Sports roundup

The past sports weekend was marked by victories for the handball teams of Crvenka and Sivac, defeats for Hajduk in football and basketball, and a win for Rusin’s footballers in the municipal derby in Lipar.

The fourth round of the Super B League championship was successful for our handball teams. Sivac 69 recorded its first win. In front of their home fans in Sivac, Branko Žeželj’s team defeated Inđija 32:26, with the halftime score 16:15 in Sivac’s favour 69. In the first half, Sivac’s handball players, under pressure to win, spent the entire time chasing the visitors’ lead, but two goals from Vemić right at the end gave them a one-goal advantage at halftime. The home side had been worried about the second half because captain Beslać had received a straight red card right at the end of the first half, but the second half was a different story. Sivac’s lead grew minute by minute, reaching as many as nine goals at certain points, as in the 55 minute, when the score was 30:21. They went on to secure an important victory. Sivac’s top scorer was Luka Vemić with 8 goals, and he was also named player of the match.

Crvenka handball players continued their winning streak. Playing away in Vrbas in the so-called local derby, Crvenka defeated Vrbas 33:26, with the halftime score at 15:12 in Crvenka’s favor, recording their third consecutive win. The teams were evenly matched until midway through the first half, after which Crvenka played better in defense and more variedly in attack, taking a three-goal lead in the 24 minute and going into the break three goals ahead, at 12:9. In the second half, the teams traded goals. The home team, Vrbas, threatened, closing the gap to one goal, but Crvenka repelled the attack and restored its three-goal lead. Then, in the final six minutes, a run of 4:0 secured a seven-goal victory, 33:26. Crvenka’s top scorers were Bošković and Mašić, with seven goals each, while Crvenka goalkeeper Luka Pavlović was named player of the match.

After four rounds of the championship, Crvenka’s handball players are second in the standings with 7, while Sivac 69 are ninth with 2 points. In the next round, Crvenka will host Hercegovac from Gajdobra, while Sivac 69 will visit Smederevo.

In the second round of the First League championship, women’s handball club Krule lost to Ruma 37:20 in Sivac, with the halftime score 18:11 in Ruma’s favor. The result most clearly illustrates the balance of strength on the court. Aleksandra Jelenković was Krule’s top scorer, with seven goals. Our other First League team, Crvenka handball club Laki, will play its second-round match against Železničar 2 in Inđija on Wednesday.

In the 9. round of the Serbian League, Vojvodina Group championship, Hajduk’s footballers lost 2:1 away to the home side, “1. May,” in Ruma, despite leading at halftime. Hajduk played in Ruma without several regular starters: goalkeeper Simonović, captain Masalušić and Šušnjar. Dejan Vuković scored in the 33. minute to give them the lead at the break. Early in the second half, the Ruma side equalized, and “1. May” scored the winning goal in the 80. minute. Although Hajduk tried to equalize and had several promising opportunities, they failed to take them and left the field defeated. Hajduk are currently eleventh in the standings with 11 points, and will host Radnički from Zrenjanin in Kula in the next round.

The ninth round of the Sombor District League featured a municipal derby in Lipar, where Lipar and Rusin from Ruski Krstur faced off. The visitors from Ruski Krstur won 4:1, with the halftime score at 1:1. The derby lived up to expectations, with a very eventful match featuring five goals, numerous chances and two red cards. Rusin were the first to threaten, missing an ideal opportunity to take the lead in the 9 minute. Marković took a shot, and the ball rebounded to young Sajanković, who shot from seven metres, but Lipar goalkeeper Svetozar Zrakić made a superb save. Lipar took the lead in the 26 minute when Lalić made a fine run down the flank and sent in a low cross. Jovanović collected the ball in Rusin’s penalty area and sent it into the net past the helpless Kronić with a precise shot. In the 39 minute, Lipar had a great chance: Jovanović ran towards Rusin’s goal and, having outpaced his marker, could have finished the move himself, but unselfishly passed to Lalić, whose shot was cleared off the line for a corner by Holik. And immediately afterwards came the punishment. Filip Vujović sent the ball in front of Lipar’s goal, where experienced Janko Kulić collected it and fired into the net from around ten metres. The home side protested, believing the goal had been scored from an offside position. A key moment in the derby came in the 42 minute, when Lipar player Delić received a straight red card for a challenge on Rusin player Stefan Tomo. Despite being down to ten men, Lipar started the second half better and missed two ideal chances in the first fifteen minutes after the break. Jovanović failed to convert the first, in the 57 minute, after an assist from Đorović, while Ćovin missed the second in the 60 minute. Lipar were punished for those misses in the 67 minute, when Lipar player Avdalović played a short back-pass to his goalkeeper. Sajanković “read” his intention, intercepted the pass and then set up Filip Vujović, who scored from around ten metres to put Rusin ahead. As Lipar pushed for an equalizer, they left plenty of space for Rusin’s players to threaten on the counterattack. Sajanković and Marković converted two such counterattacks into goals, in the 90 minute and the fourth minute of stoppage time, respectively, making the final score 4:1 in Rusin’s favour. A recording of the match between Lipar and Rusin from Ruski Krstur will be shown tonight on KU Television from 20 hours.

Our third district-league side, Crvenka, beat BSK 4:1 away in Bački Gračac in the 9. round of the championship. Crvenka scored late in the first half, when Milan Subotić confidently converted a penalty, but BSK’s players did not give up and equalized in the 70. minute. Then, within two minutes, first Faćol in the 72. minute and then Milan Subotić in the 73. minute gave Crvenka a two-goal lead. Božičić scored their fourth goal, earning Goran Šušilović’s team a valuable victory. After nine rounds, Rusin is second in the standings with 22, Crvenka is third with 20, and Lipar is fifth with 19 points. In the next round, Crvenka will visit Budućnost in Gložan, Rusin will host Naša Zvezda from Silbaš in Ruski Krstur, and Lipar will face Soko in Nova Gajdobra.

In round nine of the first division of the Sombor Intermunicipal League, Polet defeated Aleksa Šantić 3:0 in Sivac. Romić scored two goals for Polet and Vukašinović scored one. Playing away in Bački Breg, Kula drew with home team Dinamo 0:0, while Mladost, the third team representing our municipality in this division, lost 4:1 to Omladinac from Bukovac in Kruščić. Nikola Fekete scored Mladost’s consolation goal. Sivac’s Polet is currently second in the standings with 21 points, Kula is third with 20, and Mladost is twelfth with 4 points. In round ten, Kula hosts Zadrugar from Srpski Miletić, Sivac’s Polet visits Telečka, and Mladost from Kruščić travels to Aleksa Šantić.

In the third round of the Vojvodina Futsal League championship, Hajduk’s futsal players drew 2:2 away in Subotica against FUL FIL. Delić and Radović scored to earn Hajduk a point. In the next, 4. round of the Vojvodina Futsal League championship, Hajduk will visit Tisa in Novi Bečej.

Hajduk’s basketball players lost to Podrinje from Mačvanska Mitrovica by 81:79 while playing away in Sremska Mitrovica in the second round of the Northern Group of the Republic League. It should be noted that Hajduk played with a weakened squad, as Bogdanović and Tešović were absent, which proved to be a major handicap, especially in rebounding. Hajduk were the better team for three quarters of the match and had a six-point lead at halftime, with the score at 42:36. They entered the final ten minutes with a ten-point advantage, leading 62:52. With six minutes remaining, Hajduk led by as many as twelve points, but then the home side went on a run of three-pointers. With Škrbić and Đurović also fouling out, the “Hajduks” simply could not withstand the pressure from the home side, and the result was a narrow defeat. In the third round of the championship, Hajduk host I Came to Play from Novi Sad.

Đ. Bojanić