CSM Slatina Women took on Rapid București in the National League on 7 September, and the visitors secured a 23-29 win in their opening fixture of the campaign.
The scoreline tells you everything you need to know about how the match played out. Slatina pushed hard but could not find the consistency to match their visitors, and by then it was clear Rapid had the better application in attack.
Both sides arrived with mixed recent form. Slatina had drawn 32-32 with CSM Craiova in their last outing, while Rapid were coming off a 25-28 defeat to CSM București — neither run suggested either team was ready to dominate.
We had tipped the away side to prevail, and at 56 percent confidence it felt like a measured call rather than a certainty. The result confirmed that Rapid's experience in tight games made the difference.
They sit ninth on one point, Rapid tenth on zero, though those positions mean very little after a single match. What matters more is that the visitors showed composure when the game tightened.
Slatina will look to turn their draw into momentum next time out. Rapid, meanwhile, have taken their first points and will want to build on that foundation before the schedule intensifies.