Vardar make Vujovic happy
EHF Champions League

Vardar make Vujovic happy

MAL7445 V
EHF / Björn Pazen

One week after their lucky draw at Elverum, HC Vardar 1961 took a deserved 35:27 victory against HC Meshkov Brest.

Veselin Vujovic's side remain unbeaten in the EHF Champions League Men 2021/22, but the Belarusian champions remain without a point under their new coach. 

GROUP A
HC Vardar 1961 (MKD) vs HC Meshkov Brest (BLR) 35:27 (19:13)

  • thanks to a brilliant start from Filip Taleski and Yoel Cuni Morales, Vadar pulled ahead to a 6:2 lead in the 11th minute 
  • Meshkov improved and reduced the deficit to 11:9, but they failed too often against strong Vardar goalkeeper Martin Tomovski, who saved 10 shots 
  • right after the break, Vardar forged ahead to a seven-goal lead for the first time 
  • Alex Kevynn Nyokas was the top scorer with eight goals, his brother Olivier netted three times, while Timur Dibirov and Yoel Cuni Morales scored five goals 
  • Meshkov trio Stanislav Kapsparek (six goals), Stas Skube and Andrej Yurinok (both five goals) scored 16 Brest's 27 goals
  • Both sides will face unbeaten opponents next week: Vardar will host Aalborg on Wednesday, while Brest hope for their first win against Szeged — also at home

Nyokas twins on a high again

Last week in the draw at Elverum, Olivier and Alix Kevynn Nyokas had their first international match for Vardar.

Against Brest, they were once again in top form. They both started their careers at Paris Handball, but their most recent season in the same team was in 2006/07. Although they were signed by Metalurg Skopje for the current season, the twins decided to change club to local rivals Vardar without playing a single minute for Metalurg.  

I really appreciate the Meshkov team. We opened the game with great motivation; the atmosphere in the hall and a few stops from Tomovski helped. It was a problem for me to play with the Nyokas brothers because they are not yet in tune with the team, but I came up with a solution with Dibirov in the middle. I think we deserved to win.
Veselin Vujovic
HC Vardar 1961 head coach
Vardar opened well in the first half, while we had a bad start, mostly in the defence. We changed the defence to 5:1, succeeded to reduce the difference to two to three goals. We made a few mistakes and Vardar got a chance to control the match. I don’t think that this difference is realistic, but they deserved to win the game.
Vladimir Vranjes
Meshkov Brest line player

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