LEGANGERPUTS SLAGELSE IN FINAL

Title-holderSlagelse hosted their old rival Dunaferr in Bröndby Hallen again this year. TheDanish side had amassed a 3-goal lead in the first match, so they did not havemuch to worry about, although the Hungarian champions had already dropped theirScandinavian counterpart, Viborg out of the competition in the previous round.

Even thoughthe clash started with a dry period with neither side scoring, the home teamsoon opened a significant lead (10th min.: 4-1). Defences were operating veryefficiently on both sides, and supported the goalkeepers very well, no wonderthere were so few goals scored in this period. However, Slagelse managed tocrack Dunaferr’s defence at the wings and in the pivot position. Although thehome side’s fine backs could not really be as prolific as usual (Bojana Popoviconly scored 4 times from the field while Lungu’s attempts were all saved byPálinger), they could still lead safely as their defence was close to perfect.Popovic and especially Mette Melgaard did an excellent job in the centre,stopping and blocking Kindl, Radulovics and Ferling very efficiently. When theyfailed, there was Norwegian international goalkeeper Cecilie Leganger, whoprobably showed one of the best performances of her life in this match. Sheeasily saved nearly all top-corner shots by the experienced Hungarian backs.Young Anita Bulath was the only one trying to aim at her feet and she did scorethree times altogether.

However,Slagelse had a 5-goal lead after the first half, which suggested that Dunaferrmight not be able to repeat the great performance against Viborg and dropanother Danish team out of the competition.

The courseof the game did not change much in the second half. Even though Slagelse’sattacks did begin to falter at times, the visitors could not capitalize on themistakes as the Danish defence remained rock solid, and Leganger could evenimprove after the break (if it was possible at all). While Fridrikas, Popovicand especially Maja Savic remained prolific, Dunaferr’s players were obviouslyintimidated by Leganger. In the end, they could not even score from thesix-metre line, so there was no way for them to prevent the excellent homeside’s convincing triumph (21-17).

Text: SandorJoo

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