Kosovo claimed a narrow victory over Cyprus, 31-27, in a Mediterranean Games handball fixture on Monday evening. The result gives the visitors their first point of the tournament after three winless outings.
Both sides arrived at this encounter sitting fourth in the table with zero points from three matches, each having drawn and lost elsewhere. The old head settled them down after the opening flurry, but Kosovo managed to pull ahead in the second period and ran out of legs only late on as Cyprus pressed.
Kosovo have now ended their winless run, though they remain level on points with their opponents. By then the hosts had switched off at a set piece and paid the price, while the away end never stopped despite trailing.
Recent form does little to comfort either camp. Cyprus lost to Italy, Greece, and Tunisia in their previous three outings, while Kosovo's only positive result came against Bosnia. The scoreline suggests a tighter contest than the results would imply, but one mistake ends it when you are chasing.
The victory moves Kosovo off the bottom of the group standings, even if they still have work to do. Nothing has changed for Cyprus, who remain winless and are staring at the drop if the pattern holds.