CSM București women secured a straightforward victory in their club friendly against Corona Brăila on Tuesday, seeing off their opponents 36:24 at the 14:00 kickoff. The result reflects the gulf in form between the two sides, with București working well within themselves while Corona struggled to find any rhythm against a side that never got out of second gear all afternoon.
București have been in solid touch this pre-season, with their recent run showing consistency. They beat Brest Bretagne 32:26 in June, and before that saw off Târgu Jiu 36:27 and HK Zalău 30:26. By then they had already beaten Galac 36:22 and Esbjerg 37:27, so this result felt like just another step in their preparation. And here's the thing — they didn't travel to make up the numbers, they turned up to work.
Corona Brăila's recent record tells a different story. They lost 30:31 to Râmnicu Vâlcea in May, followed by a 24:27 defeat to Bistrița, then drew 34:34 with Rapid București. Before that came a 32:23 win over SCM Craiova and a 29:36 loss to CSM București back in April. To be fair, cup football has its own rules, but this friendly wasn't helping them find any confidence.
The 12-goal margin might look comfortable on paper, but in friendlies those numbers don't always tell the full story. București can raise the tempo when they need to, and against a side that had been struggling to string results together, they picked one up last week and carried that momentum into this fixture. The scoreline was never really in doubt after the first twenty minutes.
For București, this extends a pattern of solid performances ahead of the competitive season. They've now beaten five different opponents in their last six friendlies, including a win over Esbjerg and a draw with Rapid. Corona, meanwhile, will be looking to regroup after a run that saw them lose three of their last four matches before this one.