A try by super-sub, Saša Mitrović in the dying seconds won Serbian champions, Dorćol, the season-opening Super Cup, when they overcame arch-rivals Red Star 32-30 in a thriller at the FK BASK Arena in Belgrade.
“It was a great game, the score could have gone either way,” said winning skipper Dalibor Vukanović, “but in the end our team spirit gave us the final push. Winning like this gives you the kind of confidence that can be cruical for the rest of the season.”
With the two sides meeting in a major final for the fourth time, Dorćol took an early lead through international backrower Stevan Stevanović, whose try was converted by Dalibor Vukanović. Red Star levelled soon after but by the break went 16-12 behind; Dalibor Vukanović banking the first of two tries in his 16 point personal haul.
At the start of the second half, Stefan Nikolić leveled for the red and whites before Dorćol took control again, and in the space of five minutes the Vukanović brothers added a try apiece.
Red Star took advantage of the conditions later, scoring three tries with heavy rain falling; Miodrag Tomić’s brace, followed by Vojislav Dedić’s touchdown in the 77th minute, giving them the lead for the first time.
But it was last year’s Grand Final winners who had final the final say, with Mitrović the hero, giving Dorćol the second Super Cup win in their history.
