TATRAN beat Chekhovskie Medvedi after great first half time

Posted on 23. October 2016.

In the 5th round of Group C in the Champions League TATRAN Presov defeated Chekhovskie Medvedi 30:28. The Slovakian champions started the game in an impressive way. They took an advantage because of weaker shooting efficiency of Russians. TATRAN played a high quality defence that was led by great Igor Chupryna who had a lot of important saves. Excellent defence of TATRAN was the basis for their counter attacks that were mostly converted by the left wing of the Slovakian side Jakub Hrstka, who was the best scorer of the match with 9 goals. The home team already led 12:6 in 15^th minute. They even extended their lead to 17:9 in 27^th minute of the game. TATRAN won the first half by 6 goal difference – 17:11.

In first 10 minutes of the second half time TATRAN lost their concentration in defence. They were also worried in the attack as they could not convert their chances. TATRAN made several easy mistakes that were punished by the Russian team counter attack goals. The Russian champions reduced TATRAN´s lead to 2 goal difference in 42^nd minute. But in several seconds they lost their leading line player Chernoivanov who was shown a red card. From that time TATRAN managed to control their 2-4 goal lead until the end of the game, which they finally won by 2 goals – 30:28.

Post-match statements

Rastislav Trtik, coach of TATRAN:

“I am very happy about the victory and especially 1^st half time performance of our team. We played in a disciplined way in the opening phase of the game. We kept the tactics and managed to fulfil everything we wanted to play on the court before the match. The second half was a bit worse. In its first 10 minutes we lost our concentration. We made stupid and easy mistakes in defence. We were not patient in the attack. That is why Medvedi reduced the score to two goal difference, because they managed to use our mistakes and score on counter attacks. Fortunately we managed to concentrate in the very end of the game, stabilize our display and keep two goal difference until the end. They were some little important things which decided the game, but I will not reveal them as we play the next away game vs Medvedi in Chekhov.”

Alexey Peskov, right back of TATRAN:

“In the first half we were able to fulfil everything our coach told us before the game. We got Medvedi under huge pressure both in defence and attack. Igor Chupryna had several great saves too. In the second half we had some problems in defence. We made several mistakes and allowed Medvedi to reduce the score. Finally we managed to control the score and win this important game. I would like to thank our great fans, who created amazing atmosphere in TATRAN Handball Arena, for their support.”

Oliver Rabek, left back of TATRAN:

“It was a very tough game. We played a brilliant match in the first half. I cannot explain our performance in the second one, when we had bad 10 minutes. Russians reduced the score from 7 to 2 goals. We had a lot of two-minute penalties. We did not convert our chances. Fortunately we extended our lead back to 4 goal difference and we kept it until the end of the match. I am glad we managed to win the game. We are also able to keep up with Medvedi in our away game in Russia, but we have to avoid unnecessary mistakes.”

Jakub Hrstka, left wing of TATRAN (best scorer of the game with 9 goals):

“In the first half we were outstanding in defence. We could rely on our excellent goalkeeper Igor Chupryna. We were successful on the counter attacks and efficient in attack. In the last few games we are not successful in the second halves. I do not know why. We do not play what we need in the second parts of the match. Medvedi reduced the score but thanks to our great fans, who encouraged us throughout the entire game, and our lead we created in the first half, we managed to reach two important points.”

Vladimír Maksimov, coach of Chekhovskie Medvedi:

“It was our worst match we played in last five games. We underestimated Alexey Peskov who scored more goals than we expected. In the first half time we could see really bad performance by our back players. Our goalkeepers also did not play well during entire first half and in the beginning of the second one. I congratulate to my coach colleague on win. We have to prepare thoroughly for our home game vs TATRAN.”

Roman Ostashchenko, left wing of Chekhovskie Medvedi:

“The beginning of the game was really disastrous for us. We underestimated our rivals. We played a bad first half time. We were not able to score goals from different positions. In the second half we began to play better and managed to reduce the goal difference. But we did not fulfil our objectives in the game today.”

After the 5th round of the group phase of the Champions League TATRAN Presov are the 5^th in the incomplete table of Group C with 4 points. In the 6^th round the Slovakian champions travel to Russia to meet Russian champions Chekhovskie Medvedi once again. The game is scheduled for Thursday 10 November 2016 at 17:00 CET in Chekhov, Russia.

Champions League 2016/2017 – Group C – 5^th Round

TATRAN Presov (SVK) – Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) 30:28 (17:11)

TATRAN: Chupryna, Brazhnyk – Rabek 7, M. Sarpataky, Humenansky, Hrstka 9, D. Krok 3, Sadovyi, L. Urban, Pekar, Cip 5, Peskov 5, Vucko 1, Jankovic, Pales, Tsarapkin. Coach: R. Trtik.

Chekhovskie Medvedi: Grams, Pavlenko – Skopintsev, Izmailov, A. Kotov, Ostashchenko 6, Santalov 5, Kovalev 5, Furtsev 1, K. Kotov 1, Kuretkov 4, Kornev 3, Chernoivanov 1, Prokopyev, Andreev, Shelestyukov 2. Coach: V. Maksimov.

Referees: Baumgart, Wild (GER), 7m given/goals: 7/5 – 7/7, 2´ penalties: 5 – 5, Red card: 42. Chernoivanov (Chekhovskie Medvedi), Spect. 2100.

Group C: