Machine-translated from Hungarian.
On Saturday evening, fans were treated to the penultimate home match of the 2024 Andersen League season, with the Óbuda Hockey Academy as our visitors. Our last two league matches hadn’t gone as hoped, so it was important that we got back to our best and secured the three points. We were forced to do without several key players due to illness and suspensions, so the lads faced a tough challenge.
Győr’s dominance was never in doubt from the very first minutes of the match, but the visitors neutralised our attacks very effectively; we had to wait nearly ten minutes for the first – and only – goal of the period: Bence Dézsi received a fine long pass almost at the goalkeeper’s feet, which he calmly slotted past him (1–0).
The home side continued to apply pressure in the second half, but the visitors from the capital also managed to step it up a gear, which they converted into a goal in the fifth minute: after intercepting a cross-field pass, Lászlóffy broke clear and made no mistake in the one-on-one (1–1). The equaliser spurred us on too, and barely a minute later we were back in the lead: following a successful face-off, a weak long-range shot rebounded off the visitors’ goalkeeper straight onto Bendegúz Jábor’s stick (2–1). Shortly afterwards, Yulian Tovkach cleverly won the puck in the middle of the rink, carried it all the way down the ice and fired it into the top right corner; following a video review, the referees awarded the goal (3–1). The Győr forwards still had plenty of fire left in them; from a scramble behind the goal, the unmarked Martin Sipák received a fine pass and Farkas had no chance of getting back in time (4–1). We managed to respond to our opponents’ change of pace and went into the second break with a comfortable three-goal lead.
In the final period, we were quickly able to extend this lead further; whilst on the power play, Bence Dézsi fired the puck into the top left corner with surgical precision (5–1). But OHA weren’t about to throw in the towel either; in the 47th minute, following a fine counter-attack, two players carried the puck unchallenged towards Nándi Róth’s goal and Lászlóffy was once again on the scoresheet (5–2). It wouldn’t have been right if the final goal hadn’t come from a home player, but fortunately the lads made sure that wasn’t the case: Botond Fekete played a magnificent half-pitch pass to Bence Makovics; although the initial shot didn’t find its way into the Óbuda net, Richárd Horváth made no mistake with the rebound (6–2).
**We had to secure these three points – which, on paper, looked like a sure thing – with a depleted squad, but it was no easy task; however, our team rose to the challenge.
The lads have a busy schedule ahead of them next week: on Tuesday, a Hungarian Cup match away at Erste Liga side UTE, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we’re off on a tour of Poland for the EUHL, where we’ll face three teams over three days.**
Come on, UNI GYŐR ETO!
UNI GYŐR ETO HC vs OHA: 6 – 2 (AL39) Goalscorers: **#15 Bence Dézsi (2), #17 Bendegúz Jábor, #3 Yulian Tovkach, #7 Martin Sipák, #11 Richárd Horváth (UNI GYŐR ETO) #88 Lászlóffy (OHA)
We’ve put together a selection of the best photos from the match in our gallery:
Photo: Dr Krisztina Németh-Csigai
Fotó: Dr. Németh-Csigai Krisztina