Day 11, Group A – Vouliagmeni (GRE) v Pro Recco (ITA) 7-13
Defences ruled in the opening period – Recco needed three minutes to open the scoring, Gergo Zalanki buried a penalty, then for long minutes balls were flying towards the goals but none of them made the net. Recco missed two man-ups before Gonzalo Echenique put the third away with 22 seconds on the clock. At that time the hosts were yet to score as they were unable to break the Italian lines – it happened in the last second of this period, Dimitrios Nikolaidis finally converted an extra, after his team missed the first two.
Twenty-three seconds into the following quarter Pietro Figliogli blasted one from action and though Vouliagmeni pulled one back, Recco added two more in 72 seconds for a 2-5 lead. Ioannis Alafragkis hit one from close in a 6 on 5, but the Italians could find one in the remaining 24 seconds, Aaron Younger sent the ball back after a rebound just beating the buzzer.
When Ben Hallock scored a nice one from the centre for 3-7, few would have imagined that Recco might have any problem this evening. Efstathios Kalogeropoulos had other thoughts, though, he converted a penalty and 49 seconds later added one from action to halve the gap. The Greek fans came alive, just like their team, the hosts killed three man-downs, Alafragkis was on target once more in their extra and the 3-0 rush brought them back to 6-7. Recco lost their composure a bit, with two minutes to go, Vouliagmeni could go for the equaliser in a 6 on 5, but Marco del Lungo had a fine stop and the Greeks following two possessions didn’t bring the desired outcome. Instead, veteran Aleksandar Ivovic finished off a counter with 0:06 on the clock, kind of killing the hosts’ momentum.
And in two minutes Recco put the game in bed with two man-up goals for 6-10, denied a Greek man-up in between and a bit later Vouliagmeni couldn’t make a 6 on 4 either. Francesco di Fulvio showed a proper finish in a simple man-up, then the Greeks pulled one back, but Zalanki added two more for Recco in the last 38 seconds to finish the game with a fine 4/4 shooting ratio.
How they saw it
Vladimir Vujasinovic, coach, Vouliagmeni
Comment was inaudible.
Sandro Sukno, coach, Recco
“It was a different game compared to the one in December, Vouliagmeni worried us more by playing very aggressively, well supported by the goalkeeper. We had some difficulties in the third period, but we reacted very well and brought the three points home. There are things we need to improve and work on to claim the remaining nine points.”
