Furious comebacks deliver excitement as EHF European Cup Men round 3 is set

• RK Trimo Trebnje escaped a comeback from HC Dinamo Pancevo to advance by one goal on aggregate (62:61); Trebnje won the first leg last week, seemingly comfortable by 39:27; however, Pancevo mounted an impressive comeback in the second leg at home, winning 34:23 after 15:15 at half-time, narrowly missing out on producing a surprise due to their last shot being saved

• HRK Gorica squeezed past HC Butel Skopje 51:49 on aggregate (27:24 and 24:25); it was a close encounter in North Macedonia, where neither side could extend their leads; Skopje shortly hoped for a turnaround, leading 24:21 with five minutes to play, but Marko Karaula remained calm twice on the penalty line in crunch time; Karaula was also the top scorer of the match with eight goals

• Besiktas JK avoided elimination in a goal fest in Austria; HC Fivers WAT Margareten lost the first leg in Türkiye 31:38 and had nothing to lose at home this weekend; it was a tight match for 55 minutes (35:35) until a 7:1 run from the Austrians made the guests from Türkiye shiver in the final minutes, finishing the match with a 42:36 win; Bogdan Radivojevic scored 10 times from 11 shots for Besiktas

• MSK Povazska Bystrica erased their one-goal deficit against GS Drama 1986, winning the reverse fixture at home 34:27; Bystrica were extremely effective in attack, scoring on 74 per cent of their shots, especially taking a step forward in the second half; this resulted in 21 goals scored in the second part of the match, while only conceding 14; Andrej Sloboda scored on all of his nine shots and goalkeeper Ladislav Kovacin decided the battle between the posts with 12 saves at a 30 per cent rate

• RK Gorenje Velenje suffered a surprising defeat in the first leg of their home double-header against HB Red Boys Differdange on Saturday (29:31); on Sunday, the Slovenian side turned the duel around, backed by a great goalkeeping performance by Matevz Skok — 16 saves at 50 per cent efficiency —, fewer turnovers and a sharper defence; Velenje won the second leg 32:21 and advanced to round 3

• Põlva Serviti also celebrated a comeback in their double-header at home against Holon Yuvalim HC, losing the first leg 26:30 and winning the reverse fixture 32:24; Jürgen Rooba scored 11 goals on Sunday, while Eston Varusk added 12 saves

Volendam make a thrilling comeback to progress

HV KRAS/Volendam have ended their negative run against Förthof UHK Krems in the EHF European Cup. After three defeats in three matches, the Dutch side celebrated a 27:24 away win, also erasing the two-goal deficit from last week’s first leg. Volendam had a perfect start to the match, quickly leading by four goals and extending that lead to 12:5 after 15 minutes, with Lars Van Driel scoring all of his four goals in that period. The Austrian side closed the gap to two goals by half-time (14:12).

In the second half, Volendam punished Krems’ turnovers, extending the lead again to 21:16 after 42 minutes. A third suspension for Jeroen Roefs a minute later turned the match on its head, allowing Krems to crawl back to within two goals (19:21). In the last minute, Krems even had the chance to close the gap to one goal, but a turnover with 30 seconds to play set up Volendam, who scored shortly before the buzzer to win 27:24 and 53:52 on aggregate.

Photos © RK Gorenje Velenje (main), Förthof UHK Krems (in-text)