League leaders Pick Szeged hosted No. 4 Tatabánya in what was supposed to be a big match in Hungary. The guests had many former Pick players in their squad: Dávid Katzirz, Gábor Szente, Szabolcs Törő and Milorad Krivokapic, younger brother of Pick’s trainer Marko. Gábor Ancsin had totally recuperated while Garcia Parrondo and Blazevic were still among the injured.
Tha match started in a rather sleepy atmosphere, there were only few goals in the first minutes. Tatabánya managed to be in front until the 8th minute(2-3). Pick Szeged started playing better thereafter but their attacks still lacked speed and precision. However thanks to Mikler’s fantastic saves and effective pivot play by Zubai they managed to obtain a comfortable lead (19th minute 10-5). Head coach Juan Carlos Pastor substituted nearly all his players but it halted Pick’s pace and by the end of the first half Tatabánya managed to get a bit closer (13-9).
After the start of the second half Tatabánya’s young left–back Bodó had scored twice but after that the guests were ineffective for 16 minutes! Szeged’s wall worked very well, Mikler was close to phenomenal and even though Pick’s attacking was still not flawless, 10 minutes before the end they were 10 goals up (49th minute 21-11). In the final minutes both coaches sent some young players in who thanked them with some nice goals. Pick achieved a confident victory in a rather mediocre match and they could start preparing for this weekend’s crucial EHF Cup match in Presov.
Pick Szeged-Tatabánya 26-16 (13-9)
Bs: Larholm, Zubai (4), Lasica (3) / Katzirz, Bodó (3)
STANDINGS:
| 1. | Pick Szeged | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 678 | 465 | 42 |
| 2. | MKB MVM Veszprém | 20 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 710 | 446 | 38 |
| 3. | Csurgói KK | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 635 | 550 | 33 |
| 4. | Grundfos Tatabánya KC | 21 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 535 | 500 | 28 |
| 5. | B.Braun Gyöngyös | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 574 | 577 | 27 |
| 6. | Balatonfüredi KSE | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 568 | 533 | 25 |
| 7. | Orosházi FKSE LINAMAR | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 506 | 575 | 15 |
| 8. | Provident Junior Válogatott | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 552 | 642 | 14 |
| 9. | Ceglédi KKSE | 21 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 510 | 604 | 14 |
| 10. | Váci KSE | 21 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 486 | 541 | 11 |
| 11. | SZESE Győr | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 473 | 544 | 11 |
| 12. | Mezőkövesdi KC | 21 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 491 | 643 | 9 |
| 13. | PLER Budapest | 20 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 487 | 585 | 5 |
Text: Gábor Várkonyi, Péter Butty
