who scored 6 goals this time as well, the purple team played better as a unit. At 8-7 in the fourth quarter, Závodi Máté and Gál Máté scored two quick goals within 40 seconds, and although the green-whites tried to claw back from a 3-goal deficit, they only managed to narrow the margin to one with 0:08 remaining (11-10).
The KSI-Szolnok confrontation on the other side was even more dramatic. KSI raced to a 3-0 lead in eight minutes, only for Szolnok to equalize in four minutes in the second quarter. Moreover, with an action goal by Barnabás Kerék, they even took the lead, ending the first half at 5-5. Benedek Rabb and Patrik Skoflek quickly scored two goals in the third quarter, but the Szolnok team kept coming back. KSI took the lead four times, but each time there was an equalizer, the last of which came in a dramatic fashion: at 11-10, KSI conceded a penalty, but Marcell Nánai saved Rabb's shot, and from the next attack, Gyula Rácz equalized. Moreover, Szolnok had a chance to win at the end, but Brúnó Flórián intercepted Ármin Molnár's ball. And it was ultimately Brúnó who managed to save one in the penalty shootout - Rabb did not miss the second time when he had to convert the all-important penalty in the final round.
In the final, although Noah Pintér scored a fantastic action goal to give UVSE the lead, after four and a half minutes of struggle, Lázár Kurucz equalized with a tremendous shot, then Skoflek scored from a swim-out, changing the score to 2-1 with 32 seconds left before the final whistle. Moreover, shortly after the restart, Rabb stole the ball superbly, setting up a two-in-one for KSI, but Bögös Márk impressively saved Kurucz's close (perhaps too close...) shot, maintaining the yellow-blues' one-goal lead.
Soon, the missed chance proved costly, as at the beginning of the second quarter, Závodi Máté and Dobricza Benedek scored two goals within 46 seconds, while KSI almost completely faltered in attack. Bögös delivered save after save, although the sports school's attacks were significantly blunted by poor passes or visible hesitation.
Soon this began to backfire defensively as well, as the Újpest team did not take seriously enough their young player from the children's category, the hero of last week's gold medal achievement, Olivér Szaka, who ruthlessly smashed the ball over the goalkeeper's head – thus this quarter ended 0-3 in UVSE's favor, and as it turned out, it fundamentally determined the outcome of the final.
After Ákos Szabó scored the fourth action goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and immediately following Kovács Mátyás' consolation, Guba Zalán's center goal, the KSI noticeably shook, while the purple team's confidence became increasingly resolute. Their defense worked exceptionally well, and Szabó quickly converted a man-up goal to make it 7-3 - it seemed clear that there was no turning back from here.
Indeed, there was no turning back, as the Újpest team had an answer for everything: despite Kovács' goal after a long time, Szabó's bomb immediately brought the margin back to four in the following attack. Benedek Rabb, struggling in the match, managed a fantastic move, but he could not get his team any closer, and with 3:04 to go, Máté Gál's advantage goal closed the open questions. Although KSI fought on, after Kovács' goal, more turnovers occurred, and then Szaka scored an incredible goal from approximately nine meters out, setting off a festival-like atmosphere in the stands - which even Tidrenczei's late man-up goal could not spoil.
Thus, a week after the children's championship, the purple-yellows celebrated the gold medal among the youth, which they won quite confidently against KSI, who had won the regular season.
Ferencváros secured the bronze - this match was even more one-sided than the final, as at the beginning of the third quarter, the greens already led 9-3, with Varga Kean excelling - the son of the national team coach scored four goals against Szolnok.
Boys' youth eight-final - final standings
1. UVSE, 2. KSI, 3. FTC, 4. Szolnok, 5. Szeged, 6. OSC, 7. Pécs, 8. BVSC
