Vardar 1961 have managed to make a big step towards booking a Quarter-Final spot in SEHA - Gazprom League defeating Metaloplastika 39:31 in the first leg of the first round of Play-Off. Second leg is scheduled for tomorrow in Skopje.

Guests from Sabac, Serbia arrived without a few players from their strongest lineup, and with just 13 players overall but in spite of that they were able to stay close to favored hosts throughout the bigger part of the first half, especially in the first few minutes when they held a 6-2 lead.

Vardar was doing badly in that period, and it needed time to get into the rhythm. The four-goal advantage of Metaloplastika stood until 8:4 when Vardar took the lead with 5:0 series. After 13:13, Vardar took control finishing the first half with 19:14 lead.

Vardar were able to stay in control in the second half as they managed to catch the right rhyhtm not allowing guests to cut the gap. Lovro Jotic led Vardar with ten goals, while Timur Dibirov scored seven. Luka Ivanic netted nine for Metaloplastika.