Conference Cup Men: Honved and De Akker set up gold-medal showdown in Athens

Endo Plus Service Honved and De Akker Team ruined the Greeks’ party in Athens as they both downed their respective rivals in the semi-finals of the inaugural men’s Conference Cup Final Four. The Hungarians fired in 11 action goals from the perimeter to dismantle hosts GS Apollon Smyrnis, then the Italians came back from three goals down, shut out Panionios GSS for the final 5:46 and scored the last two goals to win a real thriller.

2025/26 Conference Cup Men
Final 4, Semi-Finals
Saturday 2 May

Endo Plus Service Honved (HUN) 16-12 GS Apollon Smyrnis (GRE)
De Akker Team (ITA) 13-12 Panionios GSS (GRE)

Endo Plus Service Honved (HUN) 16-12 GS Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) (4-2, 5-4, 4-3, 3-3)

Honved were the first team to reach the inaugural Conference Cup final after showcasing tremendous shooting power, hitting 11 goals from the perimeter to dismantle hosts Apollon in a huge battle.

Apollon opened the scoring with a fine finish from Emmanouil Solanakis in the centre, before three action shots from Honved, all from the perimeter, offered a short but telling preview of the rest of the game.

Solanakis then put away a six-on-four and the Greeks had a man-up to level, but missed it, before Viktor Vadovics beat the buzzer with a smart shot from the ensuing counter for 4-2.

The opening minute of the second period was pure madness as three action goals were scored in the space of 29 seconds and Honved moved 6-3 up.

Alexandros Alamanos pulled one back, but Peter Sugar let fly from 7m and, after a killed man-down, Rolf Bencz also sent a blistering shot in to extend the lead to four.

Though Honved missed a penalty, Balint Kiss found the back of the net shortly after to make it 9-4. What made it even more remarkable was that all nine goals had come from action.

Solanakis appeared to be the only player among the hosts truly ready for this battle and muscled his way into position to fire home from the centre.

The Magyars then missed another six-on-five, while the Greeks forced a penalty in their man-up and Nikola Bogdanovic buried it with 44 seconds left in the half for 9-6.

The home side opted for a change in goal, not surprisingly, but Konstantinos Limarakis also found it hard to get a hand to Moskov’s next 6m blast.

In fact, Honved kept missing their extras – they stood at 0-for-8 at this stage – but continued to score from distance.

Though Christos Laskaridis pulled one back, Bendeguz Ekler also hit an action goal to restore the four-goal gap (11-7).

The Hungarians managed to maintain it until the end of the period, as a response always came after Apollon’s goals.

Hannes Daube converted another penalty, but Moskov finally netted a six-on-five, then the American found a way through Honved’s special wall-like defence for the first time (with two players stationed next to the goalkeeper, practically on the goal-line).

Still, Bendeguz Kevi produced another buzzer-beater, an incredible rocket that bounced in off the post for 13-9.

Marios Kapotsis’ fierce bouncer opened the fourth quarter, but Bencz was also on target from a six-on-five.

The Hungarians then showed defensive heroics to kill back-to-back man-downs before Bogdanovic converted Apollon’s third with 5:08 to go.

Again, the hosts’ hopes were quickly extinguished, as just 36 seconds later Vadovics’ sneaking shot also found its way into the net for 15-11.

Laskaridis netted a fine action goal with 2:42 remaining, then both teams earned a man-up after a time-out, but both missed and it was more painful for the Greeks.

Time was ticking down and, 65 seconds before the final buzzer, Vadovics sent Honved’s 11th action goal into the net from an improbable distance and angle, underlining the real difference between the defences, and especially the goalkeeping.

The Magyars cruised into the final, reaching their first European gold-medal match since their legendary side made the Champions League (then the Euro League) final for the fourth straight – and last – time in 2005.

De Akker Team (ITA) 13-12 Panionios GSS (GRE) (3-4, 2-2, 4-4, 4-2)

Just like Apollon, Panionios also sank in the semis as De Akker never gave in, even when they trailed by three.

A superb comeback at the end, combined with killing the last five Greek man-ups, sent them to the gold-medal match to face Honved once more after their clash in the second qualification round, where Honved won 15-10.

Despite the electrifying atmosphere created by the Greek fans – with the Panionios camp also turning out in huge numbers at Apollon’s pool – De Akker made a flying start.

The Italians netted two goals and killed a six-on-five and a six-on-four too, but midway through the first quarter the Greeks also found their rhythm and converted back-to-back man-ups.

Soon, their veteran captain Alexandros Gounas also sent the ball home from an extra for 2-3.

It could have been 2-4 a bit later, but Gounas hit the post from a penalty and Matteo Bragantini produced a fine finish from a counter attack.

Still, Panionios closed the period in front as Andreas Bitsakos stunned De Akker goalkeeper Rocco Valle from a sharp angle with 0:07 on the clock.

The second period saw three minutes of desperate battling before Eduardo Campopiano equalised from action, but the Greeks responded with two fine action goals. Their other seasoned great, Konstantinos Mourikis, scored from centre, then Gounas found the tiniest hole between the goalkeeper’s arms from a sharp angle for 4-6.

Niccolo Di Murro kept his calm to finish a six-on-five with 47 seconds left to set the half-time score at 5-6.

The third began in extraordinary fashion as the Greeks earned three penalties from as many possessions.

Andreas Bitsakos hit the post with the first, then buried the second, just as Gounas did with the third, and Panionios moved three clear at 5-8.

Still, the Italians fought on. Dash McFarland sent a superb shot into the net and Bragantini converted an extra 47 seconds later.

Konstantinos Bitsakos, the left-handed of the two siblings, lifted the Greeks’ spirits with a blistering perimeter shot, but Francesco Lucci also scored from a six-on-five for 8-9.

Though only 46 seconds remained, there was still time for one more goal apiece – Gounas scored from distance, but Campopiano’s left hand also did damage, so it stood at 9-10 with eight minutes remaining.

De Akker managed to draw level immediately as they forced a penalty on their first extra of the fourth and Campopiano buried it.

Gounas hit his fifth of the night from a man-up and Campopiano again kept the Italian flag flying.

Toi Suzuki’s shot somehow made its way into the net, bouncing in off the goalkeeper’s hand and the post, so Panionios still led 11-12 with 5:46 to go.

They had another man-up, but wasted it off the post and paid dearly. Campopiano – who else – struck his fourth straight goal, and some loose defending on McFarland allowed the centre-forward an easy put-away.

The Italians led again, for the first time since 2-0, but there were still 3:30 to play.

However, no more goals came at either end even though Panionios had three more man-ups.

They kept feeding the ball to the 2m line, but it never worked, while their final shot, under time pressure with just seconds left, was well blocked and that sent De Akker into the final.

For a Final Four staged in Athens, it was something of a shock that both Greek sides lost their respective semis, but Panionios missed 10 extras, including the last five, and that ultimately killed their chances of reaching the final.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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