Undefeated Pick Szeged played their first home match in 2014 in the Hungarian Championship. New signing Nikola Prce, who was greeted with a huge roar of applause, was officially given a No. 14 shirt before the match. Pick’s newest player, Swedish superstar Jonas Kallman is to arrive tomorrow in Szeged. The match was also distinguished by the presence of Vladan Matic, former Pick Szeged coach and current captain of Serbia.
Pick played decisively well from the very first minute, they could score basically whenever they wanted to. Very effective defense, incredible goalkeeping by Mikler (well over 70%) and easy goals by Balogh, Vadkerti and Larholm quickly decided the fate of the bout (15th minute 11-3). The match didn’t change much thereafter, the guests could mostly score from penalties, while Zubai and Prce kept widening the gap. By the end of the first half it seemed that the two teams were not playing in the same league (23-6).
In the second half Pick’s coach Juan Carlos Pastor substituted frequently as Vranjes, Ancsin, Kekezovic and Garcia Parrondo were still out of squad because of injury. 4 young players came on court but It didn’t affect the outcome of the match as the youngsters scored great goals one after the other and from PLER only Lókodi was able to shoot effectively. Tatai also produced many great saves, Larholm was perfect from penalties and from 9 meters so Pick could even increase their half-time lead and in the end they won the match very easily.
Pick Szeged-PLER 41:20 (23:6)
Best scorers: Larholm 8(3), Balogh 5 / Lókodi 7(1)
Text: Peter Butty
