Day 14, Group A – Jadran Split (CRO) v Waspo98 Hannover (GER) 12-8
Days after a historical victory and the first-ever championship title (having beaten Jug in a thrilling five-match series), Jadran had one last game to have a worthy ending of the season. On contrary, Waspo’s transformation season didn’t unfold as they perhaps wished to see, a single win in the Champions League and going down in the home final against arch-rival Spandau.
Still, they looked to be determined to have a nice finish and even though Jadran netted four in a row to go 4-1 up but the Germans managed to come back to even at 4-4. The Croats could add their next six minutes into the second period. Then home hero Jerko Marinic-Kragic scored two more, so Jadran led 7-6 at halftime.
Both sides netted a goal apiece from extramen, then Hannover missed a crucial 6 on 5 before Jadran netted two from action in 37 seconds and that proved to be the decisive blow. Waspo had one more extra, missed it and Zvonimir Butic scored from the counter for 11-7 – in less than three minutes the Croats had it and never looked back.
This rush also erased the tensions from the final period which saw one goal apiece lately – at the end Jadran won with ease and caught up Vouliagmeni in points. Still, this didn’t help as the Greeks prevailed as they had beaten them 13-12 and managed to hold on for a 10-10 draw in Split. Jadran could only regret that they blew away a 10-8 lead in that match as they were unable to score in the last seven minutes of that match.
