After an eleven-year hiatus, the Hungarian Handball Federation organized the Supercup once again, where our women's handball team faced Győri Audi ETO KC. Based on the past decade, it is unusual for the first clash of the season to take place directly between the biggest rivals, so we could expect an interesting match from this perspective as well. There were absentees on both sides, and neither team could boast a disruption-free preparation—which is probably why both coaches fielded starting lineups full of "familiar faces," with only our goalkeeper being a newcomer on the court from the first minute.

Anna Kristensen started well, neutralizing two shots, while Katrin Klujber opened the scoring on the other end. After our first goal, we couldn't really string together a complete attack; the referees took the ball away twice after ruling that someone had stepped into the goal area. ETO turned the game around, and we also found ourselves a player down, but we weathered this period relatively well, equalizing from a 4-2 deficit and keeping pace. Interestingly, our first eight goals were scored by eight different players; later, Petra Simon, voted the best player of the previous season, became the first to score twice. At times, our attacking play was distinctly attractive, and we were able to dismantle the Győr defense; our bigger difficulty was converting our chances.

The match continued with Győr in the lead, but we were close, and with slightly better concentration, a turnaround seemed possible. We equalized multiple times from two goals down, but we just couldn't manage to take the lead until the twenty-seventh minute, when Vilde Ingstad's goal broke the pattern. We couldn't rejoice for long, but taking the lead signaled that it was a tight battle. In the closing stages of the half, it seemed our opponents had made an illegal substitution, but during the video review, no footage was found showing the exact moment, so no suspension was given. Unfortunately, no more Fradi goals came before the end of the half, while ETO found the net, meaning we headed into the break with a minimal deficit (14-13).

We lost our rhythm for the second half; our play was slower and more inaccurate, so the chances didn't come as they had before, making it essential to value every shot. Ingstad matched Simon's goal tally; after a magnificent pass from Elizabeth Omoregie, her fourth goal brought an equalizer (16-16), and it was a real pity that we didn't take the lead from our next attack. Instead, a suspension and a missed penalty followed, along with three Győr goals, increasing the gap to three for the first time in the match (19-16).

We desperately needed a change of pace for the last fifteen minutes, but unfortunately, it was noticeable that the team was not yet in peak form. We couldn't renew our energy, and we made costly mistakes in hard-earned scoring positions. We had already tried playing with seven attackers in the first half, and we returned to this tactic during this period, but it brought no improvement. In fact, after frustrating mistakes, ETO punished us with empty-net goals.

Jesper Jensen used his final timeout, and we scored right after, but from then on, we needed something extra at the back to erase the five-goal deficit that had developed. We traded goals, and then a quick goal by Simon after a save by Kristensen offered a glimmer of hope. Our playmaker managed to shift into another gear; coming off the bench, she finished the attacks herself twice more, allowing us to claw back to within two at one point, but then unfortunately, ETO found the net as well.

The team fought hard, but there were too many missed clear-cut chances and too few standout individual performances—which is, of course, understandable at the end of August, but it wasn't enough to beat Győr. Overall, we got a good picture of the team, there were numerous encouraging moments, and if we manage to take the next step or two in team-building over the coming weeks, we can look forward to a lot of joy during the season.

The league campaign begins for our team on Wednesday, September 2, as we play Budaörs at Népliget at 6:00 PM.

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