The second leg of the EHF European Cup second round between Borac and Dalmatinka is scheduled for Saturday at 5 PM, and the match in Banja Luka will have a humanitarian character.
A narrow 23:24 defeat in the first leg against Dalmatinka from Ploče did not shake the handball players of Borac. The Banja Luka team put up a valiant effort in Croatia, ultimately suffering only a minimal loss.
Although they trailed by as many as seven goals at one point, coach Nedžad Mašić’s team shifted into a higher gear and finished the game just one goal behind, giving them a real chance to advance to the next round in the return match in Banja Luka.
The “Red and Blues” camp expressed relative satisfaction with the outcome, though there is some regret over missed opportunities, as they felt they could have done more in this match.
Coach Nedžad Mašić highlighted these points when previewing the return leg, scheduled for Saturday at 5 PM in Banja Luka’s “Borik” hall.
- “Honestly, there was some nervousness at the start. But Dalmatinka is a good team, playing a specific defense, especially for women’s handball. That was our focus, but they managed to resist us. I think we fell short in finishing, although we started the game well. As time went on, our finishing declined, we missed many chances, and they capitalized on that. In the second half, they went up by seven goals, but we managed to come back with a 7:0 run. We had 30 seconds with a tied score, but we played the final moments poorly. We are responsible for conceding that last goal. We had a five-on-five situation where we could have interrupted the play, but we didn’t. In the last attack, we did what we agreed on, but we couldn’t finish it,” Mašić reflected on the first leg loss.
He expressed surprise at the Croatian team’s dissatisfaction with their narrow win.
- “The hosts were very disappointed with the result after the first match. That surprised me. This is sports, and my girls played at a very high level. If the game had lasted five more minutes, I’m sure we would have won. Before the game, I said we weren’t going to lose,” Mašić stated confidently.
He emphasized that they have analyzed every aspect of the first match in preparation for Saturday’s return leg.
- “We’ve been analyzing the game the whole time. We’ll have a tactical-technical training session where we’ll work on refining our play. We hope to advance to the next round, which is in the club’s interest. We are ready, and we have no injured players. The girls are eager to prove themselves and achieve good results. School and university have started, which disrupts us a bit. But the girls are working hard, fighting, and we want to repay director Savić and everyone who provided us with excellent conditions with good results. The atmosphere is great, and the girls are excited. I hope we’ll celebrate our advancement on Saturday. I invite all sports fans to support us because these girls deserve it, and they will certainly prove it on the court with their fighting spirit and a good result,” Mašić concluded.
Source: RTRS
