A dramatic last day of Qualification Round clashes in Malta and Slovakia decided the eight teams heading to the men’s Challenger Cup Quarter Finals. Vitoria Sport Clube, EVK Zaibas and Clube Fluvial Portuense all secured the wins they needed to join GZC Donk, ZV De Zaan, Sliema ASC, KVP Novaky and VK Ljubljana Slovan in the last eight.
Group A – Malta
Cetus Espoo (FIN) 8-17 GZC Donk (NED)
Vitoria Sport Clube (POR) 25-6 Welsh Wanderers (GBR)
Standings: 1. GZC Donk 9pts, 2. Vitoria Sport Clube 6pts, 3. Cetus Espoo 3pts, 4. Welsh Wanderers 0pts
GZC Donk rubber stamped their authority on Group A with a resounding 8-17 victory against Finnish champions Cetus Espoo. The result maintained the Dutch side’s perfect record in the Qualification Round and they’ll return home as group winners and with maximum points.
Netherlands international and former Sabadell player Guus Van Ijperen sent Donk on their way in the first minute, arrowing in a fine effort for 0-1.
Kjeld Veenhuis soon made it 0-2, and the score stood at 2-4 at the first break.
Goals from Nikola Vavic (2), Stefan Porobic and Kevin Johansson sparked a brief Cetus fight back in the second, and at 6-7, the Finns were still very much in the game at the turnaround.
In the third, Cetus’ attack started misfiring and Donk were able to pull away with a powerful 0-5 surge that gave them an unassailable 6-12 lead at the final break.
Donk were dominant again in the fourth, as they rifled in five more goals to add further gloss to the result and end any hopes the Finns had of reaching the next round.
Veenhuis and ex-Waspo’98 Hannover player Jorn Winklehorst both finished with five goals to lead the scoring, and after firing in 58 goals across three matches, Donk will be a team most sides will want to avoid in the Quarter Final draw.
Later, group runners-up Vitoria Sport Clube made sure they finished their Qualification Round campaign in style with a comprehensive 25-6 win against winless Welsh Wanderers.
Pedro Sousa took his tournament tally to 14 with an impressive six goals, while Rui Ramos also shone again, striking four times to take his overall total in Malta to 15.
Group B – Slovakia
ZV De Zaan (NED) 21-2 Apoel Nicosia (CYP)
EVK Zaibas (LTU) 12-10 Hapoel Palram Zvulun (ISR)
Standings: 1. ZV De Zaan 9pts, 2. EVK Zaibas 6pts, 3. Hapoel Palram Zvulun 3pts, 4. Apoel Nicosia 0pts
The game between EVK Zaibas and Hapoel Palram Zvulun had a precious Quarter Final ticket at stake, and that showed in an intense first period that finished 2-2, with both sides giving everything in attack and defence.
Croatia’s 2016 Olympic silver medallist Ivan Krapic scored the opening goal in each of the first two quarters for Zaibas, but the Israelis were able to level soon after on both occasions.
Zvulun kept reeling the Lithuanians in every time they threatened to get away, and two long-range shots late in the second – from Nadav Carmon and Vlad Begin – made it 6-6 at the turnaround.
In the third, Zaibas continued to take the lead, with Marko Jelaca pushing in a simple rebound and Luka Bosic hammering in a penatly for 8-6.
Jan Bakulo gave the Lithuanians a three-goal advantage with a powerful shot that flew into the top right-hand corner, and he then had a chance to extend the gap to four with a penatly, but his effort was expertly pushed onto the post by Yahav Fire.
Left-hander Ori Raz cut the deficit to two, then Zaibas restored their three-goal cushion as Aurimas Jonkus made no mistake with his penalty 1:30 before the final break.
The fourth quarter saw Zvulun’s resistance end for good as they couldn’t claw Zaibas back again, with the Lithuanians running the clock down and scoring twice to seal the three points and a place in the Quarter Finals.
Earlier, group leaders and already-qualified ZV De Zaan made it three wins from three with an emphatic 21-2 victory against Apoel Nicosia.
After two tough narrow one-goal triumphs in their previous games, the Dutch side enjoyed a much more comfortable ride against the Cypriots.
A thumping 7-0 first quarter ensured the Dutch were going to have few problems finishing their campaign on maximum points, and De Zaan’s defence shut Nicosia out for just over 13 minutes.
At half-time, De Zaan led by 10 (11-1) and their shooting spree continued in the second half, with all 11 outfield players ending up on the scoresheet.
Chris Van Den Dobbelsteen was the most prolific, as he completed his double hat-trick late in the fourth quarter.
Group C – Malta
Clube Fluvial Portuense (POR) 14-8 Hapoel Tel Aviv (ISR)
Sliema ASC (MLT) 16-5 Carouge Natation (SUI)
Standings: 1. Sliema ASC 9pts, 2. Clube Fluvial Portuense 6pts, 3. Carouge Natation 3pts, 4. Hapoel Tel Aviv 0pts
Sliema ASC maintained their perfect Qualification Round record with an outstanding 16-5 win against Carouge Natation.
The home support enjoyed another dominant Sliema performance as they eased their way to a third successive victory.
Two goals from Liam Galea and one each from Andreas Galea, Daniel Rizzo and Dino Zammit set a solid foundation for the win, with the score 5-2 at the first break.
Ronen Gros struck twice for the Swiss in the second, but goals from Zammit and Elijah Schembri kept Sliema’s three-goal lead intact at the turnaround (7-4).
Three further strikes in the third (two more from Zammit and one from Schembri) extended the gap to six and at that point the contest was over.
Jayden Cassar added another to heap more misery on Carouge Natation and although Andreas Galea missed a penalty, and Jonathan Melet pulled one back for the Swiss, Sliema were coasting towards the three points.
The fourth quarter followed a similar pattern, as Sliema hit five more unanswered goals, and after winning each of their games by a margin of five or more, the Maltese side will certainly be a team to be feared in the Quarter Finals.
Earlier, Clube Fluvial Portuense finished their campaign with a powerful 14-8 victory against Hapoel Tel Aviv.
After a tight 2-2 first quarter, the Portuguese side showed their class in the second with a 5-0 rush that took the game away from Tel Aviv.
Another five goals in the third kept Fluvial Portuense firmly in command at 12-5 and they were able to ease up in the fourth with the win already secured.
Portugal international Tiago Paraty led the scoring with four, taking his impressive tally in Malta to eight.
Group D – Slovakia
KVP Novaky (SVK) 14-10 VK Ljubljana Slovan (SLO)
Limassol NC (CYP) 10-19 RD Mouscronnois (BEL)
Standings: 1. KVP Novaky 9pts, 2. VK Ljubljana Slovan 6pts, 3. RD Mouscronnois 3pts, 4. Limassol NC 0pts
KVP Novaky and VK Ljubljana Slovan both secured qualification on day two and had the honour of playing the last Qualification Round game of the weekend, with top spot in the group up for grabs.
The match was a fitting finale to an outstanding three days of water polo action, as an entertaining eight-goal first quarter had all the fans inside the arena on the edge of their seats.
Slovakia international Patrik Tisaj, who had bagged 11 goals from the first two games, started brightly once more and had completed another hat-trick within the first eight minutes as Novaky took a deserved 5-3 lead.
The hosts continued to have the upper-hand in the second and their advantage was three (7-4) at the turnaround thanks to another strike from Tisaj and a six-on-five goal from Lukas Cebo.
Novaky weren’t having it all their own way, though, as Enej Potocnik’s pinpoint shot from 6m flew into the far-left corner for 7-5 at the start of the third.
Tisaj was obviously the man to restore the hosts’ three-goal gap and when Robert Martanovic struck for 9-5 4:39 before the last break, the Slovakians were well on their way to the victory they needed to top the group.
In the end, Ljubljana had to settle for the runners-up spot, as Novaky – inspired by the brilliance of Tisaj, who ended up with a seven-goal haul – closed the game out worthy 14-10 winners.
Earlier, Limassol NC and RD Mouscronnois met to decide who avoided finishing bottom of the group, and the consolation prize went to the Belgians after their 10-19 win.
Mouscronnois stunned the Cypriots in the second quarter with a 1-6 blitz that swung the game in their favour after they trailed 5-4 after the first, and they never looked back.
The Belgians added nine more goals during an explosive second-half attacking performance, and Alexander Grman top scored with five, but ultimately it was the end of the Challenger Cup road for both teams.
