HC Viljandi fourth win in a row, SK Tapa got their first points

October 2, 2021

HC Viljandi secured their fourth win in a row, ZRHK Tenax Dobele in very interesting game won HC Dragunas Klaipeda. SK Tapa won the Latvian SK Latgols Ludza and got their first two points.

SK Tapa – SK Latgols Ludza            31:23 (13:8)
This game was a chance for both teams to secure first points in this BHL season. SK Tapa started better and already after three minutes were leading 4:0. It was not for long SK Latgols manage to get back on the game, after 18 minutes of game – 6:5 SK Tapa leads. Until the end of first half SK Tapa scored two time more goals as SK Latgols (7:3) and the first half score – 13:8 . Next 30 minute did not bring any changes, SK Tapa increased their lead and celebrated the victory and first two points this season, with the result – 31:23.

Andrejs Narņickis, coach of SK Latgols
“As I mentioned before, we are missing practices when all team is there! We went to the game with a short bench, so we lacked a bit of strength. We made a lot of mistakes in the passes, which were immediately used by the opponents. I would like to praise our new goalkeeper Lauris, who played very well, repeatedly repelling the dangerous scoring moments. There are a lot of young players on the team, so there is a lack of experience in such games at some points. I hope that in the near future, few experienced players will able to join the team, who will also be able to instill confidence in the young people. There are still many games in the Baltic League, and with each team we will fight with 100%! ”

Marten Saar, player of SK Tapa
„We finally had a chance to play with the full team. Because of that the game was faster and we played together very well. We had some problems getting the ball to the net, but compared to previous games it was a lot bette, but still not good enough. Our defense was also better. For me it was really good to play with Vahur Oolup again, who had been absent for a while due to a shoulder injury.“

Best scorers:
SK Tapa – Ageni 7, Oolup 5, Morgenson 5, Kosmirak 4, Oganezov 3, Saar 3, Lande 2, Berezhnyi 1, Jaanis 1,
SK Latgols Ludza – Malahovs 5, Grebeņņikovs 5, Usāns 4, Lipskis 3, Strazds 2, Rancāns E., 2, Kušners E., 2

Varsa-Stronglasas Alytus – VHC Šviesa Vilnius         27:28 (14:12)
It was the first of three national derbies today. First 30 minutes were even and ‘goal by goal’ played. On the first half Varsa Stronglasas achieved a slight advantage – 14:12. On the second half of the game the course of the game was very changeable, from the three-goal advantage of one team to the one-goal advantage of the other team, and also a draw was fixed several times. It was a roller-coaster game, were VHC Šviesa succeed at the end – 27:28.

Eugenijus Gimbutas, coach of Varsa-Stronglasas Alytus
“Games was good. But the guest team in this game played and fought till the end. They made also fewer mistakes and that’s why the won.”

Žygimantas Sinkevičius, coach of VHC Šviesa Vilnius
“It is very difficult to comment this game. The game was terrible for us. We made bad decisions and we straggled in the defensive, we didn’t get along on defense, and the attack lasted for speed and aggression. Luckily the defense became more aggressive and at the end we were lucky and won by one point. This game needs to be forgotten and we have to think about tomorrow’s game against Granitas.”

Best scorers:
Varsa-Stronglasas Alytus –
VHC Švies Vilnius –

HC Vilnius – Granitas-Karys Kaunas        32:29 (18:14)
Second Lithuanian derby started with a Granitas – Karys lead, but not for a long time, until the end of first half HC Vilnius secured quite comfortable lead – 18:14. On the second half there was a seven goal lead for HC Vilnius, in last five minutes they let opponents from Kaunas reduce the difference in the result – 32:29.

Vaidas Drevinskas, player of HC Vilnius
„We are happy about the win. It was a though game. We were better in the attack than in the defence.“ Asked about his personal performance Vaidas was self-critical and said that he could play better and score with better percentage. 

Paulius Šarkauskas, player of Kauno „Granitas- Karys
„We were bad at defence and couldn‘t stop Vaidas Drevinskas. Also our mistakes and misshots lead them to get a quite big lead. Then we tried to get closer to them in the end, but there was not enough time.“

Best scorers:
HC Vilnius – Drevinskas 13, Lapinskas 5, Žala 5, Urbonas 4, Milaknis 3, Raudonius 2
Granitas-Karys Kaunas – Jovaišas 8, Šarkauskas 5, Lazauskas 4, Feoktistovas 4, Jurkevičius 4, Dambrauskas 1, Tomkevičius 1, Kairys 1, Pijus 1

ZRHK Tenax Dobele – HC Dragunas Klaipeda       29:25 (15:17)
As expected this game was interesting and intense, especially for spectators. ZRHK Tenax Dobele started a little bit better, but at the end of first period HC Dragunas used Tenax Dobele mistakes and scored few easy goals. In the break HC Dragunas went with two point lead – 17:15. The second half was similar to the first – intense and full of fight. Tenax Dobele scored 14 goals and let opponents score only eight goals, it brought them victory – 29:25.

Arvis Juzups, manager of ZRHK Tenax Dobele
“We are happy for two points against Draguna’s team – against one of BHL’s favorites and current champions. I think the game was interesting, especially for the spectators, it was a very exciting and interesting handball in terms of both performance and result. I also want to praise the new players, Ričards Juzups went into the game well, caught the ball and scored important goals, Kārlis Krūmiņš also played very well. In general, it is important that two points are won. We want to bring the spectators back to the hall so that there is more and more active spectator support. But for obvious reasons, this is not possible, hopefully it will change soon. We need to move on, the European Cup is no longer behind the mountains, we are preparing and let’s meet in Dobele.”

Oskars Arājs, player of ZRHK Tenax Dobele
“Two different half-times, in the first half we gave the opponents a very easy opportunities to score. With all due respect to the opponents, they played very well. In the halftime conversation we put everything in place, how and what we see, what we want to do and so in the second half we started to “catch” them, the coach also made various tactical moves, especially in defence, because we had missed too many goals (17). Thanks to our goalkeeper Mārtiņš Ozoliņš and the guys on the field, everyone fought like beasts. We did our job, the coach did his job and the result was good for us. ””

Gintaras Cibulskis, coach of HC Dragunas Klaipeda
“The game was interesting and it is sad that we lost. We were leading by 5 point, but managed to lose 1:9 in second half and that did not allowed us to win. I am happy with my team, they fought till the end. We are still young team and we are going to correct our mistake, first at practise. I think everything is going to be alright. We have a lot of games ahead of us and a lot of potential.”

Best scorers:
ZRHK Tenax Dobele – Pančenko 6, Miķelsons 5, Tuminskis 5, Krastiņš 3, Šuleiko 3, Politers 3, Juzups 2, Arājs 2
HC Dragunas Klaipeda– Draksas 12, Palskys 4, Butkus 3, Savicius 2, Naghavialhosseini 2, Bucius 1, Simonavicius 1

Raasiku/Mistra – HC Kehra/Horizon       21:26 (11:13)
The Estonian derby started and continued with a slight dominance of Kehra. They were in leadership throughout the first half – 13:11 was on scoreboard after 30 minutes. On the second half HC Kehra did not lose their lead neither on the field nor in the result – 26:21.

Mart Raudsepp, coach of HC Kehra/Horizon
“We managed to play good defense and hold our discipline in attack. Most of all I am satisfied about our defense and we need to improve our position attack in next games. Overall we played like we were planned and managed to get 2 points, that’s most important!”

Best scorers
Raasiku/Mistra –
HC Kehra/Horizon – Mamporia 7, Barpuski 7, Guimanov 5, Yankovski 4, Normak 2, Kreegimaa 1

Viljandi HC – HC Ogre     43:32 (21:17)

Kristo Voika, coach and player of Viljandi HC
“It was not a good game. It was almost terrible, the attitude were terrible, we thought this is going to be easy game, but Ogre showed us some teeth. We turned a nice handball evening into the nervous night, because we were not ready to play. That is not the way how to play BHL game, but luckily we got the 2 points. I am happy about win, but not happy about the game. Tomorrow we can make a correction of games, I hope at least.  I want to say some good words to Ogre, they fought till the end, even when we thought that the situation is over.”

Andris Molotanovs, coach of HC Ogre
“Our line-up is improving, and also one more player – Renfordt will join us tomorrow. We need to improve our game in defence. Today’s opponents played very well on defence, especially one-on-one defences. We need to draw conclusions and understand how to play against such active defence. In this season, everything is still ahead. The team is partly happy with the game, but I think we understand what still needs to be done.””

Best scorers
Viljandi HC – Koks 8, Varik M., 7, Voika 7, Varik O., 6, Lopp Mi., 4, Basarab 3, Maasalu 3, Pertelson 3, Kooviy 1, Lopp Ma., 1
HC Ogre – Leja 10, Patsykailik 9, Rutka 5, Lielais 5, Lazdiņš 3