Croatia recorded their fourth victory in four matches so far at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, defeating Bahrain and moving up to eight points on the Group C table in the first match of the round for the group. Croatia had the upper hand throughout the game, though Bahrain fought back to level from a five-goal deficit in the first half before falling behind again. 

GROUP C
Croatia vs Bahrain 32:23 (13:12) 

The round four clash showed a subtle difference in strength between Croatia’s first and second sides, as it was the starting line-up who created a commanding lead in the opening and reclaimed the upper hand in the second half after Bahrain fought back. 

Croatia coach Davor Dominikovic had said his team did not prevent enough goals in their previous clash, versus Hungary, and there was a clear focus on defence when the game began. After five minutes, Croatia had scored three unanswered goals, while Bahrain did not find the goal until the eighth. Croatia’s defence was so strong that Bahrain managed only one shot in the first four minutes. 

The European team reached an advantage as great as five goals, 6:1 in the 11th minute and 7:2 in the 12th, before Bahrain started to come back. Once again, Croatia were led by a stand-out performance from their back-court players, with left back Halil Jaganjac scoring three goals off three shots in the first 15 minutes and right back Ivan Martinovic contributing two from two. At the end of the first quarter, their goalkeeper Ivan Eres recorded a 57% save rate with four shots out of seven faced. 

But once Croatia started to rotate their bench, Bahrain were able to decrease the deficit against them. By the 18th minute, Bahrain had fought back to a two-goal difference, 8:6, and they equalised at 11:11 in the 27th. However, that was the last time the match stood level. 

With their strongest side back on court, Croatia reclaimed the upper hand immediately when the match resumed and were completely in control from that stage. With 15 minutes left, Croatia were in front 24:16 and they hit a 10-goal lead with four minutes remaining until the buzzer. 

Player of the match: Halil Jaganjac, Croatia