PPD Zagreb sail past Eurofarm on wings of a splendid second-half performance

PPD

In the second round of SEHA Gazprom League PPD Zagreb celebrated at home versus Eurofarm Pelister 26:23. Although situation didn't really look ideal fror Croatian champions heading into the second half they managed to turn things around with a splendi performance, especially on the defensive side of the court making it 2/2 in SEHA Gazprom League this season.
Unlike in their match versus Slovak Tatran Presov a few days ago, defense of multiple Croatian champions wasn't working the right way, especially in opening 20 minutes of the first when they allowed guests to open the gap to +3 (8:11). Mateo Maras showcased potential with a few quality long-distance bombs while Gradimir Chanevski stopped six shots in the first. PPD Zagreb eventually managed to narrow the gap to only -2 but two late two-minute suspensions opened the way for Josip Peric to make it +3 again (11:14) from the seven-meter line right before the half-time buzzer.
Guests opened the second half furiously taking advantage of the situation they found themselves in with Zagreb being down to four men quickly opening the gap to +5. However, once Zagreb's suspended players got back in, their defense started functioning way better than in the first half with Buric and Obradovic in the middle allowing them to score five unanswered goals levelling the match at 17:17 with a little over 15 minutes left until the final whistle. Home-team defense was able to keep the aggressiveness and tempo high allowing Macedonians only six goals in over first 20 minutes of the second. Offense was on the other side functioning much better scoring 12 over the same time period with ‘Lions’ entering final five minutes with a +3 advantage. In the end 26:23 with Senjamin Buric leading hosts with five while Josip Peric on the other side netted seven for Macedonians.
In the next round Eurofarm will welcome Tatran and PPD Zagreb will travel to Sabac to meet Metaloplastika.