During the opening match of the new Champions League season, the Adriatic water polo players challenged Ferencvaros for a significant duration, leading until the final quarter, but ultimately succumbed to defeat.

After a 9:7 loss in Budapest, it was hoped that Petar Radanović’s squad could provide a tough contest against a team on an impressive winning streak, but they fell short—the Hungarian powerhouse recorded their 12th consecutive victory in this season, showcasing their dominance in Trebinje with a 17:10 win (4:1, 5:4, 4:2, 4:3).

The Novljani team only managed to score the first goal of the game, with Dmitrij Holod converting a penalty two minutes and twenty seconds into play.

After that point, it was all about Denes Varga and his teammates, with assistance from the Jadran players.

Darko Đurović had a challenging game, allowing a few shots to slip “through his fingers,” while his teammates struggled to capitalize on extra player advantages (at times even creating counterattacks for the Hungarians), causing the deficit to widen.

It was already 1:4 by the end of the first quarter, and 9:4 by halftime, as Stilijanos Argiropoulos completed a streak of 3:5 for a record nine-goal difference (0:16) just seven minutes into the final quarter.

Novljan capitalized on a relaxed FTC defense to close the gap with goals from Vasilij Radović, Uroš Vučurović, and Lazar Vukićević, but Adam Nađ had the final say. Defending against top-tier players like Ferencvaros is a tough task. “In attack, we didn’t execute our plans, we were noticeably sluggish and nowhere near the level required to compete with this team,” Radanović acknowledged.

Danilo Radović and Matija Sladović each found the net twice, while Dmitrij Holod, Ivan Nagajev, Matej Čaraj, Vasilije Radović, Vučurović, and Vukićević each contributed one goal. Đurović made five saves, while Ilija Radović did not save any shots.

“I trust we will learn from this experience. The key takeaway is for my players to witness this level of performance and ensure we display an improved game in the upcoming matches,” concluded the Novljan coach.

For the victorious side, Wendel Čaba Vigvari stood out with five goals, while Dušan Mandić, who plays for Serbia and hails from Tivat, added two goals to the score.

Ferencvaroš now leads Group C with a perfect 12 points, while Jadran has dropped to fourth place with just two points after Crvena zvezda defeated Jadran Split 12:11 in Belgrade.

News