Courtesy: LEN
Apollon Smyrnis managed to gain a single-goal advantage in the first leg of the Challenger Cup final. The Greek side could build a three-goal gap in the fourth period, but Spain’s Terrassa fought themselves back at the end.
Challenger Cup Final, 1st leg: Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) v CN Terrassa (ESP) 12-11
Second leg: 29 April
The first leg of the final in the inaugural edition of the Challenger Cup offered a thrilling encounter between the two best sides of the series. Terrassa arrived at Greece unbeaten but their run came to an end on Wednesday evening – still, they were probably the happier squad after a brave comeback at the end.
The hosts jumped to a 3-1 lead early in the first period and still held on for 5-3 before Terrassa hit back, two man-up goals in 62 seconds brought them to level and after a late exchange of goals the score was tied at halftime at 6-6.
The first twist came in the third when the Spaniards went ahead for the first time as Adrian Delgado netted a fine action goal for 7-8, but Nikola Bogdanovic equalised immediately, then Nikolaos Gardikas hit a double in the last 72 seconds to make it 10-8 before the final quarter.
Bogdanovic scored from action early on, it was his 4th in the evening, Apollon were in a 4-0 run, and it could have been more, but the home side missed a crucial man-up after a time-out. Jordi Chico finished off the following action for 11-9 to end Terrassa’s seven-minute long drought, still, Gardikas was on fire and also netted his fourth from action 22 seconds later.
With three goals up and 4:30 to go all looked bright for the Greeks – however, to the horror of the enthusiastic home crowd, they were unable to add any more in that remaining time while Terrassa managed to cut the gap to a single goal with two fine action shots. Delgado’s one came 37 seconds from time, not long after another missed 6 on 5 by Apollon – and these were the small but crucial details which may have an impact on the outcome of the title clash. That is due in 10 days’ time in Spain – a must-watch match for all water polo lovers.