FTC earn hard-fought win
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria beat Buducnost in Podgorica and grabbed a lead in the battle for the quarter-finals. It was a close match in the first half, with both sides putting on good defensive displays but the Hungarian side dominated most of the second half. Bojana Popovic's team were not letting go and showed fighting spirit until the final buzzer. When they closed the gap, however, FTC found new impetus and grabbed their 10th victory against the Montenegrin squad.
PLAY-OFFS, FIRST LEG
WHC Buducnost BEMAX (MNE) vs FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) 24:28 (13:15)
- the right side seemed to be crucial for FTC - six out of seven goals in the first 12 minutes came from Alicia Stolle and Antje Angela Malestein; also top scorers for their club
- both sides had strong defensive performances, but often too aggressively, resulting in many two-minute suspensions
- Buducnost kept it close up until the 25th minute, but then Blanka Bíró's saves allowed FTC to reach the biggest lead (14:11) in the game, which then extended to +5 in the second half
- Armelle Attingré's saves and impeccable play from Milena Raicevic made FTC sweat and prevent them from breaking free and widening the gap even further
- in the 41st minute, Adriana Cardoso de Castro scored the home team's 18th goal, a goal for history, making Buducnost the first team to reach 8,000 goals in the competition's history
Goalkeepers making a difference
We saw amazing goals, spin-shots and counter attacks from the two sides competing for a win in the first leg of the quarter-final. However, the defence was the key and and it we even better with strong backup from the goalkeepers.
Armelle Attingré finished the night on 16 saves at 37% save efficiency and played an important role in keeping the contest close against an experienced FTC team. Especially in the last ten minutes when she made it possible to cut the lead from five to only two, two minutes before the end. On the other side, Blanka Bíró was fully focused between the posts and was giving advice during crunch time. Her 11 saves at 33% efficiency allowed FTC to go back home with the full package.
We could have achieved a better result, but with this young team it is not easy to play at the level we want. We have to play better in the second game.
We are satisfied with the result as we fulfilled the goal, which was a victory. I played against Buducnost many times, I wore the jersey of that club and I know how difficult it is to celebrate in Podgorica.
