Italy’s De Akker crowned first-ever Conference Cup champions after strong finish sinks Honved

De Akker Team made history by lifting the trophy at the end of the inaugural Conference Cup Men’s Final Four in Athens on Sunday night. The side from Bologna produced a tactical masterpiece against Endo Plus Service Honved, using all their strengths to exploit the Magyars’ weaknesses, and with some sparkling offensive play in the fourth period – where they netted five action goals – they cruised to a well-deserved victory. The bronze went to hosts GS Apollon Smyrnis, who beat fellow Greek side Panionios GSS in an action-packed 28-goal thriller.

2025/26 Conference Cup Men
Final 4, Finals
Sunday 3 May

Gold Medal

Endo Plus Service Honved (HUN) 14-17 De Akker Team (ITA)

Bronze Medal

GS Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) 15-13 Panionios GSS (GRE)

Gold Medal

Endo Plus Service Honved (HUN) 14-17 De Akker Team (ITA) (4-4, 4-4, 3-4, 3-5)

Honved opened the scoring after two minutes as Bendeguz Kevi had an easy put-away from the post in a man-up, before Eduardo Campopiano netted De Akker’s second six-on-five.

Rocco Valle then blocked Nikola Moskov’s penalty, quite a rarity, and this appeared to cause some distraction in the Honved camp.

The Italians made the most of it, striking twice more in the space of 44 seconds – first from a man-up and then through a fine action goal from Krstijan Milakovich.

It was Bendeguz Ekler who stepped up for Honved, scoring two in a row. One was a pinpoint effort from a man-up, while he also buried a penalty to level at 3-3.

Dash McFarland nudged De Akker back in front after a rebound – while Honved applied their usual wall defence with two men next to the goalkeeper – fell kindly into his hand.

Ekler had the final say of the first quarter, though, completing his hat-trick from a six-on-five with another precision finish to make it all square at 4-4.

Moskov came up with a blast right at the start of the second period, but Matteo Bragantini found a gap in the Honved wall with a brilliant bouncer to level once more.

Tensions then ran high as Honved earned back-to-back exclusions and Henrik Simon converted from close range, while the preceding scenes led to a red card for the assistant coach.

A six-on-four then offered Milakovich a golden chance he did not miss, but Ekler responded with another strike from a six-on-five.

Soon, the Magyars had a man-up of their own and doubled their lead as Bendeguz Kevi finished it off at the end for 8-6.

Despite trailing by two, the Italians played their next extra with remarkable patience and Francesco Lucci sent the ball into the net in the final second.

De Akker also tightened up defensively, while the Magyars had a couple of loose possessions and were nowhere near scoring in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the half.

Their former player Balazs Erdelyi made them pay, sending a blistering rocket into the top-left corner with 0:09 remaining to tie the game at 8-8 at half-time.

De Akker carried that momentum into the second half as Bragantini had an easy finish on the first man-up to restore their lead.

Honved goalkeeper Kristof Csoma came up with a couple of fine saves before Lazar Vickovic scored a stunner from the perimeter, but more patient passing then found Lucci unmarked on the left wing and his controlled finish restored the advantage.

Soon, De Akker were two ahead as Milakovich was set up perfectly at the post during a man-up midway through the third.

A penalty, converted by Vickovic, halved the deficit and after Honved returned to their trademark wall at the back – with success – a counter ended in a six-on-four that Moskov finished for 11-11.

It remained a toe-to-toe battle in the closing three minutes of the period, with both sides desperately searching for some breathing room.

Milakovich then sent home a long-range shot that almost broke the net with 23 seconds left, while the Magyars failed to feed the ball to Moskov, who was left alone on the wing during their final man-up.

That error left De Akker 11-12 up heading into the last quarter.

McFarland opened the fourth with a stunning finish from the centre, though Moskov buried a penalty just 12 seconds later to make it 12-13.

Still, the Italians once again found a way through the wall, Jack Painter’s left-handed effort squeezing through the defensive arms to restore the two-goal cushion.

Honved then missed a crucial extra, while De Akker also struck the post on their own six-on-five when they had the chance to move three clear.

Moskov’s next effort in a man-up was well saved by Valle, and that proved a decisive momentum swing as Bragantini floated a magnificent lob into the net at the other end.

Honved wasted another extra and that highlighted the key difference between the teams – three missed man-ups against three action goals in the fourth period – exactly the kind of edge that wins trophies.

The remaining time saw a flurry of goals as both defences began to tire, but De Akker’s historic victory had already been sealed.

The outcome was a far cry from the sides’ previous meeting in the second qualification round, when Honved had beaten the Italians 15-10.

On this occasion, seasoned coach Federico Mistrangelo and his players showed just how much they had learned from that defeat.

In the end, De Akker’s tactical superiority prevailed as they etched their name into history as the first Conference Cup champions.

Bronze Medal

GS Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) 15-13 Panionios GSS (GRE) (4-6, 3-3, 6-2, 2-2)

Hosts Apollon claimed some consolation by securing the bronze medal with a fine victory over domestic rivals Panionios after an entertaining and hard-fought encounter.

The home crowd was treated to a enthralling contest, one that was full of twists and turns, before Apollon eventually held firm to seal a deserved podium finish in their own backyard.

Late in the opening quarter, Panionios produced a sharp 0-3 rush to move into a 4-6 lead and they managed to preserve that advantage through to half-time, going into the long break 7-9 ahead.

Panionios then squandered a golden opportunity to stretch the margin to three goals when they failed to convert a six-on-four early in the third period, and the miss proved costly almost immediately.

Charalampos Rompopoulos struck straight away for 8-9 and, after Apollon killed another man-down, Nikola Bogdanovic finished off a swift counter-attack to level the scores at 9-9.

That sequence gave the hosts a huge lift. Although both teams traded goals over the next four possessions to leave the game finely poised at 11-11, it was Apollon who stayed on course and found another gear.

Two quickfire goals in the space of just 35 seconds sent the home supporters into full voice and created the sense that the momentum had decisively swung their way.

Panionios, however, refused to fold. Early in the fourth, Grigorios Kapetanakis produced an excellent finish from the centre to cut the deficit to 13-12, and what followed was a fierce, physical battle as both teams fought for control.

It was Bogdanovic who broke the deadlock once more, scoring from action to restore the two-goal cushion.

Panionios then missed another man-up chance, but Konstantinos Bitsakos kept their hopes alive by firing home from 6m with 2:22 remaining.

The next possession brought some rough play that resulted in a double red card, opening up more space in the five-on-five phase, and Bogdanovic took full advantage to strike again.

With 1:47 left on the clock and Apollon leading 15-13, the hosts turned their focus entirely to defence.

They successfully killed off Panionios’ final six-on-five and safely navigated the closing stages, allowing the celebrations to erupt in the stands as they secured bronze and ensured at least one medal would remain on home turf.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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