November 10, 2021 - Water polo club Jadran Split celebrated its first win in the LEN Champions League this season after beating Georgia's Dinamo Tbilisi in the second round on Tuesday night.
The match began similar to when Jadran faced Barcelona in the first round. The opportunities were there, but there were no goals. Dinamo took advantage of that and took the lead with Sarić's goal, but then Bukić took responsibility and equalized to 1:1 in the fourth minute. A minute later, Delić scored and brought Jadran to the first lead of the match (2:1). Sarić equalized for Dinamo at 2:2, and Marinić-Kragić returned Split to the top with a penalty.
In the 11th minute, Jadran finally scored with an extra man. Delić found Dobud, who scored for 5:3. In the 14th minute, Šetka scored with an extra man for the first +3 advantage of the match (7:4). Jadran managed to stop Dinamo's resistance and entered the second quarter up 10:5.
That advantage grew to 12:5 with two goals by captain Šetka in the third quarter. In the end, Dinamo came back from 15:8 to 15:11, slightly mitigating the defeat. At that moment, Jadran coach Mile Smodlaka called for a timeout. Dinamo then further reduced the result to 15:12, with Jadran conceding a series of 4 goals. Dinamo was just two goals behind at 15:13 two minutes before the final whistle.
"I don't know; it's a shame that we allowed it at the end of this game. We need to discuss this amongst each other. Individuals put themselves ahead of the team, and that’s not good. But come on, let this be a warning to us, and maybe something good will come out of this. We started the game well, played properly, and created a great advantage, and then got into that hole," said Mile Smodlaka, Jadran's coach.
Jadran – Dinamo Tbilisi 15:13
(3:2, 7:3, 4:2, 1:6)
Split – Poljud
Spectators: 250.
Referees: Petronilli (Italy), Haentschel (Germany)
Jadran: Podrug, Burić (1), Marinić-Kragić (3), Čagalj, Z. Butić, Pejković (1), Bukić (1), Harkov (1), Delić (1), Dobud (2), Šetka (3), Dužević (2), Anić.
Dinamo Tbilisi: Razmadze, Tešelašvili (1), Dadvani, Imaišvili, Bitadze (1), Jelača (2), Adeišvili, Sarić (3), Giorgadze, Magrakvelidze (2), Vasić (4), Akvlediani, Gvetadze.
Source: Dalmacija Danas
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