Jadran thus failed to return the Regional League to Croatia. The trophy remained in Serbia after Radnički from Zagreb won it last year.
There was hope that Jadran could write another beautiful story in its 102nd year of existence. They had waited for 30 years for the Croatian trophy, which they won at the end of last year defeating Jug in the Croatian Cup final. But this time, they didn’t have enough.
First half – 2:0 for Jadran, Novi Belgrade equalized at 2:2, then 4:2 for Jadran, then the return of the hosts – 4:4. In the third quarter – 5:4 for Jadran, 5:5, 6:5 for Jadran, 6:6, then Jadran attacked with two more players. However, with 3 minutes and 26 seconds until the end of the third quarter, the host took their first lead and continued this series with four goals in a row, reaching 9:6.
Jadran rightly looked down and shouted at referees Ivanovski and Obradović. First Marin Kliškinjić was removed from the Jadran bench, then coach Mile Smodlaka and Dejan Savičević finally led Jadran, who was without Rino Burić in the last six minutes due to three exclusions.
Jerko Marinić Kragić was the triple scorer for Jadran, Luka Bukić and Konstantin Harkov added two goals each, and Rino Burić, Zvonimir Butić, Nikša Dobud, and Anđelo Šetka scored one goal each. Strahinja Rašović and Viktor Rašović were the best for Novi Belgrade with three goals, and Viktor Rasovic, Dusko Pijetlovic, Nikola Jaksic, Radomir Drasovic and Nika Shusiasvili scored two goals each.
This is the first Regional League title for Novi Belgrade. The MVP of the Final Four is Duško Pijetlović (Novi Belgrade).
Earlier on Sunday, Jug took third place, defeating last year’s winner Radnički from Kagujevac 18-15 (5-4, 6-1, 6-5, 1-5).
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