Radnicki took a 2:0 lead in the Serbian League playoffs final, beating Novi Beograd 13:11 in Belgrade in the second match of the best-of-five series. The Kragujevac-based side now has an opportunity to secure its third title in the national championships already in three days in front of its home crowd.
Radnicki, playing well defensively, imposed its rhythm from the beginning and capitalized on every Novi Beograd’s mistake. In the third period, the visitors had a 6-goal lead. Novi Beograd refused to give in and made a big comeback, reducing the deficit to one (11:12), but Radnicki didn’t let the visitors go further. The Kragujevac-based side achieved its first away victory over Novi Beograd after more than three and a half years (a 15:14 win in October of 2022).
Novi Beograd scored the opening goal by converting a man-up opportunity. However, after taking a 1:0 lead, Novi Beograd struggled with their 6-on-5 shots, missing six man-up chances in the first half, which proved costly. Radnicki then went on a 6:1 run to take a 6:2 lead by the 15th minute. The hosts’ leftie Viktor Urosevic found the net with an action goal, bringing the score to 3:6. The contrast in man-up conversions highlighted the first half; Radnicki successfully scored five out of six shots while Novi Beograd managed only one out of seven.
The visitors kept dictating the pace after the middle break. Midway through the third quarter, Radnicki increase the margin to five after Nikola Dedovic made it 9:4 from a counterattack. Novi Beograd improved its man-up conversion, but it didn’t change the momentum. Two and a half minutes before the last break, the visitors established a 6-goal lead for the first time when Vlachopoulos netted a nice goal for 11:5. They had a 12:6 advantage late into the third quarter, but Novi Beograd didn’t surrender.
Just before the end of the third quarter, Milos Cuk scored, bringing the score to 7:12 and initiating Novi Beograd’s comeback. The hosts then scored four goals in the first three minutes of the final period, narrowing the gap to 11:12. Meanwhile, Radnicki left without Dusko Pijetlovic after two and a half minutes of play in the fourth period due to the red card (an exclusion with substitution). Novi Beograd also had a possession to equalize. However, it failed to score. Immediately after, Radnicki’s captain, legendary Andrija Prlainovic, halted Novi Beograd’s comeback scoring for 13:11 with 04:28 minutes left in the game. There were no further goals, but Radnicki retook control. It focused on defense and maintained a 2-goal lead until the end.
2026 Serbian League playoffs
Final (best of five), Game 2
Novi Beograd – Radnicki 11:13 (2:3, 1:3, 4:6, 4:1) – the score in the series 0:2
Novi Beograd Tehnomanija: Cuk 3, Lukic 2, Urosevic 2, Martinovic 2, Sulc 1, Pjesivac 1.
Radnicki: Prlainovic 3, Jaksic 3,Vapenski 3, Vlachopoulos 2, Pijetlovic 1, Vapenski 1.
3rd-place playoffs (best of three), Games 1 and 2
Sabac won the bronze medal, beating Crvena Zvezda twice in the 3rd-place playoffs. After a comfortable victory at home, Sabac recorded a narrow 11:10 away win, with Aljosa Macic scoring a winner just seven seconds before the end.
Sabac Elixir – Crvena Zvezda 16:8 (4:2, 6:2, 3:2, 3:2)
Crvena Zvezda – Sabac Elixir 10:11 (2:3, 4:2, 2:3, 2:3)
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