Playing for third place at a Final4 is never an easy task, and after Saturday’s semi-final defeat, disappointment was naturally in the air. Still, out of pride and for our supporters, beating Mosonmagyaróvár on Sunday afternoon in the Hungarian Cup was a must. We couldn’t expect a sparkling performance – and, truth be told, we didn’t get one.

The team looked flat from the start, struggling to find rhythm and pace at both ends of the court, and even later it was mainly our attacking play that improved. After taking a 5–3 lead, we conceded four in a row and spent the next ten minutes chasing the game before finally drawing level in the 16th minute. Blanka Böde-Bíró’s saves made the difference in that period, but just as we seemed to settle, we gave up the lead again, only to turn things around once more late in the half. Transition defence was our biggest issue, as Mosonmagyaróvár scored repeatedly from fast breaks, while our 6–0 defence also struggled to function effectively – it was very much a typical bronze-medal game.

We still went into the second half in front (19–18), but clear improvement was needed, especially with the team visibly exhausted, playing its fourth match in eight days.

Jesper Jensen managed to regroup the side at half-time, particularly tightening up the defence, which led to a significant turnaround. We conceded just three goals in the opening 16 minutes of the second half and built an eight-goal lead, despite Emily Vogel being forced to the bench after taking a blow to the face. Petra Simon once again led the scoring, while Júlia Hársfalvi also delivered an excellent performance. Blanka Böde-Bíró left the court with twelve saves with fifteen minutes to go, and perhaps we relaxed a bit too early. Our concentration dropped, our transitions became less disciplined, and Mosonmagyaróvár gradually closed the gap. The deficit was cut to three in the closing minutes, but the win was never really in danger.

In the end, we did what was required, beating Mosonmagyaróvár to secure third place in the Hungarian Cup after four consecutive titles.

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