PAOK draws 25:25 against Leeds and Dikefalos is disqualified

PAOK were hoping for a two-goal win after losing to Linz in Austria last week, but were unable to achieve it as both teams were tied 25-25 at the end of the game.

PAOK has thus been excluded from the European Cup and will now concentrate on domestic competitions.

The relevant bulletin states:

“PAOK drew 25:25 against HC Linz AG in the second game of the second round of the EHF European Cup and were eliminated from European competition.

The first few minutes of the game were even, the two teams were tied 2-2 and PAOK received a lot of offensive support from their own defensive area. The guests took a narrow lead with 5:8, but PAOK reacted and “ran” with the aggressive protagonists Eleftheriadis and Ladakis 4:0 in a row and regained the lead with 9:8. Then Dikefalos, with Tzorgini and Tsamouridis, extended his lead to 13:11 and kept it at 14:12 until the end of the first half.

PAOK started the second half “rapidly”, receiving valuable energy from the hot Mikra and expanding their lead to 18-15. Thanks to a goal from Tzorginis, Dikefalos took a four-goal lead at 20:16 and continued at full speed. At this point, the “Austrians” reacted and reduced the score to 20:19, with Kalomiros ending the series with 21:19 and Nikolaidis putting PAOK in the lead again with 22:19.

HC Linz failed to score at 22:21, but Botskarev and Papazoglou made it 25:23 and gave PAOK another qualification position with five minutes left. In the last five minutes, the “Austrians” scored two goals, equalizing the score at 25:25, which gave the last seconds a “thriller” character. PAOK looked for the “golden” goal but did not find it as the 25:25 final did not give them qualification.

PAOK (Gousios): Gigof, Ladakis 4, Eleftheriadis 4, Tsamouridis 3, Papageorgiou 1, Nikolaidis 1, Papazoglou 4, Koukmisis K., Tsanaxidis 1, Koukmisis N., Batzios, Kalomiros 1, Botskaref 4, Daios, Tzorginis 2″.