Ugly loss to SV Wimpassing, lovely summer night

In an ugly game, SC Kittsee dropped its second league game. SV Wimpassing scored two quick goals to open the game, which knocked Kittsee’s normally dangerous attack out of rhythm. For the rest of the first half, whenever Kittsee would start to gain any momentum referee Gökhan Orhan would blow his whistle and award a penalty kick to SV Wimpassing. When any of the Kittsee players would shake his head or show surprise, Orhan would deal out a yellow card. There were three such yellow cards at 35′, 42′ and 44′.

I can understand the frustration of the SC Kittsee players on an evening where the officiating was so unbalanced.

In the second half, Orhan seemed to have remembered himself and realised that such an unbalanced set off judgements could lead to charges of bias and until the 80′ only offered a single yellow card to SV Wimpassing, despite a second half which probably should have seen a couple of double yellow cards and even some outright reds. There were at least four cases where I saw a player push another player to the ground after play was over, or even punch that player when play was in the other direction.

Just as in the bad old days two seasons ago with Pavol Dures leading the charge into rough play, both Patrick Dietmann and Sebastian Skerlan received yellow cards. It’s all well and good to book five yellow cards per game as long as none are red, if a team has a very deep bench. If not, this means sooner or later Skerlan or Dietmann will take another yellow card and have to miss a game. The team will sorely miss Skerlan’s deep runs, shifty moves on the flank and solid tackling. Equally missed will be Dietmann’s his well-placed long balls and persistent shadowing of opposing stars. SC Kittsee can ill afford to have one, let alone both of them missing.

Both teams were more frustrated on offense than effective. There wasn’t much style or co-ordination in the play of either team. SV Wimpassing did very well to shut down SC Kittsee’s normally prolific attack. The previous SC Kittsee trainer Franz Ziniel worked very hard to convince SC Kittsee players to play with their heads and to forego counterproductive rough play and unnecessary penalties. If SC Kittsee are to continue their winning ways from 2020 (leading the Herbsmaisterschaft, Fall Cup before it was shut down to the first Covid-19 lockdown in Austria), new trainer Erwin Reithofer must do the same.

Rejdovian chance with empty net — SC Kittsee’s Jozef Rejdovian charging in on goal as SV Wimpassing keeper Lukas Rosenbauch struggles to his feet

Rosenbach makes big save against Pavol Bellas — SV Wimpassing keeper Lukas Rosenbauch makes a big save on Pavol Bellas, as Tomas Bastian waits on a loose ball

Fans in SC Kittsee Tribune watch — Fans at SC Kittsee look on while Kittsee winger Jozef Sombat sends a free kick deep into the SV Wimpassing end

Rejdovian takes pass in front of bench — SC Kittsee’s Jozef Rejdovian keeping ball at bay from two SV Wimpassing defenders in front of SC Kittsee bench while coach Erwin Raithofer and sektionsleiter Dieter Valentin look on

Sombat speeds down the wing — SC Kittsee’s Jozef Sombat speeding down the wing to take an overhead pass in evening sunlight as fan look on

Pavol Ballas on the move — SC Kittsee’s Pavol Bellas leaves SV Wimpassing’s Mark Miljevic behind while linesman Oliver Schneeberger runs with the play

Sani Vuckic eludes Kittsee defenders — SC Kittsee’s keeper Manuel Schiszler watches closely as SV Wimpassing forward Sani Vuckic gives defenders Patrick Dietmann, Lukas Raithofer, Juraj Fuska trouble

Bellas takes a high ball in stride — SC Kittsee’s Pavol Bellas brings a high ball under control in front of helpless SV Wimpassing defenders Gerald Lintner and Mark Miljevic

SV Wimpassing keeper Lukas Rosenbauch saves Pavol Bellas shot while SV Wimpassing defenders Gerald Lintner and Mark Miljevic breathe a sigh of relief

Patrick Dietmann fights a yellow card — Patrick Dietmann complains to relentless referee Gökhan Orhan about yellow card while Pavol Bellas looks on

Radovan Mitrovic mugs Mario Marko — Radovan Mitrovic seizes Mario Marko and tries to drag him to the ground

Sani Vuckic forces a breakaway — Wimpassing forward Sani Vuckic manhandles Lukas Raithofer with Juraj Fuska and Patrick Dietmann in hot pursuit

Rosenbauch survives Bellas challenge — Wimpassing keeper Lukas Rosenbauch holds on to the bal in the face of a stiff challenge by Pavol Bellas

Molk plays through challenge — Alexander Moik plays through Dominik Rigbi’s challenge

Birds fly in evening sun — Birds fly in peace in fading evening sun at Sportplatz iin Kittsee

Bastian runs ball straight into net for a goal — Tomas Bastian runs the ball straight into SV Wimpassing goal as Wimpassing defenders helplessly call for offside

Tomas Bastian runs to centrefield after quick goal — Tomas Bastian runs back to centre field after goal to kickstart game at 58th minute while Wimpassing players feel game slips out of their control

Lukas Raithofer chance on goal — Lukas Raithofer almost scores a second goal shoulder to shoulder with Samuel Adogbeji

Gökhan Orhan yellow cards Gerald Lintner — Gerald Lintner takes badly a well-earned yellow card from referee Gökhan Orhan

Brutal challenge from Sani Vuckic — Another brutal challenge from Sani Vuckic on Kittsee’s Mario Marko in front of SV Wimpassing coach Michael Hartl

Jozef Sombat corner at 77 minutes — SC Kittsee’s Jozef Sombat takes an important corner with just 13 minutes to play and one goal down

Rejdovian late header — Kittsee’s Jozef Rejdovian knocks a hard header towards Wimpassing keeper Lukas Rosenbauch in front of defender Matthias Grassl

Dietmann deep ball to Wimpassing goal zone — Patrick Dietmann sends a deep ball down in front of the SV Wimpassing net in late going

Lukas Raithofer earns a yellow card protesting Wimpassing rough play — Lukas Raithofer takes on Wimpassing’s Sani Vuckic, Radovan Mitric and Matthias Grassl after yet another nasty foul by Sani Vukcic for which Vukcic only saw yellow and not red from referee Gökhan Orhan

Gökhan Orhan cards Kittsee yet again — Jozef Rejdovian protests his yellow card while Sebastian Skerlan looks on in disgust at referee Gökhan Orhan

Rejdovian held by Manuel Hanyka — Jozef Rejdovian breaks loose with the ball as Wimpassing’s Manuel Hanyka prepares to hold him

Dietmann injured, no penalty — Patrick Dietmann lies injured after yet another brutal SV Wimpassing challenge, while Kittsee fans look on in shock at referee Gökhan Orhan’s strange decisions

Dietmann pursues a hard charging Sani Vuckic — Sani Vuckic tries to breakaway from a relentless Patrick Dietmann

Skerlan irate with ref Orhan — Sebastian Skerlan shows his ire over another strange decision by referee Gökhan Orhan

Raithofer shows sharp elbows — During a contested header, Lukas Raithofer returns the favour with a sharp elbow into the back of long-haired Abdelhakim Touati

Manuel Schiszler brings the ball forward as an extra attacker — SC Kittsee keeper Manuel Schiszler brings the ball forward as an eleventh attacker in the late going

Sebastian Skerlan hands free — Kittsee’s Sebastian Skerlan pulls his hand away from referee Gökhan Orhan after a very strange evening of officiating

SV Wimpassing celebrate in front of Kittsee stands — SV Wimpassing players celebrate in front of Kittsee stands while the home town players wander desolate to the locker room

Despite the bitter loss it was a beautiful summer evening. There’s nothing nicer than sitting out with one’s neighbours enjoying some a beer or some spritzers on a cool summer evening. Here’s a few photos from the (subdued) after party.