Odense too strong for debutants Kastamonu
The DELO EHF Champions League group B duel between the Turkish and Danish champions ended in favour of the Scandinavian team.
Odense Håndbold were dominant for most of the match and cruised to a 31:25 victory that prevented Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK from earning any points in their debut match at this level.
GROUP B
Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK (TUR) vs Odense Håndbold (DEN) 25:31 (11:15)
- Kastamonu were never in front during the 60 minutes; the teams were level at 5:5 before Odense used a 5:1 run to lead 10:6 midway through the first half
- the Danish team conceded just one goal between minutes 40 and 52, moving the score from 19:18 to 27:19 to settle the game
- Jovanka Ravicevic, who moved to Kastamonu from Buducnost in summer, was the top scorer of the match with nine goals
- Mie Højlund and Dione Housheer both netted seven times for Odense. Two of their teammates – Freja Cohrt and Mia Rej – scored six goals each
- in round 2, Odense will host Metz on Saturday 18 September, while Kastamonu will play away at CSKA on Sunday 19 September
Montenegrin players' effort not enough
Before their debut in the continental top flight, Kastamonu reinforced their squad with four Montenegrin players from Buducnost – Jovanka Radicevic, Milena Raicevic, Milena Rajcic and Majda Mehmedovic.
While Radicevic was the key to her team with nine goals and Rajcic made eight saves, they did not have enough support from their teammates. Odense were stronger as a unit, played well in defence and deserved to win.
We are happy about the win. We are still a new team and still have to adjust to each other, and it takes some time to get the right timing in the game. Today we focused on playing fast and let the ball do the job. So we are very happy with the win.
