FISHING KAŠTELA - DEPOLINK ŠKRLJEVO (Saturday 15:30 PM)
On Saturday, starting at 15:30 PM, a big first league derby will begin on the floor of the 'Sokolana' Sports Hall in Kaštel Sućurac, in which the current leading team in the championship, Ribola Kaštela, and the team that was declared the first favorite of this competition before this season, DepoLink Škrljevo, will face off.
Ribola enters this match as the only team that has suffered only one defeat so far this season, while Škrljevo and Mladost have left the field with their heads bowed twice, and it was these two teams that played
the previous round match in which the Zagreb team won after five minutes of extra time with a score of 98:95. On the other hand, Ribola had a less turbulent match last Saturday, despite playing away in Kvarner. Against Crikvenica, there was a safe +20, and practically all 40 minutes of the game passed without any stress over the result.
Last season, the team from Škrljevo entered as the main favorite to win the championship title and return to the Premier League, but, to the surprise of many, they did not even manage to make it to the playoffs, so Saturday's rivals met.
only twice, and on both occasions the home field was defended. In the first round of last year's championship, Petar Maleš's players celebrated with a score of 72:65, while a few months later Toni Biočić led his chosen ones to a victory in Kaštela 82:69 (photo).
The importance the guests attach to the new duel with Ribola is best shown by the fact that they will arrive in Kaštela today, and will also have an evening training session at 'Sokolana'. Let us remind you that their squad is led by experienced internationals
Fran Pilepić and Davor Konjević, but there are also a number of excellent players with experience playing in higher levels of competition (Toni Jelenković, Marin Đugum, Dominik Zelanto...).
However, despite the strength of the opponent and all the benefits that his colleague Petar Maleš gets from coaching a team composed mostly of professionals, Ribola Kaštela coach Toni Biočić believes in his team, which functions on the basis of amateurism, but exudes an atmosphere that many professional clubs can only dream of. Here is his view on the derby round:
"We are certainly expecting an interesting match against a very high-quality team that has clearly set its goal since the beginning of the season, which is to return to the Premier League. Individually, they are of very high quality, they are the backbone of the team
Premier League experience. As for every game, including this one, we will try to prepare as much as possible. The players, despite all their private commitments, give their best in training and I hope that we will transfer that togetherness and energy to the field, both in this and in all the other games that lie ahead. We play at home, we respect all teams, we are not afraid of anyone and I hope that we will play well and win against Škrljevo.''
Apart from the stands of the Kaštela Hall, you can watch the match live or later in a recording. HERE.
Photo: Ivana Topić (Fishing - Škrljevo, season 2024/25)
