As the 1st quarter came to a close, the scoreboard displayed 1:4. It was unexpected that the visitors’ goal count would remain unchanged until nearly the end of the match, but such occurrences are part of water polo.

The long “drought” of the Adriatic was penalized, with Crvena zvezda securing a 3:9 victory in their direct contest for 6th place in group C of the Champions League, leaving Novljani awaiting the Eurocup round of draw as underdogs.

The match started strong, as Petr Radanović’s squad gained the lead through a goal from Danilo Radović, with Marko Radović equalizing shortly after. By the end of the first quarter, Martin Gardašević, Lazar Vukićević, and Ivan Nagajev also found the net.

Unfortunately, that was all the scoring for them. The “red and white” failed to capitalize on two penalties in the 2nd quarter (Radović hitting the post and Darko Đurović blocking Dušan Vasić’s attempt), leading to Jadran going almost 19 minutes without a goal until Radović netted his second to trim the deficit to 6:5.

In the next attack, Vuk Milojević restored a two-goal lead, and Miloš Vukićević solidified the outcome with a goal for 8:5 with just over four minutes remaining.

Jovan Vujović managed to decrease the margin 65 seconds before the conclusion when the match was already decided, and Lukas Seman finalized the score.

In the Eurocup round of 16, Primorac is also expected to compete, and on Saturday, at the “Zoran-Džimi Gopčević” swimming pool, they could lose by four points to Ortiđa and still remain second in group D.

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