BELARUS 8 MACEDONIA 7

Belarus won the Bronze medal at the LEN European Nations Trophy with a narrow victory over Macedonia.

Belarus, quarter-final conquerors of hosts Great Britain, lost the semi-final to Montenegro 26-1 but avenged the defeat by beating Montenegro’s neighbours Macedonia.

Belarus won the opening period 2-0 with goals from captain Dzmitry Vankevich and Vladimir Basic. Macedonia had three man-up opportunities but failed to score.

Macedonia hit back three minutes into the second quarter with Ivan Vuksanovic claiming his first goal. Risto Maljkovic levelled before Uladzimir Martyniuk put Belarus one-up. Vuksanovic equalised after Aliaksandr Andrayuk’s exclusion and Macedonia went ahead for the first time when Marko Basic scored following Alexcei Zalugnyi’s personal foul. But Belarus levelled when Vankevich’s shot from half-way found the back of the net on the buzzer.

Zalugnyi put Belarus ahead early in the second half with a centre-forward strike. Macedonia equalised once more when Maljkovic got his second following Armenaic Elizbaran’s exclusion. Vladimir Basic then scored twice from two extra-man attacks, the second with 58 seconds of the quarter remaining to give Belarus a two-goal cushion going into the final period.

Vladimir Kreckovic brought his side to within a goal with six minutes of the match remaining. But Belarus’ Siarhei Fralou was teed-up by Aleksey Kuzmenko for a fast-break strike to restore the advantage. Mikhail Yazerski denied Nenad Petrovic from an extra-man attack when Vladimir Basic was sent out. Yazerski again saved Belarus when Vankevich received his third personal foul before Marko Basic received his third exclusion.

Dzmitry Kulik was sent out before the Belarus coach was shown a red card and Vuksanovic completed his hat-trick. Macedonia took possession with 70 seconds remaining but a reversal was called when Marko Micic was judged to have committed an offensive foul. Vuksanovic was sent out and Belarus kept hold of the ball to secure the win.

Result: 8-7 (2-0; 2-4; 3-1; 1-2)

Belarus: 1. Mikhail Yazerski, 2 Ivan Kulakov, 3 Aliaksandr Andrayuk, 4 Dzmitry Kulik, 5 Alexcei Zalugnyi (1 goal), 6 Armenaic Elizbaran, 7 Aliaksandr Navumenka, 8 Dzmitry Vankevich (Capt, 2) 9 Siarhei Fralou (1), 10 Aleksey Kuzmenko, 11 Uladzimir Martyniuk (1), 12 Vladimir Basic (3), 13 Kanstantsin Kavaleuski

Macedonia: 1 Milos Urosevic, 2 Sava Isakovski, 3 Ivan Vuksanovic (3 goals), 4 Risto Maljkovic (2), 5 Nenad Ivanovski, 6 Saso Popovski (Capt), 7 Marko Micic, 8 Vladimir Kreckovic (1), 9 Nenad Petrovic, 10 Marko Basic (1), 11 Radislav Kocovski, 12 Bobi Kuzmanovski, 13 Darko Stosic