The end of the autumn half-season for football clubs and victories for the Crvenka and Sivac handball teams

The past sports weekend marked the end of the autumn half-season for football clubs in our municipality, as well as victories for the Crvenka and Sivac handball teams.

In the ninth round of the Super B League championship, both teams from our municipality played at home. Sivac 69 hosted Vrbas Petrol from Vrbas at its hall and, after three consecutive defeats, recorded an important win. Sivac 69 defeated the team from Vrbas 35:34, with the halftime score at 17:16. The score itself shows that the match was dramatic and closely contested, but it seems the home team’s experience proved decisive. After the initial settling-in period, Sivac took a 7:5 lead in the 12 minute of the first half, but the team from Vrbas caught up and went ahead, leading 13:11 in the 22 minute. However, Branko Žeželj’s players equalized in the 24 minute at 14:14, then went into the break a goal ahead after a back-and-forth exchange. The visitors had the better start to the second half, and from a score of 19:17 for Sivac in the 32 minute, Vrbas went on a 5:0 run over the next five minutes to take a 22:19 lead. Sivac fought back, leveling the score in the 42 minute, and when they went three goals ahead in the 58 minute, 33:30, it was clear the points would stay in Sivac. Sivac handball coach Branko Žeželj said this was a very valuable victory after three consecutive defeats, with the loss to Voždovac hurting the most. “In an extremely difficult and closely contested match, we beat a very good Vrbas team because my players showed great energy and simply left their hearts on the court,” said Žeželj. Marko Čabai was Sivac’s top scorer with 14 goals, but his teammate Marko Klasan, who scored 6 goals, was named Player of the Match.

Crvenka’s handball players also celebrated a victory. Playing as the home team in Ruski Krstur, Crvenka defeated Smederevo 30:22, with the halftime score at 16:11. A convincing victory, and an impressive performance by Crvenka’s handball players, who outplayed the second-placed team in every aspect of the game. Goalkeeper Luka Pavićević capped an excellent defensive performance with brilliant saves, while experienced Vuk Perović and young Marko Tasić were in fine form in attack, so the victory was never in doubt. Vuk Perović was Crvenka’s top scorer with 13 goals, and Crvenka goalkeeper Luka Pavićević was named Player of the Match.

After nine rounds, Sivac 69 are fifth in the standings with 11, while Crvenka are sixth with 10 points. In the next round, Crvenka host Inđija, while Sivac 69 travel to bottom-placed Morava in Velika Plana.

The Sivac handball players were followed by the Sivac women’s handball team. In the 9 round of the First League championship for women, Women’s Handball Club “Krуле” beat the Jabuka team in Sivac by 37:24. Aleksandra Jelenković and Emilija Petrović were particularly impressive for Krule, scoring 10 goals each, while Krule goalkeeper Anastasija Drakula was named player of the match. Our other First League team, Laki from Crvenka, lost to Mladost in Srpska Crnja by 36:28, with the halftime score 14:13 in Mladost’s favor. The match was decided between the 37 minute, when the score was 18:18, and the 44 minute, when Mladost took a 25:19 lead; after that, the young Crvenka players were unable to fight their way back into the match. Laki’s top scorer was Anželi Lovre, with 8 goals. Sivac women’s handball club “Krule” is currently eighth in the standings with 7 points, while Crvenka’s “Laki” is last with 2 point. In the next round, Laki will visit Spartak in Debeljača, while Krule will visit Mladost in Srpska Crnja.

The autumn half of the season has ended for the football clubs from our municipality.

In the final round of the autumn half of the season in the Serbian League, Vojvodina group, Hajduk’s footballers travelled to Vršac, where they lost to hosts OFK Vršac 3:0, with the halftime score 2:0. Hajduk’s players thus ended a half-season to forget, sitting bottom of the standings with 10 points. Considering everything that happened at Hajduk Football Club this autumn—from numerous players leaving in the middle of the season and suspensions due to red cards to illness, not to mention that cadets had to play because of all this—it is clear that things could hardly have gone any worse. The break has come at just the right time to sit down and decide calmly what to do next. The way things went in the autumn half of the season was no good.

In the final round of the autumn half of the championship in the Sombor District League, all three teams from our municipality played at home, but only Rusin’s footballers said farewell to their fans with a win. This was expected, as Rusin hosted last-placed Radnički from Sombor in the final autumn round in Ruski Krstur—a team that had not earned a single point. Rusin won 7:1, with Andrej Malacko and Filip Vujović scoring two goals each, and Vladan Vujović, Branković and Toma scoring one apiece. Lipar hosted league leaders Bratstvo from Prigrevica, a team that had won every match so far this season. The visitors beat Lipar 3:0. The most exciting match was in Crvenka, where Crvenka hosted Kordun from Kljajićevo. Kordun won 3:2 in a match that saw three red cards, two for Crvenka players and one for a visitor. Kordun took the lead in the second minute, but Babić equalized for Crvenka, and the teams went into halftime at 1:1; it should be noted that Crvenka player Bešić was sent off in the 43 minute. Kordun managed to capitalize on having an extra player and took the lead again in the 62 minute, but Miljan Šakić’s goal in the 66 minute brought another equalizer. Five minutes later, the visitors scored their third goal, which proved to be the winner. Rusin finished the autumn half of the season fifth in the standings with 28 points, Lipar is thirteenth with 16, and Crvenka is fourteenth with 9 points.

Hajduk’s men’s and women’s volleyball teams have recorded further defeats. In the sixth round of the Second League, Hajduk’s men hosted Partizan from Bač in front of their home fans and came close to securing their first win in the division. It was a dramatic volleyball match, with many ups and downs and several contentious refereeing decisions, played in a heated atmosphere created by Hajduk fans, who passionately cheered on their team. Partizan took the first set 25:16; Hajduk’s players hit back decisively in the second, winning it 25:15. The team from Bač won the third set 25:12, which will also be remembered for Hajduk captain Boško Bigić receiving a red card. Despite this setback, Hajduk’s players won the fourth set 25:18, so the winner was decided in a tiebreak, where Partizan’s players performed better, taking it 15:10 and eventually winning by an overall score of 3:2. Having won two sets, Hajduk were awarded one point, their first point in the Second League, earned by Milo­rad Lazić’s team. In the next round, Hajduk’s players travel to Novi Sad to face Vojvodina 3. It is a young and highly promising team led from the sidelines by our legendary volleyball player Strahinja Kozić.

In the sixth round of the First Vojvodina League championship, Hajduk’s women’s volleyball team visited Apatin, where they lost to the home team 3:0, with set scores of 25:20, 25:20 and 25:16. Apatin is the stronger team, and it is clear that the young Hajduk team lacks confidence when a set is on the line, greater decisiveness in attack and better concentration on serve reception at the end of sets. Still, every match is very important for Hajduk’s players as they gain the experience they need. Hajduk’s women’s volleyball team has a bye in the next round, giving them plenty of time to prepare well for their next match against Spartak from Subotica.

Hajduk’s basketball team had an unsuccessful weekend. In the eighth round of the First Regional League, North Group, the team from Kula lost away to Sveti Đorđe in Žitište 69:61, with the halftime score 34:26 in the home team’s favor. Hajduk coach Danilo Borović attributes the defeat to his team’s poor start, as shown by Sveti Đorđe winning the first quarter 23:15 and managing to preserve that eight-point lead until the end. Hajduk cut the deficit to two points in the second half, but lacked the concentration to turn the game around, and the home team deservedly won. With six wins and two losses, Hajduk is second in the standings and hosts Topola from Bačka Topola in the next round.

In the eighth round of the First Women’s Regional League championship, Sivac’s women’s basketball team beat Delfin in Bačka Palanka 46:41, with the halftime score 27:20 in Sivac’s favor. Sivac got off to a better start, winning the first quarter 13:6, then fended off Delfin’s attempts to turn the score around and deservedly celebrated the win. Sivac has four wins and four losses and is currently fourth in the standings; in the next round, they host bottom-placed Jedinstvo from Novi Bečej.

Đ. Bojanić