It was a successful sporting weekend for our handball and football teams.

Although both of our Super League teams were playing away in the 20th round of the Super B League, they achieved valuable results. Sivac 69 played away in Vrbas, where they defeated the home side, Vrbas Petrol, 31:29. The teams traded goals for much of the first half, but late in the period, with the score at 15:15 in the 26th minute, Vrbas Petrol scored 3:0 unanswered goals to take the first half 18:15. In the second half, the determined Sivac side chipped away at the home team’s lead and drew level in the 39th minute, making it 21:21. In the 54th minute the score was 27:27, after which Sivac took the lead, going ahead 29:27, and held on to their two-goal advantage to claim a valuable win. According to Sivac coach Branko Žeželj, it was his team’s best performance this spring: a solid defence, decent goalkeeping, great determination and tremendous effort, all of which paid off in the end. Sivac’s top scorer was pivot Ilija Kolarić, who scored 11 goals and was also named player of the match.

Crvenka’s handball team visited Smederevo, where they faced the league’s second-placed team, Smederevo. The “Squirrels” return from this away match, which they played without the experienced Ivić, with a point, after a 29:29 draw, with Crvenka leading 13:11 at halftime. Crvenka coach Miloš Mitrović says that after an excellent performance and a convincing win over Morava from Velika Plana, they went to face Smederevo with hopes of winning, believing they could spring a surprise. Crvenka’s handball players defended excellently, and several players were in good form in attack. These were the reasons for their strong performance in Smederevo. The “Squirrels” dictated the pace and controlled the score throughout the match, leading 27:22 in the 48th minute and 29:27 in the 57th, but inexperience in the closing stages was why they returned home with only one point. Crvenka’s top scorers were Savo Bošković with 8 and young Aleksa Tomić with 7 goals.

After twenty rounds of the championship, Crvenka is fifth in the standings with 21, while Sivac 69 is eighth with 17 points. In the next round, Crvenka travels to Inđija, while Sivac 69 hosts Morava from Velika Plana.

In the 26 round of the Serbian League Vojvodina Group championship, Hajduk’s footballers beat 1 Maj from Ruma 3:1 in front of their fans in Kula, greatly improving their chances of staying in the Serbian League for the rest of the season. Spectators witnessed a now-familiar scene at the Kula stadium: Hajduk played well in the first half, capping their performance with two excellent goals. The first was scored in the 13 minute by the match’s best player, Uroš Božović, who controlled a pass from Matijašević, carried the ball a few steps and fired a highly accurate shot from about twenty meters, finding the “side netting” by the helpless Ramadani’s left post. Just five minutes later, following another assist from Matijašević, Ivanović scored from an angle about ten meters out for 2:0. The teams went into the fifteen-minute break with that score. Then came the second half, with the “Hajduks” needlessly tense, and they were punished for their play in the 78 minute. Ruma’s best player, Matijević, made a run down the wing and tried to deliver a hard cross; the ball clipped Damjanović, changed direction, wrong-footed Drinčić and ended up in the Kula team’s net, making it 2:1. This goal jolted Hajduk’s footballers out of their lethargy, and they scored a third goal right at the end. In the 87 minute, Božović controlled a through ball with his chest, entered the visitors’ penalty area, rounded the young Mandić and, with Ramadani rushing out, sent the ball into the unguarded net to make the final score 3:1 for Hajduk 1912.

Hajduk are currently twelfth in the table with 30 points, and in the next round they travel to Sombor to play Radnički.

The twenty-fifth round of the Sombor District League championship was marked by a municipal derby in which Crvenka outplayed Lipar on its home ground, beating it 4:0. Crvenka’s footballers continued their run of spring successes, and in the municipal derby against Lipar, Čvokić gave them the lead in the 15th minute. Late in the first half, Lipar player Trešnjić illegally stopped Crvenka forward Babić as the last defender, received a red card, and the referee awarded Crvenka a penalty, which Milan Subotić converted for the second goal. The aforementioned Babić scored the third goal in first-half stoppage time and his fourth in the 62th minute, securing a convincing victory for Crvenka. Rusin hosted Naša Zvezda from Silbaš in Ruski Krstur and recorded a narrow 1:0 win. Krstur coach Zlatko Sajanković says the match was scrappy, with few chances, and the winner was decided in the 86th minute, when Matej Sajanković collected a long ball and turned it into the winning goal. Rusin is currently fourth in the table with 49, Crvenka is eleventh with 32, and Lipar is twelfth with 27 points. In the next round, Rusin visits Kordun in Kljajićevo, Crvenka visits ŽAK in Sombor, and Lipar hosts Vojvodina from Tovariševo.

Kula’s footballers earned a valuable victory this past weekend, beating OFK Om ladinac 1:0 away in Deronje in a match in the 22 round of the Sombor Intermunicipal League, First Division. Bortnik scored the winning goal, and the victory was all the more significant because it cemented Kula’s position at the top of the standings. The other two clubs from our municipality competing at this level also had successful results. Polet beat Om ladinac from Bukovac 3:1 in Sivac. Furtula, Romić and Nićetin scored for Polet. Mladost also recorded a win by the same score, 3:1, after hosting Zadrugar from Srpski Miletić in Kruščić. Grdinić, Kilić and Gačević scored for Mladost. Kula are top of the table with 46 points, Polet are sixth with 35, and Mladost are eighth with 24 points. In the next round, Kula host Terekveš from Svilojevo, Sivac’s Polet travel to face Zadrugar in Srpski Miletić, and Mladost from Kruščić visit BSK in Bački Brestovac.

Members of Hajduk Karate Club had two highly notable outings last weekend. First, on Saturday, they competed at the Serbian Cup for cadets, juniors and seniors, held in Novi Bečej. The “Hajduk” team entered 24 individual and five team events, and won 13 medals: four gold, three silver and six bronze. Cadet Rastko Mijanović and junior Mihajlo Krnajac won gold in the individual events at the Serbian Cup. Senior Natalija Seratlić and junior Mia Dvožak won individual silver medals, while cadet Božidar Mrdak, junior Rastko Mijanović, junior girl Matea Kalmar and senior Kristina Sokolovski took individual bronze. The club is proud of its two team golds at the Serbian Cup, won by the junior team of Miloš Krnajac, Luka Giric, Mihajlo Krnajac and Rastko Mijanović, and the cadet team of Rastko Mijanović, Miloš Krnajac, Stefan Karapandža and Božidar Mrdak. Hajduk’s junior girls’ team—Matea Kalmar, Milana Korica and Mia Dvožak—won silver, while the cadet girls’ team—Lana Ljubenković, Mia Dvožak, Isidora Pekvić and Anđela Medarević—and the senior women’s team—Aleksandra Đikić, Natalija Seratlić and Kristina Sokolovski—won team bronze. Hajduk Karate Club is extremely pleased with its members’ performance at the Serbian Cup, especially the junior and cadet teams’ championship titles. Among the individuals, Rastko Mijanović particularly stood out, winning three golds and one bronze across the team and individual events, an unparalleled achievement. Junior Mihajlo Krnajac also stood out, winning two golds. They are undoubtedly two of the most promising young fighters in Serbia.

On Sunday, members of Hajduk Karate Club also took part in the traditional international “Danube Cup” in Novi Bečej. Twenty members of the club return with 7 gold medals, one silver and 5 bronze medals, enough to make Hajduk Karate Club the tournament’s most successful club in the kumite events. The “Danube Cup” winners were youth competitor Stefan Karapandža, junior girls Vanja Jarić and Nevena Vujasin, and junior boys Vojin Miletić, Sergej Baran, Miljan Mrdak and Marko Đis-alov. Junior Luka Roknić won silver, while the bronze medals went to female youth competitors Isidora Pekvić, Milica Bukvić and Anđela Medarević, and male youth competitors Aleksa Pucar and Ilija Dragić. The medals were won by members of Hajduk’s younger age groups, a sure sign that they are on track to successfully follow in the footsteps of their older teammates, who dominate in the cadet and junior competitions.

Đ. Bojanić