Jaganjac last-gasp goal lifts Nexe past PAUC

RK Nexe caused one of the biggest upsets in the first round of the group phase of the EHF European League Men, as they travelled to France and beat PAUC Handball 30:29 in a superb performance.

GROUP C

PAUC Handball (FRA) vs RK Nexe (CRO) 29:30 (14:17)

• PAUC led from the 47th-58th minute, but scored only twice in the last 10 minutes
• Croatian back Halil Jaganjac, who has signed with Polish champions Lomza Vive Kielce for next season, was Nexe’s top scorer, with nine goals
• Powered by two goals from Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games champion Romain Lagarde, PAUC started the second half with a 5:1 run, to turn the game on its head, after Nexe boasted a three-goal lead at the break, 17:14
• Mirroring last season’s start, when they reached the Last 16 phase, Nexe opened the group phase with an away win
• PAUC have won only three of their seven games played at home in European competitions

Nexe owe Jaganjac his weight in gold

23-year-old left back Halil Jaganjac has long been touted as the next best thing of the Croatian handball. After scoring 80 goals in the last season’s EHF European League Men, Jaganjac started this new season with a bang on Tuesday night. The towering two-metre-tall back had already scored 23 goals in four games in the Qualification Phase this season, but his best game came against PAUC.

With eight goals to his name before the final action of the match, Jaganjac and his coach, Branko Tamse, designed a play in the dying seconds and as soon as the 23-year old took the ball in his hands, he launched an unstoppable shot, handing his team the win, 30:29, with only three seconds to go on the clock.

Nexe will look forward to the coming months of action knowing that Jaganjac will move to Lomza Vive Kielce next summer, a step further in his development.