SK Latgols achieved their first victory
February 27, 2022
The 14th weekend of the Baltic Handball League has come to a close. In two days, eight matches were played. As it was before this weekend, and it is still after it—three spots remain in the quarterfinals.
Granitas-Karys Kaunas, HC Vilnius, HC Dragunas Klaipeda, and ZRHK Tenax Dobele are the four clubs vying for these slots. Due to the Final Four of the Lithuanian Handball Federation Cup, Lithuanian clubs Granitas and Dragunas did not compete in the BHL this weekend. These two teams clashed in the final, with Dragunas Klaipeda, the hosts of the final four, celebrating their triumph. The other two clubs vying for a spot in the playoffs played each other. In a crucial match, the Latvian club overcame Vilnius and earned two points. At the moment, only two points separate fourth and seventh place in the rankings, so everything will be decided on the final weekend of the BHL!
Despite the fact that six clubs are no longer in contention for the play-offs, every victory counts. SK Latgols Ludza of Latvia won their first game this weekend! So, after round fourteen, all teams have at least one victory in their pockets.
SK Latgols Ludza – SK Tapa | 31:30 (16:11)
Renārs Grebeņņikovs (Latgols):
Over the weekend, those 2 games were completely different. Against Viljandi, we couldn’t find a way to get past the goalkeeper, and conceded too many goals on fastbreaks, but today we were feeling much better on the field. We had good moments and opportunities to score, which gave us hope of winning this game. The first two points felt awesome to get, but we have to move forward and play the remaining games better.
Lauri Lande (Tapa):
From the first minutes of the game, it was clear that we were not ready for the game and we were immediately in the role of a chaser. At first we couldn’t goal. In the second half, we changed our defensive tactics and caught up, but in the end, we couldn’t fully overtake and lost the point.
SK Latgols – Grebeņņikovs 12, Kušners 6, Usāns 4.
SK Tapa – Saar 10, Oolup 6, Kosmirak 4.
| Home | GAME STATS | Away |
|---|---|---|
| 49 | SHOTS | 45 |
| 63% | SHOTS EFFICIENCY | 67% |
| 2/4 | PENALTIES GOALS/SHOTS | 7/8 |
| 50% | PENALTIES EFFICIENCY | 88% |
| 1 | YELLOW CARDS | 0 |
| 7 | 2 MIN SUSPENSIONS | 4 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
HK Ogre/HYDROX – Viljandi HC | 30:42 (19:23)
HK Ogre – Lazdiņš 8, Patsykailik 7, Rutka 4.
Viljandi HC – Basarab 6, Varik 5, Ruut 4.
| Home | GAME STATS | Away |
|---|---|---|
| 46 | SHOTS | 65 |
| 65% | SHOTS EFFICIENCY | 65% |
| 3/3 | PENALTIES GOALS/SHOTS | 3/3 |
| 100% | PENALTIES EFFICIENCY | 100% |
| 2 | YELLOW CARDS | 1 |
| 2 | 2 MIN SUSPENSIONS | 2 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
HC Kehra/Horizon Pulp&Paper – Raasiku/Mistra | 17:26 (7:11)
HK Kehra – Soikka 4, Mägi 3, Vilks 3.
Raasiku – Naumenko 5, Nerut 4, Vare 4.
| Home | GAME STATS | Away |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | SHOTS | 32 |
| 57% | SHOTS EFFICIENCY | 72% |
| 0/0 | PENALTIES GOALS/SHOTS | 1/1 |
| 0% | PENALTIES EFFICIENCY | 100% |
| 0 | YELLOW CARDS | 1 |
| 1 | 2 MIN SUSPENSIONS | 3 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
HC Vilnius – ZRHK Tenax Dobele | 34:36 (20:18)
Oskars Arajs (Dobele):
It was a tough fight, but we were ready for his game. In the first half, we conceded a lot of goals, but also managed to score a lot too. In the second half, we changed our playing strategy, putting more energy into the defense, and it worked. We are happy with the victory.
HC Vilnius – Urbonas 8, Drevinskas 8, Žala 7.
Dobele – Arajs 10, Juzups 7, Pančenko 5.
| Home | GAME STATS | Away |
|---|---|---|
| 49 | SHOTS | 56 |
| 69% | SHOTS EFFICIENCY | 64% |
| 4/6 | PENALTIES GOALS/SHOTS | 5/5 |
| 67% | PENALTIES EFFICIENCY | 100% |
| 1 | YELLOW CARDS | 1 |
| 5 | 2 MIN SUSPENSIONS | 5 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
