Veszprem once again dominant against Meshkov
A Veszprém ismét erősebb volt a Meshkovnál
Reigning SEHA GAZPROM league champions, Hungarian MKB MVM Veszprem, showed at the start of the new season that it will be extremely difficult to move them out of the throne. Antonio Carlos Ortega and his boys were dominant in their first home match of the season against Belarus Meshkov Brest winning 31:24 (11:9) in the replay of the last season's SEHA F4 final.
The clash of two high ambitious teams has been decided in last 10 minutes after home team's time-out at 23:20, when Veszprem made crucial series to outplay their rivals. Nilsson and Lekai have had main roles in 4:1 series which put their team on +6 - 27:21 only five minutes before the buzzer, what was more than enough for the peaceful finish.
Match between Hungarian and Belarus champions was perfect opportunity for both coaches, Ortega and Bebeshko, to test the newcomers, Palmarsson and Slisković on one and Kristopans, Tiomentsev and Atman on the other side but the main roles were reserved for "old faces" - Roland Mikler with 16 saves and Momir Ilić and Gašper Marguč with six goals for winners. Among the visitor's team, Rastko Stojković netted six goals.
Sergei Bebeshko, Meshkov's coach:
Congratulations for those who really wanted to win today, and succeeded in reaching it. We fought today well, but we lost a lot of balls so we didn’t control the game and that was the main reason for losing the match. We must be satisfied with this game, it was very tough match. We have to concentrate on positive things.
Simon Razgor, Meshkov's winger:
Of course that we wanted to win and we did everything on court. There was a problem with concentration in the last part of the match. We lost a lot of balls, as the coach said, but we don’t have to be disappointed because we played against a very good team. They are maybe even the biggest favorite to win the EHF Champions League, so that is why they were better.
Antonio Carlos Ortega, Veszprem's coach:
Meshkov played very well, so I want to congratulate them. We had a problem with our defense against their line players, but fortunately in last 20 minutes we could solve this problem and that is why this result was made. I think there is a lot of potential in this team, it is really important to give everyone a chance in order to improve the game and our players for following matches.
Máté Lékai, Veszprem's playmaker:
Congrats for Meshkov Brest, they are at the beginning of the season and have new players as well. They played really good, improved a lot and they are getting better in this season. We played against a good team and we played a good game, but this is why we are in SEHA league, playing with better teams than in Hungarian Championship.