FC Pinzgau Saalfelden 1-0 (0-0) SC Leogang. Goal: Schwaighofer (52)
FC Pinzgau Saalfelden should in fact have kicked off their Spring Season on Friday evening with a trip to SV Wals-Grünau, but once it had been cancelled the Ziege Crew organised a late-notice friendly fixture against SC Leogang for Saturday afternoon which they deservedly won 1-0.
Following an early chance that was spurned by the visitors from Leogang, the home side increasingly seized control, made the ball and opposition do the work, and created their first opportunities around the quarter-hour mark. Joao Pedro missed with a header, before new signing Godswill Vadze, who made a very impressive debut performance, got his first taste of the action and fired a shot narrowly wide. After a save from Kilian Schröcker at the other end, Christopher Fürstaller tried his luck on the stroke of half-time but just missed.
In the early stages of the second period, Ghanaian Vadze again tested the Leogang shot-stopper. A few moments later, Jonas Schwaighofer perfectly rounded off a stunning move by calmly firing the ball into the far corner to open the scoring. It was all FC Pinzgau Saalfelden in the second half, with the opposition pinned back in their own half. That overwhelming superiority resulted in a great chance for Semir Gvozdjar, a shot by captain Tamas Tandari and a powerful header by Alhassan Nupaya. It was only in the closing stages that Leogang came back into the game, but Schröcker stood firm. Ultimately, the Ziege Crew ran out narrow but deserved 1-0 winners in their final friendly against SC Leogang – an important step before the delayed restart to their league campaign.
“We’re very happy we were able to organise a friendly at such short notice after the cancellation of the Grünau game. We’re satisfied with our performance today and can see plenty of positives. Especially in terms of the flow of our play and our flexibility in attack, we’ve made an important step. Our two newcomers from Ghana made a very strong impression, which of course makes us happy. They’ve only been training with us in Saalfelden since yesterday,” said coach Christian Ziege.
LINE-UP
Schröcker; Benedek, Adjei, Ziege; Fürstaller, Ibrahimi (Nupaya, 46), Joao Pedro (Gvozdjar, 46), Seiler, Schwaighofer (Dudaew, 70), Tandari, Vadze