The first derby of the capital city of the semi-final series was very volatile. “Swiesa” players started the match better and led by several goals. However, towards the end of the first half, HC “Vilnius” won the section by as much as 7:0 and led 18:14 before the break. In the second half, “Šviesa” not only equalized in a few minutes, but also rebalanced the result 19:18, and another winning section 5:0 made it possible to finally break away from the rivals. The handball players of “Swiesa” won with the result 33:29.
For the winners, Mantas Urvikis scored 8 goals, Tomas Bernatavičius – 6, Eimantas Sinkevičius, Skirmantas Plėta, Šarūnas Ugianskis and Karolis Bliuvas – 4. Laurynas Palevičius, who scored 7 goals against his former team, scored 5 goals each, and Martynas Lapinskas scored 5 goals each. Martynas Žala.
“For the first 15 minutes, our plan worked perfectly. We maintained a high tempo, ran into a fast attack and this allowed us to gain the lead. But then we made some serious mistakes, we didn’t play as agreed. There was chaos in our game and the opponents took advantage of it. During the break, we recalled the main highlights, organized the game and this allowed us to regain the lead. In the semi-finals, all teams are strong and there are neither favorites nor outsiders. We saw what we said before the semi-final – we will need all 60 minutes to fight on the pitch”, said Šviesa coach Žygymantas Sinkevičius.
“We lacked strength and our shots were weak – these were the main reasons for the defeat. Of course, we have to take our hat off to “Šviesas” goalkeeper Giedriu Morkūnas, he often drove us to despair in the second half. If you don’t roll, you can’t win. Especially against the champion Šviesa. We are not laying down our weapons and will continue to fight. After a tough quarter-final series, we now badly need a week off. After that, the strength of both teams will equalize, because the opponents who did not play in the quarterfinals were fresher in the first semi-final match. Both teams are of similar capacity and in the return match the scales can tilt in either direction,” said HC Vilnius coach Kęstutis Lapinskas.
In the other semi-final, “Dragūnas” handball players defeated “Granitas-Karis” 35:28. In the meeting held in the port city, the hosts were in the lead from the start of the match. After the first quarter, “Dragūnos” had a three-goal lead, 19:16. In the middle of the second half, “Dragūnas” increased its advantage to seven goals, 30:23, and kept this difference until the final siren.
The winners were led by Gytis Šmantauskas who scored 10 goals, Mykolas Lapiniauskas added 6 goals to the victory, Ukrainian Vladislavas Koržuks 5, Lukas Juškėnas 4. Modestas Štarolis and Matas Jurkevičius each scored 6 goals for the Kaunas team, Titas Janušonis and Andrius Montvilas scored 5 goals each.
“We started the match well and had the initiative from the beginning of the meeting. The main task was to maintain a safe lead, because knowing “Granit”, it is terrible to keep only 3-4 goals advantage at the end of the match. Competitors have a strong character and fight to the end. Therefore, we could not relax even for a minute. We tried to withstand the onslaught of “Granit” and we succeeded by maintaining discipline on the pitch. It was a good match. It’s good that they ended in our favor. But it will be three times more difficult in Kaunas, because the teams are tied and the outcome of the match can be determined even by fortune,” commented “Dragūnos” coach Gintaras Cibulskis.
“I told the men in the locker room that in a semi-final game like this, there has to be more man fight and more desire. Maybe we were feeling the consequences of three tough quarter-final matches, maybe fatigue also had an effect. But we wanted more enthusiasm from the players, there was a lack of toughness in the game and the desire to win. In the second leg we will have the advantage of the home walls and it makes a lot of difference when you are backed into a corner. Without a fight, we won’t give anything to anyone and we will do everything at home to bring the semi-final series to Klaipėda”, asserted “Granito-Karios” coach Vaidotas Grosas.
Granitas-Karys and HC Vilnius will play the second match of the semi-final series on May 1. If a decisive third match of the series is needed, it is scheduled for May 4.
Tags: semifinals Lithuanian Handball League started victories favorites
