In the Lithuanian handball league, the leaders of “Dragūnas” handball players have extended their winning streak
In the Lithuanian Handball League (LRL), Klaipėda “Dragūnas” handball players won their fourth victory in a row. The leaders of the championship beat the Alytus “Varsas-Stronglas” team in the fourth place after a tough fight.
The team from Dzūkija capital had a better start to the meeting held in the port city. In the middle of the first quarter, the Alytis team led 10:5. However, the home team managed to score 13:12 before the break. In the second half, the score was tied several times, but at the decisive moment of the match, the “Dragūnos” players broke away from their opponents and won with the result 31:25.
Laurynas Simonavičius scored 8 goals for the winners, Gytis Šmantauskas and Lukas Juškėnas added 5 goals each to the victory. Žygymantas Micevičius, Tadas Stankevičius and Vilius Juozaitis each scored 6 goals for the guests. “The start of the match was bad. If we don’t play 100%, we will never win. You need to play with maximum concentration and believe in your abilities.
I had to scream and shake the team
I had to scream and shake the team. The two penalty minutes I got was also a bit of a shock to the team when they had to defend with four. We managed to defend and attack, and then the game changed, – commented “Dragūnos” coach Gintaras Cibulskis. – The second half was already better, we played as we should have. We dug in, but we can’t play in front of our fans like we did at the beginning of the first half. This is disrespectful to our fans. I congratulate the players for being able to change the game and get the win. We ended the year undefeated in the Lithuanian championship. This is very gratifying. Thanks to the team.”
During 10 matches, the “Dragūnos” handball players won 9 and played once in a draw. The leaders with 19 points are 5 points ahead of the nearest pursuer “Granitas-Karis” of Kaunas, who have played less matches, and 6 points ahead of the champion “Šviesa” of Vilnius, who are in third place. Varsa-Stronglasas has 8 points after 9 games and is in fourth place.
Until we got tired, everything went according to plan
“Until we got tired, everything went according to plan. Feeling tired, mistakes and ill-advised decisions poured in, which our opponents did not give us. In the first half, we managed to make quite a few shots, we managed to assess the situations with a fresh head and we did what we had planned, said the coach of Varsas-Stronglas, Egidijus Petkevičius. – Reckless mistakes backfired on us like a boomerang. It is difficult to play against Klaipeda if you make a lot of mistakes in attack. The emphasis was on avoiding mistakes, cherishing the ball, but we failed to do so. I am happy with the first half, but the second half was not so good. The men battled but we were missing three key players and a small rotation affected the final result.”
The defending champion “Šviesa” handball players defeated HC “Vilnių” 36:31 (18:17) in the derby of the capital. The first half was even, but after the break “Šviesa” took the initiative and gained a tangible lead.
5 goals
Tadas Rasakevičius and Mantas Urvikis scored 8 goals each for the winners, Valdas Drabavičius scored 7 goals. Vaidas Drevinskas, the top scorer of LRL, scored 6 goals for the “Vilnius” team, Martynas Žala and Ignas Kuprevičius scored 5 goals each.
“After losing the derby in the last round to the Vilnius Amber team, we had only one goal – to win. Vilnius derbies are always the most important in our arena, we really didn’t want to lose in front of our fans. Several key players were missing, so other players got more chances to perform. We all achieved the victory together as a team and there was not one player who could be singled out”, said Karolis Bliuvas, the goalkeeper of the “Šviesas” team, which is seeking its fourth championship title in a row.
In the next match
In the next match, Vilnius “Amber” handball players defeated the league outsider “SC-RSSG-Grif” from Panevėžys 29:13 (9:5). This match became the most lopsided of the LRL season, and the Griffins became the team with the fewest goals scored in the match. Ernest Stvolas scored 6 goals for the winners, Mykyta Litvinenko, Anton Tsitko and Yahor Šymančiuk scored 4 goals each. Ignas Trainys scored 3 goals for the Panevėžys team, Evaldas Vėta and Đžuolas Tangonskas scored 2 goals each. Having won the second victory in a row, the “Amber” handball players caught up with the “Vilnius” team. Now both capital clubs have 6 points after 10 games and share 5-6 places. “Griff” has not won points in 9 matches and is the last seventh.