On Saturday evening at 6 PM, our academy's senior team played away in the home of Kisvárda, a team fighting to avoid relegation in the NB I. Our handball players had a great match last time against Vác and were preparing for the same this time, with the crucial difference that they intended to bring home the championship points.
However, the hosts also aimed for victory, leading to an intense first half where both defenses and goalkeepers excelled on both sides. Although each team scored within the first two minutes, it wasn't until the seventh minute that Arany netted another goal, and by the 12th minute, the teams had only five goals combined (2-3). As the first half progressed, the home team equalized and took the lead while our team struggled to score for nearly ten minutes, leading to a 5-3 Kisvárda lead by the 20th minute. Paróczy broke our long goal drought, and with goals from Arany, Horváth, Lakatos, and Szalai, we managed to get back the lead. However, the hosts responded, and with two goals from Akiyama, they turned the game around and maintained their one goal advantage until halftime (10-9).
Although the second half began with a goal from the hosts, who led 12-11 by the 36th minute, the next four minutes were excellent for our team. With Wéninger's saves and goals from Arany, Bouti, Nick, and Szalai, we turned the game around once again and got away by three goals (12-15). Kisvárda tried to fight back, but our defense continued to perform well, maintaining a three-to-four goal difference until the 51st minute (16-19). As the game approached its final stages, Arany and Moreno both managed to score against the otherwise excellent goalkeeper Dalma Mátéfi, and when Török also scored in the 55th minute, the match was decisively settled (16-22). In the last minutes, Kisvárda tried their best to close the gap, but they could only get one goal closer to our team, which, with a great second-half performance, deservedly won 23-18, likely securing eighth place in the league.
Kisvárda Master Good SE – DKKA 18-23 (10-9)
Our goal scorers: Szalai 7, Arany 7, Horváth A. 2, Sallai 1, Török 1, Moreno 1, Paróczy 1, Bouti 1, Lakatos 1, Nick 1. Coaches: Róbert Paic, Roland Virág.