Eurofarm Pelister beaten 24:31 by Logroño La Rioja in the first round of the EHF European League

Eurofarm Pelister’s handball players suffered an unplanned home defeat in the first round of the EHF European League, losing 24:31 to the Spanish team Logroño La Rioja in Bitola, as Bitola News reports.

The visitors opened the match with a 0:5 run and by half-time had deepened their lead to 8:16. Pelister’s biggest problem was poor finishing: only 8 goals from 23 attempts in the first half, compared with 16 from 23 for the Spaniards.

In the second half Logroño’s lead remained stable at 8–9 goals. Samoil Ristevski cut it to 16:24 in the 42nd minute and 17:25 in the 45th, but the visitors even reached a double-digit lead (17:27). A 4:1 run at the end brought the score to 21:29 in the 53rd minute, but the comeback never happened.

Both teams lost key defensive players: Pelister’s Nik Henigman, who received a blue card, and La Rioja’s Ivan Popović, who was excluded three times (red card). The hero of the match was visiting goalkeeper Joan Ledo with 20 saves from 45 shots, plus three “goal-to-goal” goals in the moments when Pelister played 7:6.

For Pelister, Ristevski and Petar Atanasijević scored four goals each, while Kajaldzieski added three. La Rioja’s top scorer was Álvaro Martínez with six goals. In the next round of the European League, on October 6, Eurofarm Pelister will travel to Gdańsk in Poland. Before the match, a “fan zone” had been organized on the plaza in front of the sports hall for the 41st anniversary of “Čkembari”, Pelister’s fans.