70:83-defeat by CD Fundosa ONCE
Title-defendants RSV Lahn-Dill missed the Champions Cup final. Despite fighting hard the German Champions have been defeated by CD Fundosa ONCE Madrid 70:83 (10:15/29:36/47:54), and therefore did not reach the semi-final in Valladolid. In a high-class game against the Spanish record-Champions they did not seem to be too lucky, but convinced with their fighting attitude.
After an even start the Madrid team set off from the seventh minute onwards, and were leading 17:10 at the start of the second quarter. RSV kept trying to even this deficit out but did not manage to. The five-time Champions Cup winners showed some great performance trying to catch up, but whenever Nicolai Zeltinger’s team came closer to Madrid, it was always Briton Terry Bywater to throw the spanner in the works, hitting shots from anywhere.
In the end he had scored 37 points, whilst hard fought scores like 32:36 (22nd min) by Michael Paye or 64:66 (36th min) by Joe Bestwick seemed to be for nothing. The team battled hard, but did not have lady luck on their side, and not enough to hold against the Spanish team.
Madrid: Terry Bywater (37/3 Dreier), Alejandro Zarzuela (14), Pablo Zarzuela (12), Bill Latham (5), Carlos Vera (5), Rafael Munio (4), Daniel Rodriguez (2), Daniel Soto (2), Petr Tucek (2), Javier Gomez (n.e.), Jaime Llambi (n.e.), Almudena Montiel (n.e.).
RSV Lahn-Dill: Michael Paye (31/1), Joe Bestwick (18), Thomas Boehme (10), Dirk Koehler (7), Thomas Gundert (2), Jan Haller (2), Bjoern Lohmann, Marco Zwerger, Annabel Breuer, Christopher Huber (n.e.), Felix Schell (n.e.), Gesche Schuenemann (n.e.).