Primorac's water polo players had many good performances on the European stage this season, playing in the final of the Premier Regional League, and winning a series of matches against their biggest rival Jadran M:tel, but no matter how this campaign ends - one big stain will remain.
The team from Kotor was outclassed by Budvanska rivijera Budva in the first match of the semi-finals of the Montenegrin championship - they conceded as many as 18 goals and suffered one of the heaviest defeats on the domestic stage ever...
It was 18:9 for the hosts in the "Dragan Trifunović" pool, thus Budva once again showed that it is on the right course, that it has both quality and talent. Because, only an excellent and well-managed team can take advantage of everything that a stronger and more expensive rival offers, a team that has in its ranks standard national team players from Montenegro and Serbia, a legend such as Draško Brguljan...
Budva's victory is spectacular in itself, deserving of immense attention and respect, but what does it mean in the fight for the final?
The competition's regulations seem to contradict common sense and suggest that with this triumph, Budva has earned "at least" a fifth place in the rematch scheduled for Monday in the "Zoran Džimi Gopčević" swimming pool.
The propositions state:
"If the semi-final match ends with both teams winning one match each, and after the regular part of the second match there is no overall winner, the decision will be made by taking penalty kicks."
This means that after a minus nine, Primorac only needs to win with a plus one to reach the five-point line and rush through them on their way to the finals.
It could even happen that penalty kicks are kicked twice in the second leg!?
This would happen if it was tied after 32 minutes, and then Primorac scored in the "first series" of penalty kicks.
Budva, therefore, can reach the final without a penalty only if it defeats the current vice-champion in Kotor.
The team from Budva, by the way, gave five goals to Sakis Kehajas's team in the first quarter, the score was 8:6 at halftime, and the third quarter was unreal for both teams.
The home team scored seven goals and conceded only one, so the scoreboard read 15:7 before the final eight minutes.
The last period was therefore just a quarter in which Budva's feat and Primorac's shocking defeat would be put to an end.
Nebojša Vušković and Nenad Dragović led the winners with four goals each, while Đuro Radović scored twice for Primorac.
Jadran took a big step towards the finals, defeating Budućnost One 23:9 in Podgorica. The second match is on Monday at Škver.
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