FC Pinzgau Saalfelden win their inaugural home fixture of the new season and their newly named venue, 1508 SaalfeldenArena, mainly thanks to a strong first half and a spirited defensive performance finishing with a complete performance and another match without conceding.
Accompanied by a downpour at kickoff, both teams started the match, fighting through the deluge in the opening minutes. In the seventh minute, Semir Gvozdjar briefly reached into the magic box with a placed finish into the far corner – a “dream goal”. A few minutes later, Tamas Tandari got past the Gollinger Keeper with a succinct header from a corner, taking a quick 2:0 lead. Only a few moments later, the Captain put the Mountainous Pine Blues up three, this time from the penalty spot. While the guests from the Tennengau region seldom had a chance to score in the entire first half and repeatedly made their presence felt with some rustic fouls, FCPS coach Alexander Schriebl’s squad continued to act in a commanding manner.
His opposite number, Christoph Lessacher, must have found the right words during the break, because his charges came out of the dressing room highly-motivated. The first opportunity for the opening goal followed immediately on the foot, but did not pose any serious problem for Kilian Schröcker. As time went on, the match became a copy of the first half in terms of possession and scoring chances, with nothing of note happening.
Until Arnold Benedek perfectly placing his free kick into the back of the net and, in the end, the final result of 4:0.
The frustrated opponents tried towards the end of the game, once again to increase the pressure a little, but both excellent standing defenders and Schröcker, who continues his presence at the back, provided another half dozen saves to keep yet another clean sheet.
“First of all, we are of course very happy that the home debut succeeded in this way. We caught SC Golling on the wrong foot, but certainly could have done one or two things better. We will analyze exactly what worked well today and what not so well yet. It is important and positive to emphasize above all that we played to zero today. Of course we are very happy about the start into the new season and we will definitely continue to work hard and stay true to our path,” said Alexander Schriebl.