Another exciting sports weekend is behind us

In the first round of the spring half of the championship in the Serbian League, Vojvodina Group, Hajduk played away in Zrenjanin, where they drew with Radnički 1:1. The opening match is always unpredictable, as teams move from preparations into the race for points, and Hajduk face a major challenge: staying in the league. That is why the point earned in Zrenjanin is significant, as it was won against a direct rival in the fight to avoid relegation. As for the match itself, the first half passed without any clear goal-scoring opportunities. At the start of the second half, the home side took the lead fortuitously, as a ball played towards Hajduk’s goal struck a Hajduk player, bounced off the crossbar and, unfortunately for the Kula side, fell to a Radnički player who sent it into the net from 5-6 metres. However, the lead did not demoralize Hajduk’s players. A key moment came in the 69 minute, when Matijašević won the ball in midfield and played it into space for Ivanović, who set off alone towards the home goal. A Radnički player brought him down from behind and was shown a red card. Hajduk made their numerical advantage count when Šušnjar scored in the 86 minute. The same player had a chance in stoppage time to give Hajduk the win after an assist from Matijašević, but his shot went just wide, leaving the score at 1:1. Hajduk remain bottom of the table with 11 points, and in the next round they host Tisa from Adorjan.

Our clubs made a great start to the spring season in the Sombor District League. All three representatives—Crvenka, Lipar and Rusin from Ruski Krstur—recorded wins. Crvenka hosted Budućnost from Parage and won 3:0. A superb first half was capped by three goals scored in just eight minutes. Babić scored the first in the 16th minute, Jovan Subotić the second in 20, and Jovanović the third in 24. It was a shame that Crvenka chose to simply see out the match in the second half, so the score remained just 3:0. Lipar hosted Naša Zvezda from Silbaš and won 4:1. Lipar dominated and led 2:0; the visitors threatened briefly with a consolation goal, but Mirko Kovač’s players then scored two more to make the final score 4:1. Marčetić scored twice for Lipar, with Kovač and Avdalović scoring one each. Our third representative, Rusin, travelled to Obrovac, where they defeated the home team, Borac, 2:0. Rusin coach Zlatko Sajanković says the win was more than deserved because Rusin’s defense functioned brilliantly, the home side created no chances, and Rusin took advantage of its two. Filip Vujović scored Rusin’s opening goal from the penalty spot, and Matej Sajanković added the second about ten minutes before the end. After sixteen rounds, Rusin are fourth in the standings with 31 point, Lipar are thirteenth with 19, and Crvenka are fourteenth with 12 points. In the next round, Rusin host Borac from Bački Gračac in Ruski Krstur, Lipar will face Kordun in Kljajićevo, and Crvenka travel to Budućnost in Gložan.

Our handball teams had an unsuccessful weekend. In round 14 of the Super B League championship, both Crvenka and Sivac 69 suffered defeats. Last night in Apatin, Crvenka lost 28:23 to hosts Apatin, with the halftime score 15:10 in the hosts’ favor. Crvenka’s handball players started the match very poorly, which Apatin took advantage of, leading 13:4 in the 21 minute. Miloš Mitrović’s players rallied after that, coming closest to their opponents in the 53 minute, when they cut the deficit to just three goals—the score was 24:21 in Apatin’s favor—but they did not have the strength to turn the game around. Bošković was Crvenka’s top scorer with 8 goals. After two consecutive home defeats, Sivac’s handball players visited Kostolac in round 14, where Kolubara beat them 35:29, with the halftime score 15:12 in the hosts’ favor. The first half was evenly contested, with the lead changing hands, but late in the half the hosts capitalized on a couple of Sivac players’ mistakes to take a three-goal lead. However, in the second half, Sivac seemed to run out of steam. From the score of 18:16, the hosts went on a 4:0 run in three minutes in the 36 minute, moving ahead 22:16. They managed to preserve that six-goal lead until the end and deservedly celebrated the win. Despite the defeat, an encouraging sign is that the health of Sivac’s “Panthers” is improving, so we can expect results to improve as the squad gets back to full strength. Beslać, with 8 goals, and Čabai, with 7, were Sivac’s top scorers. Crvenka are currently fifth in the standings with 16 points, while Sivac 69 are eighth with eleven. In the next round, Crvenka host Ub, while Sivac 69 host Sinđelić from Belgrade.

Hajduk’s basketball players recorded their second win in the second round of the First Regional League of Serbia playoffs. Playing away in Stara Pazova, Hajduk defeated the home team, Stara Pazova, 96:88, with the halftime score 47:45 in Hajduk’s favor. The win was all the more significant because Hajduk played without captain Škrbić, its most experienced player Bajić, and injured players Lješević and Terzić. Đurović and Cvetičanin were in the lineup despite having practically not trained at all during the previous week. Hajduk coach Danilo Borović says his team played well in attack, but he was not entirely satisfied with its defensive play. The match was decided by Hajduk’s more experienced and mature performance compared with the home team. Hajduk’s most effective players were Đurović with 28, Suvajdžić with 25 and Koprivica with 24 points each, but Rnić also made a significant contribution to the win, playing an important role in defense and rebounding. Hajduk are third in the playoff standings with a record of five wins and three losses. In the next round, they host Vrbas in a local derby in front of their home fans.

In the 17 round of the Serbian Second League championship, Hajduk’s volleyball players lost 3:1 away to Partizan in Bač. Even before the match, the home side were favourites as the league leaders, but Hajduk came close to causing an upset. Hajduk’s players started bravely and, with excellent serving in the first set, disarmed the leaders, Partizan, winning the set 25:23. However, several errors in the second and third sets cost them those sets. They lost the second 25:23 and the third 25:17. They then could not find the strength to get back into the match and lost the fourth set 25:12, giving Partizan a final 3:1 victory. Hajduk coach Milorad Lazić says his team showed against the league leaders that they have quality, but they need a lot more training and time to gain the experience required to play in the Second League. Hajduk are currently eleventh in the table with 10 points, and in the next round they host Vojvodina 3 from Novi Sad.

The defeat suffered in the 16 round of the First Vojvodina League championship cost Hajduk’s bowlers their place at the top of the table. Playing at home in Vrbas, Hajduk hosted Kljajićevo, who won 7:1 on points, or 3272:3139 in total pinfall. Branko Vuksan scored Hajduk’s only point, knocking down 552 pins. Hajduk are second in the table with 24 points, one point behind leaders Kljajićevo. In the next round, they visit Kristal in Zrenjanin.

Đ. Bojanić