PPD Zagreb have on Tuesday manage to become the second team to secure a ticket for SEHA Final 4 tournament in Zadar following a hard-fought 24:23 win against Vojvodina in Novi Sad.

Croatian champions managed to open the match well widening the gap to four (10:6) after only 15 minutes eventually closing the first half with the same advantage (16:12). Young backs Zvonimir Srna and Luka Lovre Klarica were dictating the tempo for the ‘Lions’ when it comes to offense with the help of newly-formed winger duo Ivan Cupic - Timur Dibirov. Experienced line player Zivan Pesic was on the other side Vojvodina’s most dangerous attacking option while we’ve also seen Barys Pukhouski’s SEHA debut in Vojvodina’s jersey.

Vojvodina managed to strengthen their defense in the second half slowly narrowing the gap in opening ten minutes. Later on, all the way until the end, match was narrow with PPD Zagreb failing to re-open the gap. Ivan Cupic and Timur Dibirov however proved to be too quick for Vojvodina in transition pulling guests towards a win in this one along with Dino Slavic. Five minutes before the end Luka Lovre Klarica picked up his fourth goal of the day following Zvonimir Srna’s fifth assists opening the gap to three (23:20). That however wasn’t enough with Vojvodina levelling the match at 23:23 with 15 left until the final buzzer. Unfortunately for home fans, after coach Ivica Obrvan’s timeout Zvonimir Srna closed a match, in which he was without doubt one of PPD Zagreb’s key players, with a beautiful shot and a goal which sealed the deal at 24:23.

Ivan Cupic finished the match with six goals, Zvonimir Srna added five with just as much assists while Timur Dibirov and Luka Lovre Klarica scored four each. Dino Slavic grabbed eight saves. When it comes to Vojvodina – Zivan Pesic, Barys Pukhouski and Milos Grozdanic scored four each.

Ivica Obrvan, PPD Zagreb coach:
We are happy about the fact we’ve qualified for Zadar. I am not satisfied with our performance in the second half in which Vojvodina was a better team. Nevertheless, we’re happy about the win, especially because we were missing some important players. Now we’ll analyze this game and keep on working and improving.

Boris Rojevic, Vojvodina coach:
Congrats to Zagreb of course but I have to say I think we played a great game today showing that we definitely can handle a team like Zagreb. It was visible that we were today missing four important players and that we didn’t believe in ourselves in the first half. Second was much better although we missed some clear chances however congrats to my players for what they did today.

Luka Lovre Klarica, PPD Zagreb player;
I would like to congratulate Vojvodina on a good game and my guys on the victory. We played well in the first half but we did not manage to open the gap as much as we could have. Second half was not as good, especially in attack however luckily we managed to score that last goal and win the game.

Miljan Vukovljak, Vojvodina player:
Congratulations to Zagreb but big congratulation to my teammates as well. We played well against a top-quality European team. An important game for us to see where we are compared to the best teams. I am proud of my teammates. We were not on our A game in the first half but in the second we showed what kind of a team we are. Great fight, this is a great team and I believe a good season is ahead of us.

Photo credit: kolektiffimages