26/07/2015 00:07
Denmark upset Former Y.R. of Macedonia to celebrate second win in Pool A
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Skopje, Former Y.R. of Macedonia, July 25, 2015. On Saturday night Denmark celebrated their second hurrah in the 2015 edition of the CEV Volleyball European League as they upset the hosts of the Former Y.R. of Macedonia in Skopje cruising to a hard-fought tie-break victory (29-27, 18-25, 18-25, 25-22, 18-16) which came only after a thrilling, dramatic tie-break.
The home guys in red and yellow shirts were desperately vying for a victory that would have cemented their chances to make the Final Four tournament scheduled for August 13-14 in Walbrzych, Poland. Though their chance to make it there is not yet compromised, things got more complicated after their home loss to Denmark.
The hosts expected a tough match with the Danes and so it was. The visitors from Denmark started out strong and imposed their rule at the net in the opening set while the home guys were not as effective as usual with their blocks. The first set was a close run and after a tie at 22 all, it was still wide open before Denmark converted their third set ball for the final 29-27.
The Former Y.R. of Macedonia controlled the match with ease in the second and third sets where their opposite Jovica Simovski looked unstoppable. Once his efforts were further supported by Gjoko Josifov and Zoran Gjorgjevski, everything went just easy for the home team; their defence was also very solid and this resulted in a double 25-18 to move the score to two sets to one for the Former Y.R. of Macedonia.
The fight continued in set 4 and there it got a lot closer. The hosts claimed a 19:16 lead but they allowed their opponents to come back and draw level at 19 all. After another tie at 22, Denmark had a run of three straight points to cash the fourth set at 25-22 and call for the tie-break.
The deciding fifth set was a dramatic one whose eventual fate remained difficult to predict through to the end. After the score was levelled at 12, the hosts trailed 12:14 but the Danes missed out on their first match ball and after that Gjorgjevski stamped a block for the 14 all. The players mentored by Zarko Ristoski had two match balls of their own but they failed to use these chances and ended up losing the final set and the match at 16-18.
The re-match will now follow on Sunday at 17:30 CET once again at Boris Trajkovski sports hall in Skopje.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
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