Golnoor 71-74 Jahrom: A Close Start to the Season

Mokhaberat Hall, Isfahan, Thursday 30 Mehr, 15:30. Golnoor Isfahan hosted Naft va Gaz Zagros Jonoubi Jahrom in the opening week of the 1405-06 season and left the floor with a 71-74 defeat.

Four quarters, a game that stayed open

Golnoor took the first quarter 17-14 and made the better start, but lost the second 19-29 and went into the break 36-43 down. The third quarter was close and even (16-17), and in the fourth Golnoor outscored the visitors 19-14 to cut the gap to three points, but there was not enough time left for a full comeback.

First game, from the bench

The match was Aren Davoudi's first on the Golnoor bench as head coach. The former national-team point guard, who played for the club last season, took charge of the senior team after retiring as a player. The squad he brought to Mokhaberat Hall was young: close to ten players under 20, six of them members of the youth national team, three veterans over 30, and Marko Perovic, the team's foreign player.

A familiar opponent, with experience

Jahrom, though, came with experience. Mohammad Jamshidi, Mohammad Hassanzadeh and Mohammad Shahrian formed the spine of Saleh Esmaeili's side, and that line-up had already made this one of the week's closest fixtures before tip-off. The score confirmed it: 74-71, a three-point game.

One point in the table, other things on the floor

The defeat leaves Golnoor on one point and fourth in the provisional table. But the hall in Isfahan showed things the points column does not record: a quarter won, a comeback in the fourth, and a team that did not step back until the last possession. For a first game under a new head coach and with a squad whose average age is low, this is a start with something to build on, even if it does not make the defeat smaller.

The season has only just begun, and one game was enough for Golnoor to show that its matches have to be watched to the last second.

Photo: Varzesh3