The game play was not as dull as the score might suggest as Deutsch Jahrndorf had a few nice chances. Had Deutsch Jahrndorf gotten lucky early, the game could have been much closer, tight even.

Here’s the photos.

Michael Wernecker got away early and put a dangerous shot on net between two defenders Irfan Akbiyik and Ömer Faruk Akbiyik. Michael Unger made a good save.

Jozef Sombat dallied regularly near the net, keeping Michael Unger on his toes.

Deutsch Jahrndorf Captain Carsten Lang surveys his fallen comrade as keeper Michael Unger calls for a substitution

Defender Boris Brydniak attempts to stop Michal Belko’s break on neck.

Defender Boris Brydniak pulls Michal Belko sleeve as keeper Michael Unger covers the angle

Attacker Carsten Lang and Kittsee defender Jakub Lieskovsky battle as Manuel Schiszler makes a big save

Neither Carsten Lang nor Eden Palic can get a handle on the shifty Maximilian Mikula

Defender Boris Brydniak niftily slips between Michal Belko and the ball

Mustafa Atik protests his innocence and slips away without a yellow card, after some grabs and trips, while teammate Ivan Ziga warily watches

Kittsee continues to press with Ibrahim Kamasik and Jozef Sombat in close on net hoping for a drop from keeper Michael Unger. Defender Ömer Faruk Akbiyik ignores the two attackers, watches his keeper and hopes for the best.

Eden Palic urgently swivels to stop Kamasik’s break. An out of breath Carsten Lang and Boris Brydniak jog behind the play.

Under the night lights Ibrahim Kamasik surveys the field before making his throw

Jozef Sombat gave the Deutsch Jahrndorf fits all night, scoring two goals, one at 43′ and the other at 73′

Boris Brydniak futilely rushes to beat Balko to the ball while Jozef Sombat starts a run towards goal

A cool evening with a modest but enthusiastic crowd, who were well-rewarded with a 4:0 win.

Carsten Lang jumps straight up one metre vertical and clears a very dangerous shot and keep Deutsch Jahrndorf in the game.

Carsten Lang looks on while ref Nevrez Cetiner checks extra time allowance. Restless Borys Brydniak awaits his throw-in.

Manuel Schiszler keeps a good angle to force Borys Brydniak’s shot wide. Manuel Oswald watches the dangerous ball roll.

Manuel Schiszler pounds a deep pass to send the ball to the Deutsch Jahrndorf half

Michal Matušica heads to sideline with veteran trainer

Manuel Schiszler defends Borys Brydniak’s close attack. Michal Belko and Manuel Oswald attempt to slow Brydniak while Roman Tarek looks on.

Kittsee defender Manuel Oswald attempt to pass the ball past Milan Losonci, trainer Weiß looks on.

Michael Wernecker keeps the ball away from defender Borys Brydniak.

Sombat winds up to release hard shot which flies past a sprawling Michael Unger. Milan Losonci arrives too late.

Sombat winds up to release hard shot which flies past a sprawling Michael Unger. Milan Losonci arrives too late.

Michal Belko starts the celebration while Deutsch Jahrndorf players Borys Brydniak, Edin Planic, Ömer Faruk Akbiyik lose hope of a comeback against Sombat’s 3:0 marker at 73′

Happy Kittsee players line up to congratulate Jozef Sombat, while Deutsch Jahrndorf Borys Brydniak stands with his hands on hips, search his soul.

Maximilian Mikula runs through three Deutsch Jahrndorf attackers to clear the ball. Substitute Thomas Bastian shows off his fresh legs waiting for a pass.

Ivan Ziga slips past a surprised Christoph Drobela and into a waiting Thomas Bastian

Bastian surveys the field before making a deep pass

Maximilian Mikula knocks the ball into the center of the field in front of the main SC Kittsee fan section where Florian Gombay defends.

Manuel Oswald and Ivan Ziga duelat midfield for the loose ball.

SC Kittsee celebrate Edin Planic’s own goal to take the score to 4:0 in minute 85. Milan Losonci walks away dejected.

Deutsch Jahrndorf coach Elvir Jusic has run out of answers at minute 88, as former Kittsee forward Mustafa Atik leaves the game.

Deutsch Jahrndorf enjoyed a late penalty. Manuel Schiszler made a big save to preserve his well-earned shutout.

SC Kittsee present themselves to the fan section a well-earned bow in front of the spectators.

These photos were shot with an Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR 135mm f2.5 manual focus lens from 1968.

Vintage SMC Takumar 135mm f2.5 from 1968

There’s certainly better technique required with manual focus sport. The ideal is to set oneself up parallel to the action so that the players remain in focus during a sequence. Most difficult is to shoot an onrushing player. There’s a lot less contrast in these older lenses. They are much better stopped down to f3.5 or f4 (which is how the photographers of the time shot them in daylight), which is what I did after a time.

UFC Pamhagen stalwart (256 games since 2012) Tamas Pirka takes a tumble at the hands of Aleksandar Stanojcic

Nagy zips down the left wing facing just Tamas Pirka before reaching Pamhagen goalkeeper Libor Hrdlicka

Tomas Bastian attempts to get to the ball over the Pamhagen defenders while keeper Libor Hrdlicka follows the action closely.

Neither of the Pamhagen defenders

Fabian Thüringer and Jakob Fischer can quickly clear as Juraj Fuska springs into action

A crowd of Pamhagen defenders cannot clear the ball which floats slowly towards the net.

One of SC Kittsee’s best chances with Juraj Fuska up at ball height but he narrowly loses the header duel against UFC Pamhagen lifer Christoph Koppi

Tamas Pirka scrambles to block Belko’s shot. Jakob Fischer is too late to stop Belko.

Frantisek Nagy is coming in on a long run as Hrdlicka carefully protects the ball

It was a tight game. Libor Hrdlicka did well to get his hand on this dangerous shot and push the ball over the net.

Machovec was unable to slip the bouncing ball past Hrdlicka

Kittsee kept up the pressure in the UFC Pamhagen goal area. Libor Hrdlicka earned his cap today.

Another nice chance that Pirka broke up effectively

Lots of UFC Pamhagen supporters made the fifty minute drive up to Kittsee, lots of cheering for both sides.

SC Kittsee captain Michael Wernecker was fortunate to escape with a warning here. Both sides were frustrated by their inability to score.

Before a free kick Karner looks on in the waning minutes of the game, perplexed at his side’s inability to mark a goal.

SC Breitenbrunn was promoted just this season from Burgenland I Klasse – coming in to SC Kittsee and going goal-for-goal in a close game is a very good result. Their coaching team of Alexander Janisch and former Kittsee coach Erwin Raithofer did impressive work winning I Klasse Nord. Coach Raithofer’s presence on the sidelines gave Breitenbrunn a good insight into the SC Kittsee game as the core players remain the same since his 2021-2022 season as SC Kittsee coach.

Sadly, like many recently promoted clubs SC Breitenbrunn is at risk of immediate relegation. It’s very hard to go up and down leagues successfully in Burgenland. Burgenland Liga is a huge step up from II Liga Nord. Last year’s victors Halbturn have gone from topping II Liga Nord with a 35 goal advantage and 55 points to a -25 goal deficit at mid-season with just 5 points.

But without further ado, the photos from SC Breitenbrunn at SC Kittsee on 22 September 2023.

Bastian took a yellow card at 34′ and and was substituted at 51′. Good idea to get the yellow cards off the field in a stroppy, tight game.

It’s a long walk to the bar from here, but it’s always a party.

Martin Kocis is a very dangerous forward. In 94 games for Breitenbrunn, he’s marked 49 goals.

All four players are floating in the air around the ball, like the Four Swans from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake

Juraj Fuska speeds through the middle of the field.

Martin Kocis managed to elude SC Kittsee defenders and enjoy half a dozen good shots on net. Fortunately Bartko stopped all but on of Kocis’s bullets.

Jaroslav Machovec continues to be a force of nature.

Jaroslav Machovec continues to be a force of nature. Peter Barinec played for SC Kittsee for four or five years as our number one goalie and did a very good job while he was here. Barinec manages to be both competitive and easy-going at the same time. It was good to see him again.

A nasty collision in front of the goal on high play from Martin Hudak.

How Breitenbrunn hoped to have their foul overturned by referee Nikica Veselcic with both players injured was a mystery to me. One can see how short the Breitebrunn team is collectively. Short but very lively.

The Kittsee children cheer and laugh as the game winning penalty hits the back of the net in front of them.

In a close match, Frantisek Nagy’s penalty was the difference maker

There are so few moments in life where one is truly happy. Post-goal is one of them. This is the adrenaline of sports. Enjoy gentlemen.

Straight back and re-concentrated on the game. Peter Barinec remains calm and focused after the penalty.

Another goal line run from Fuska

Martin Hudak had a clear run at the SC Kittsee net so Fuska simply grabbed him and puilled him down. It was well outside the box so it’s just a free kick. Fuska wisely took one for the team. Fuska doesn’t get a lot of yellow cards so his eyes are round.

Nagy was in good form that evening.

Barinec outmaneuvers Nagy and successfully falls on the loose ball

Another big stop for Robert Bartko. Tomas Banovic attempts to cut off Markus Pimpel but cannot prevent his shot. Another big stop for Robert Bartko.

Christoph Laaber has such a great look. Takes me back to when I was seven years old, Hot Chocolate was on the radio and Franz Beckenbauer, Johann Cruyff and Jairzinho were the world’s greatest players. Laaber is not alone with this look, Gardner Minshew is rocking the same musttached look in the NFL.

Laaber is not alone with this look, Gardner Minshew is rocking the same musttached look in the NFL.

There’s a great tradition in Kittsee of post-game play by the junior players on the main pitch before they turn the lights off. It’s a good idea to let the children feel the energy of the big field and the evening lights for a few moments.

It was an ideal evening for SC Kittsee supporters. A mild night with a win at home, in an exciting, fast-paced match.

Congratulations to SK Pama on pulling the team back together after a difficult 2022-2023 season. Curiously it’s mostly the same players and same coaching staff. Whatever was wrong, SK Pama has fixed.

Ruppitsch was tested early and often by the Kittsee attack.

Aleksandar Stanojcic is a giant in the box, Here he faces off against UFC Pama stalware Christian Hafner

Pototschnig just pulled down and tripped Nagy

Marcel Szikonya can’t get there in time for another UFC Pama goal

Incredible air on this header away. Szikonya is a meter off the ground

Belko has made some nice plays. If he continues to improve his shot at distance, he could become very dangerous.

The ball always seemed to come Ruppitsch way

Coach Weiß’s first season at the helm is going well. Weiß keeps cool but engaged despite the heavy sailing at UFC Pama.

This looks like an unremarkable shot but is in fact a goal at distance. Sometimes one has to shoot to score, which is what Machovec did here without waiting for an elaborate play to develop.

Machovec has a big leg and when he’s on net, there’s not too many keepers who will be able to stop his boomers.

With the late 43′ goal looked briefly like SC Kittsee would rise from the ashes of a lost half and make a game of it. Unfortunately Juraj Czibula scored for UFC Pama less than a minute later.

UFC Pama was not going to give much air to Machovec in the second half. Once again Jaroslav Machovec attempted to will SC Kittsee to victory.

Curiously Fuska did not do much damage in UFC Pama. Perhaps he doesn’t like the heat. It was a very hot day.

Nagy looks good on this run, but experienced defender Christian Hafner does manage to kick the ball away.

Jaroslav Machovec headed the ball here as thousands of tiny droplets from his exertions in the afternoon heat fill the air with rainbow coloured drops. Machovec continue to be a one-man wrecking crew for SC Kittsee.

SC Kittsee didn’t seem to be moving at full speed in the heat.

UFC Pama reserve player and part-time trainer Michael Hafner takes a yellow card. Hafner is elder brother to star defender Christian.

UFC Pama trainer Zoltan Fekete and Hafner seem very concerned with something downfield to my left. Referee Dursun Tosun is only concerned with noting Hafner’s penalty.

With Ruppitsch in chase, Machovec has a final chance to make a game of it but cannot get a shot past keeper Stefan Weinzettl.

UFC Pama has enough players back to comfortably hold of the SC Kittsee last minute press.

Sometimes victory just seems too easy. This day was such a day. SC Kittsee had won the last three derbys, let UFC Pama celebrate today.

Even some SC Kittsee supporters were congratulating Hafner on UFC Pama’s strong game. Gracious in defeat.

Unnecessary yellow cards continue to be the bane of SC Kittsee’s starting eleven. There were games last season where up to five players were sitting out due to cards. Tomas Bastian picked one up, as did Patrick Pail. Pail at least was dragging down a Gols player who might have broken away one on one. Some congratulations are in order to Patrick Dietmann who did not get a yellow card (just checked the sheet), only a couple of warnings from the referee.

Still SC Kittsee did win at home on a warm evening, which is good.

Gols Keeper v was called on early and often. Could one of the Kittsee players could be leaping for this ball?

Veteran forward Juraj Fuska ran circles around the Gols defenders for much of the night.

Kittsee forward Manuel Oswald broke down the sidelines to send a dangerous ball towards Johannes Den.

Johannes Denk kicks the ball away from an onrushing Tomas Banovic just in time.

Ex-Landesliga midfielder Aleksandar Stanojcic brings his power to SC Kittsee after a brief séjour in Tadten.

It was a reasonably warm evening, 150 fans showed up for the game.

Patrick Pail prepares a long throw close to the Gols net

New attacking midfielder Frantisek Nagy scored a solo goal starting with a bold takeaway.

Nagy has the ball past Gols defender Paul Sommer, Milan Bortel is too far away to come back to save the day.

Nagy is closing distance on the goal fast

Keeper Johannes Den is far enough out to give Nagy an angle on the net. Nagy is smart not to take a clean shot unhindered by a defender. Sebastian Limbeck is closing fast.

Nagy’s shot is just out of the reach of keeper Johannes Den.

It’s all over but the crying. Nagy’s hard shot sails into the right hand side of the net with room to spare.

Patrick Dietmann shows off his veteran chops with a neat wrapped arm hold to knock Gols forward Fabian Ziniel off his balance yet not pick up a penalty.

Fabian Ziniel slips past Patrick Dietmann but Manuel Schiszler is having none of Gols tonight and kicks the ball away before Ziniel can get his shot in.

Gols managed to sustain some pressure on SC Kittsee.

Frantisek Nagy the goal scorer has a chance here to put the game away. It’s a joy for SC Kittsee fans to see the worry on the faces of Milan Bortel and Johannes Den.

Patrik Petrak is worried enough about Frantisek Nagy to just grab his shirt and throw him to the ground even with Alexander Wendelin running to intercept him.

Patrik Petrak was arrested for mugging by the Kittsee police after the game. Just kidding – Petrak certainly showed good mugging technique.

Fortunately referee Claus Wisak was paying attention and gave Patrik Petrak the yellow card he deserved. Petrak arrogantly waves the referee off with his hand as Nagy tries to pull himself back to his feet.

Gols’ Dominik Schmidt had a clear break on net after slipping past Patrick Dietmann. Keeper Manuel Schiszler saves the win for Kittsee with a sliding tackle at speed.

All the desperation tackling from Gols offered Kittsee some good chances, none better than this free kick from Patrick Pail

Joseph Machovec climbed high to take a shot at Patrick Pail’s free kick

Patrick Dietmann picks up a lot of the throw in duties from his right back spot. For the Dietmann fans out there, this image is for you.

The big man Aleksandar Stanojcic has great height on another late chance for SC Kittsee. No luck alas. Milan Bortel defends.

Keeper Johannes Den manages to make a diving save on Aleksandar Stanojcic’s late header.

A nice corner crosser slips past Johannes Den. Roman Tarek was in the right place behind the keeper but was unable to reach the ball in time and put the game away.

In the late onslaught Patrick Pail has another chance where he laid out Gols keeper Johannes Den but his shot went just wide.

Juraj Fuska and Sebastian Limbeck fight over a corner ball while our friends from SK Pama look on in the company of their glamorous girlfriends. Among the Pama group are the the infamous Hafner brothers here to scout for our derby next Sunday. Great preparation work, gentlemen. See you in Pama.

Veteran Juraj Fuska continues to run circles around younger players with his light footwork. Alexander Wendelin won’t be able to touch the ball.

Kittsee captain Tomas Bastian and Christoph Drobela surround Dominik Schmidt to shut down any Gols attack.

These guys were the loudest and more passionate of the Kittsee fans, chanting and singing and cheering. Kittsee is the closest town to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The SC Kittsee team has become the defacto adopted team of German football fans in Bratislava for a weekend of partying. This is another group of our German guests. As long as you keep cheering for Kittsee, Wilkommen!

Despite the close game, both teams mostly kept their temper. There were no attempts to injure one another with leg kicks behind the referee. A clean and close game. Kittsee should pursue an advantage when it has one.

Every picture hides a story. The two gentlemen were relatively elegantly dressed. What paths brought them and their beautiful companion through Kittsee Sportplatz on a Friday evening?

With the talent on the roster, SC Kittsee should have been able to score four or five goals.

Children from the U6 team join the main team on the pitch for coin toss

After the coin toss the children are told to run off the field as fast as they can, which they really enjoy

Mustafa enjoyed a big evening, almost unstoppable at the beginning of the game but was unable to put the ball in.

A strong shot

Atik and Mock scramble for the ball

Atik attempts to signal the ball is over the line. Strangely in soccer, almost over the line is still in.

Not sure why defender Mateus Lemut is trying to signal offside when clearly his colleague Matija Belcar is closer to the goal.

The boys have their magic noise box with them

That’s not a beer of course, but an amdudler. Austrian lemonade.

Felix Dörflinger tried to stop Pail’s run, eyes closed

Head cracking action

Tobias Wisak attempts to head the ball

Keeper Lukas Mock is way out of position as Mateas Lemut attempts to defend the goal, and Patrick Schöttel chases down Machovec

Keeper Lukas Mock misses the high ball

Keeper Lukas Mock scrambles back into position

Manuel Oswald can’t get enough air to knock the ball past Mock. Yet another busy set of action in front of the Steinbrunn net which came to naught.

Michael Belko angles a crosser in front of the Steinbrunn goal

A Steinbrunn defender Csongor Harangozo has caught up, cutting off the angle, unfortunately.

Jaroslav Machovec played like a man possessed, attempting to create an equaliser.

The game went down to the final minutes.

Steinbrunn played an excellent game, to keep the strong Kittsee attack at bay.

The prime tables in front of the canteen.

Now is Kittsee’s chance on a penalty shot!

Christoph Drobela worries that it hasn’t been called yet.

Josef Haider is a very experienced referee with more than 900 matches in II Liga, but his eyesight struggles as well as keeping up with play. The game was a bit out of control as a consequence, and Haider didn’t even see this clear handball.

is to pull his pants down, as Felix Dörflinger did here.

This is a nasty tackle which could injure. Wallentits should know better as a captain.

Referee Jozef Haider did see this foul, but it was late enough in the game at 88′ not to matter.

A frustrating evening for Kittsee fans, to watch the home side outplay Steinbrunn, countless fouls not called and to lose the match.

Credit to the Steinbrunn team for running hard all match and successfully hanging on to their slim one goal lead.

Steinbrunn coach Mario Töltl trains his guys very intensively, including with their own video from the matches. He’s brought Steinbrunn up from 1 Klasse Nord based on teamwork and hard work.

Deutsch Jahrndorf keeper Michael Unger manages to control the ball

The game looked promising for SC Kittsee early.

Deutsch Jahrndorf enjoyed the advantage in play and this was a well-earned goal.

Carsten Lang puts his shoulder into Kittsee keeper Manuel Schiszler

Tobias Wisak was fouled. The yellow cards were less of a mystery than the free kicks

Sombat had a few chances but was unable to dominate against the steady Deutsch Jahrndorf defense

One of the best SC Kittsee chances

Manuel Schiszler did well to keep SC Kittsee in the game. There were no shortages of Deutsch Jahrndorf chances

Another good chance but there were not so many of them for SC Kittsee. Gregor Granar chases down the ball for Deutsch Jahrndorf

Michal Slezak started in II Liga Nord as a fragile young star for SC Kittsee. Unfortunately Slezak left Kittsee for Deutsch Jahrndorf where he’s grown into a powerful forward.

We are already in extra time here but it was good to see that SC Kittsee fought to the closing whistle, even though ASV Deutsch Jahrndorf had controlled most of the game.

ASV Deutsch Jahrndorf deserved their win which guaranteed ASV DJ second place in II Liga Nord. First and second place are a bit of a booby prize as few teams in II Liga Nord want to step up to I Liga Nord where the competition is extremely fierce. Distances to travel are long. It’s much higher costs for a club who wishes to remain competitive.

This is an excellent Austrian tradition. The U8 or another young team joins the main team for their entrance to the field, once per season. It’s to encourage them to continue to play.

The exit is more exciting than the entrance when the energetic young players run off the field.

SC Kittsee could not get off to a better start. A neat couple of passes from the kickoff put Michael Wernecker in front of the UFC Pamhagen net where he promptly scored.

This time UFC Pamhagen keeper Libor Hrdlicka managed to trap the ball to prevent Kittsee from running away with the game early.

Johann Thüringer patrols the UFC Pamhagen sideline. In the blue shirt, linesman Harald Mahr. Under the SC Kittsee sign, trainer Manfred Wachter stands.

Juraj Fuska was in peak form for today’s match.

Neither back Stefan Andert nor keeper Libor Hrdlicka were able to stop Banovic’s booming shot.

Banovic’s hard shot slammed off the left post like a canon shot.

Juraj Fuska managed to leap over David Fleischhacker’s first late tackle. Fleischacker took better aim the second time. This is not good football.

It was nice to have guests at the game.

Mustafa Atik managed to isolate keeper Libor Hrdlicka a couple of times but was unable to push the ball past him.

Dietmann has a couple of good runs.

Alexander Andert is unable to stop Patrick Dietmann

Libor Hrdlicka had a rough afternoon with continuous action in front of his net from the opening whistle and goal. He did well to keep UFC Pamhagen in the game right until the end of regular time, giving up just a single goal.

More nasty tackling. Cards are coming.

Referee Erdem Sahin managed to keep the game going without attracting too much attention to his calls. What was a stroppy game did not descend into fisticuffs largely due to his calming influence. Still Sahin probably let too many late tackles pass in the early going, giving Pamhagen the impression they could keep tackling rough without consequence.

No one in II Liga Nord will outleap Sombat in full flight. Tamas Pirka and Christoph Koppi futilely try to slow Sombat down.

Bombicz joined the action late but made the most of his time with aggressive runs and long passes.

The last twelve minutes of regular time were extremely tense for Kittsee. SC Kittsee enjoyed the flow of play for the first half and the first part of the second half, but were unable to mark a second goal. When the ball spent ten minutes almost uninterrupted around the Kittsee net, it looked like Kittsee might be doomed to a late draw.

This is not how one wants to play out the last quarter of an hour a 1:0 game. High risk, low reward.

UFC Pamhagen were visibly frustrated in the second half and were willing to do anything, legal or illegal to attempt to even the score. Lots of risks were taken. Many brave Kittsee fans came out to face the rain (albeit from under the stands).

Here field captain Patrick Dietmann raises his hands in outrage, real or imagined. Three similar players from Pamhagen received yellow cards for hard tackling. Brothers Alexander Andert and Stefan Andert, and of course David Fleischhacker. Kittsee had no shortage of yellow cards, but mostly for complaining (Captain Michael Wernecker, alternate captain Tomas Bastian).

Desperate hard play was going to end badly for UFC Pamhagen sooner or later. Erdem Sahin had enough of watching Pamhagen knock Soltani to the ground three plays in a row. Another yellow.

Alexander Andert had forgotten about the yellow card he’d earned early in the game. There were three UFC Pamhagen who deserved red: Alexander Andert, David Fleischhacker and Stefan Andert. Alexander Andert’s number came up.

Alexander Andert ripped off his shirt and cursed the crowd, the Kittsee players and the referee Erdem Sahin in a shocking display of poor sportsmanship. The scene was genuinely very exciting. The temperature does not often run so high, particularly in cold spring rain.

Right after Alexander Andert’s sending off, Jozef Sombat slipped behind the Pamhagen defenders and had a chance to move past keeper Libor Hrdlicka but missed his shot.

Sombat’s clinching goal at 90 minutes, with Pamhagen keeper Libor Hrdlicka way out of position. Jozef Sombat was not going to miss on his second chance. David Fleischhacker cannot catch Sombat.

Tobias Wisak, Jaroslav Machovec, Tomas Banovic rush to congratulate Sombat. The pressure is finally off, as a 2:0 lead at the end of regular time is relatively secure.

Jaroslav Machovec is stoked. SC Kittsee is on its way to third place in the league despite a slow start to the season.

I’ve rarely seen a post-game handshake as tense as this one. Pamhagen mostly did not want to shake our hands. Field captain Patrick Dietmann exchanges harsh words with Manuel Schopf.

With both Tomas Bastian and Michael Wernecker substituted out, Dietmann wore the captain’s yellow armband. Bastian explains that the captain’s role is to prevent a brawl breaking out, not to instigate one. Manuel Schopf and Stefan Andert glare as they leave the field. Mustafa Atik and Jaroslav Machovec clap the fans in the background. The joy of winning and the despair of defeat.

An earlier double yellow might have cooled temperatures earlier. It would have been easy to call but ten men would have been the end of the game for UFC Pamhagen. Should Sahin have made the difficult call? We’ll never know. No matter what decision a referee makes, he will always face criticism. The hardest and most unloved job in the world.

Wolfgang Leyrer lends Bence Orszagh a shoiulder. It’s always tragic when a player suffers serious injury. When tempers flare, sadly injuries are often the result. II Liga Nord games should always remain neighbourly. There’s no highly paid injured reserve for any of us. We all have our main jobs to which to return.

Both goals came off the boot of Jozef Sombat who had an excellent game, as did Adam Bombicz, Michael Wernecker and Juraj Fuska. Here’s what the game looked like.

Jaroslav Machovec was in fine form again.

While the ball went past Roman Ostojic, Daniel Pfeiffer quite correctly has his hand raised for offside.

While the ball went past Roman Ostojic, Daniel Pfeiffer quite correctly raises his hand for offside.

There was no real threat here with a a high ball which FC Winden keeper Roman Ostojic easily captured but Kittsee’s steady pressure up close gradually knocked Ostojic off his game.

Daniel Pfeiffer is in hot pursuit of Juraj Fuska who was fleet of foot all day.

Kittsee newcomer Tomas Banovic goes high for the header.

FC Winden coach Christian Bauer was incensed by this call and let the whole world know. Juraj Fuska worried about picking the ball up in front Bauer.

The two Tomases, Banovic and Bastian go high in defense to keep Winden’s Ibrahim Kamasik from the ball. That might be Marek Luscik getting a haircut from Bastian.

Daniel Pfeiffer had a tough afternoon chasing Fuska

Winden’s Daniel Pfeiffer is staggered by Jozef Sombat’s sudden and beautiful header off a floating crosser from Michael Wernecker who celebrates.

SC Kittsee coach Manfred Watchter watches as a wide-eyed Juraj Fuska fiercely throws the ball back into play. The Kittsee party bench watches attentively in the background.

Jozef Sombat outran all the FC Winden defenders this afternoon, here Stefan Haider in pursuit.

Adam Bombicz enjoyed a strong afternoon.

Adam Bombicz glides around Stefan Haider

Stefan Haider can’t reach the ball

Bombicz has laid Haider out on the turf

It was a bitter duel all afternoon between Filip Balazi and Michael Wernecker, The pushing and shoving cost Balazi a yellow card.

White cups everywhere as the young Kittsee home bench crowd cheer on their team and laugh and joke.

Sombat slips past the last Widen defender for a clean shot at Roman Ostojic

Though down 1:0 for much of the match, FC Winden pressed hard on the all second half.

Fuska’s hard shot goes into a bevy of Winden players including Sascha Savoric and Maximilian Kroyer

Filip Balazi has drawn the short stick again chasing a Bombicz in full throttle

Michael Speckl tugs at Juraj Fuska’s hand to attempt to knock him off stride

Filip Balazi attempts to block Jaroslav Machovec from a header in front of the FC Winden net where Roman Ostojic and Marek Luscik wait for the shot.

An FC Winden shot slips across the goal line while Manuel Schiszler watches and hopes

The weather changes towards the end of the game. The evening sky turned into gun metal and navy clouds as huge gusts of wind roared down towards the FC Winden net. The very pretty Lilly walks with her best friend Diana in the wind. Lilly carries a microphone as she took over calling the game from long time veteran Gerhard Flink.

Congratulations Miss Buchta and thanks to Herr Flink for years of service!

A high free kick drops in front of Jozef Sombat who just manages to touch the ball on the bounce. Winden keeper Roman Ostojic seems to track the ball.

The bounce takes a strange angle. Roman Ostojic has one eye on the ball and one eye on Sombat who has beat him once already tonight

Keeper Roman Ostojic guesses wrong and the ball starts to pass over his left glove

Keepr Ostojic cannot recover and the ball floats slowly over him as he falls backwards now. Sombat and Pfeiffer are both transfixed by the slow motion goal.

Congratulations all around for the man of the night Jozef Sombat who closed up a tense game at 92 minutes. From left to right Said Ashraf Soltani, Adam Bombicz, Jaroslav Machovec ,Jozef Sombat, Tomas Banovic, Patrick Pail, Juraj Fuska

Some final fancy footwork from Juraj Fuska. Fuska leaves Pitzinger guessing.

Apart from some pushing and shoving between Wernecker and Balazi, the game tonight was both very competitive and very clean. SC Kittsee deserved to win, FC Winden deserved no worse than a tie for their performance. This is what football is all about. From left to right: Juraj Fuska, Filip Balazi, Mustafa Atik, Patrick Pail, Michael Speckl, Tomas Banovic, Manuel Oswald, referee Durdu Ceri.

Both FC Winden coach Christian Bauer and SC Kittsee coach Manfred Wachter should be very proud of their teams tonight. It was a fast-paced, competitive game where both sides gave their best and every advantage was earned, right to the closing whistle.

SC Kittsee came out of the gate very flat. What was wrong with our game:

• timing: first game of the season, passes were not arriving where and when expected. Or the forwards did not arrive where the passes did. Take your pick.
• injuries: three of our best players were not available though this derby is the first game of the season.
• fitness: timing and injuries is forgivable. Unfortunately most of our squad were unable to keep up with UFC Pama throughout the game. UFC Pama has a fairly young team and SC Kittsee may be the oldest in II Liga Nord. They outran us.

Endurance is the last of the athletic qualities to fade away, lasting into the forties. But it does require training. A few SC Kittsee players look like they enjoyed too merry a Christmas season. Coach Manfred Wachter must find a way to persuade these gentlemen to run more and train more.

That said, the sharp and fit UFC Pama squad did not acquit themselves perfectly either. Despite dominating SC Kittsee who showed no prowess in attack at all in the first half, they only took a 1:0 lead into half time. A focused and determined home squad should have been up at least 2:1 or 3:1 in the face of such a toothless attack. This left the gate open for a late comeback from SC Kittsee, which nearly happened in the last fifteen minutes.

Deliberately dirty tactics also discoloured the UFC Pama play. Leader of the cheat-to-win brigade was Peter Gallus but it was the overall approach of UFC Pama. Faced with stricter refereeing, UFC Pama might have been down two men or faced a penalty shot. UFC Pama did not need to stoop to these tactics to win this game. Outrunning and outplaying SC Kittsee would have been more than enough this afternoon. Playing clean and playing for the win would almost certainly have led to a better result and less risk than the grabby tactical UFC Pama gameplan.

UFC Pama got out to an early lead.

At the 8 minute mark, Erik Micovcak put his shot past Manuel Schiszler in the only game of the match. Expectations were high this spring in Kittsee, with most of a very talented squad returning and some good new players coming into the fold. You can see the shock on the crowd’s face (the camera faces the visitor stands) as the early ball flies into the net.

Goal scorer Erik Micovcak formerly played in the top Czech league and has the full sleeve arm tattoos to prove it. Micovcak gave the Kittsee defence and middle field trouble all over afternoon.

Andreas Fabsich is one of two giants on the UFC Pama squad with Raffael Förster. Both men tower over the rest of the players.

Alas no results

UFC Pama seem to have set themselves the task to stop SC Kittsee at any price. Holding, elbows to the head, leg kicks – there was no shortage of deliberate fouls, some subtle and some not.

Christoph Drobola played his heart out but had a tough afternoon. As a small slender player, UFC Pama’s wrestling, pokes and body checks today slowed him down. Here’s crushed between the twin giants Raffael Förster and Andreas Fabsich.

UFC Pama’s Christoph Werdenich had a good afternoon, making plays, breaking free in front of the net

Christoph Werdenich’s dangerous shot came close after the first goal. Werdenich rolls on the ground hoping for a penalty as Andreas Fabsich and Chistoper Drobola run towards the net.

A second UFC Pama goal would have almost ended the match, based on SC Kittsee’s ineffective attack today. Manuel Schiszler steps up and makes a big save, keeping the game close. Schiszler had to make several big saves.

Jaroslav Machovec was a beast on this day, leaping and smashing headers in front of the both the Kittsee and Pama nets. Sadly his timing with Jozef Sombat was badly off so all of the hard work came to naught.

This picture is in colour for reference: colour of uniforms, grass, light.

Martin Hajtmanek had quite a quiet afternoon, especially in the first half. Late in the game when he was tested, he was up to the occasion.

Peter Gallus tried to kick the legs out from under Mustafa Atik here. In honour of Gallus playing like a pirate all afternoon, let’s call him red beard. Atik took a nasty tumble on what was a promising dribble. A free kick was too light a reward for the tripping. Yellow card would have been more suitable. Gallus did finally get his yellow card at 31 minutes.

Fortunately Jaroslav Machovec was there to deflect Andreas Fabsich’s header, before keeper Manuel Schiszler grabbed the ball.

Christoph Drobola struggles to maintain his line on the ball against the very experienced and stronger Erik Micovcak

A scramble in front of the UFC Pama net looks promising, but UFC Pama successfully moves enough men in front of goal to defuse the attack.

Kittsee did not have many chances and when we did, the timing on our fine passing was well off. Manuel Oswald is cut off by Raffael Förster. Referee Arif Erdem looks on.

Peter Gallus’s sharp elbow almost ended Tomas Bastian’s afternoon. Bastian was laid on the field for five minutes.

Kittsee trainer Radovan Liska runs to resuscitate Tomas Bastian after Peter Gallus’s elbow to the head. Referee Arif Erdem looks on. Gallus certainly should have received a second yellow card and a red card after this unprovoked attack.

From the tragic to the sublime. One of the UFC Pama spectators dog likes to play soccer too.

Even after the players recuperate the ball, the dog does not give up. People are having fun running after a round rolly ball and the dog doesn’t see why he should have to spend the afternoon bored on the sidelines.

Kittsee newcomer Manuel Oswald heads the ball away from UFC Pama giant Andreas Fabsich.

Kittsee’s Said Soltani and UFC Pama’s Markus Fabsich compete for a loose ball. Fabsich is a fierce competitor and has the jump on Soltani.

Said Soltani gets there just before Markus Fabsich. The robust Fabsich prepares to knock Soltani off the ball.

Instead Said Soltani times a perfect and legal arm to the shoulder Markus Fabsich, sending the larger Fabsich sprawling to the ground.

Said Soltani is now chased by Samuel Homola. Fierce Markus Fabsich can’t believe that Soltani has sent him to the turf.

Samuel Homola can’t catch Soltani from the front, and instead has to pull hard at his arm from behind. Homola’s holding strategy works and Soltani finally loses control of the ball. No whistle or free kick from referee Arif Erdem alas.

Animated Kittsee Assistant Coach Oto Honz shouts in frustration at the non-stop holding from UFC Pama and even more by referee Arif Erdem’s failure to see this holding and dirty play.

Erdem shows Honz first a yellow card and then a red. The red came when Honz shouted “Danke” when Erdem showed him the yellow card. In a relatively dull second half, the hot action on the sideline brought some fireworks to the day. Exciting derby life!

Jaroslav Machovec played like a man possessed, here taking control in front of the UFC Pama net. Martin Hajtmanek manages to block Machovec’s hard header, preventing a late tie.

This time Peter Gallus makes a clean play on the ball, outjumping substitute Michal Belko in front of the UFC net very late in the game as Said Soltani looks for a chance with Markus Fabsich holding his arm and UFC Pama keeper Martin Hajtmanek watches the ball carefully.

SC Kittsee did manage to press late.

At 89 minutes Andreas Fabsich kicks the ball into the bushes which Michal Belko was trying to retrieve for a header. Bearded Juraj Fuska is running after the ball in the bushes in the background.

Fabsich earns a well-deserved yellow card from referee Arif Erdem for unsportsmanlike conduct. Surely Erdem just added thirty seconds to penalty time. What’s the point of this kind of dirty play?

Bence Bogar beats Jaroslav Machovec to the ball, thanks to the strong grip of Peter Gallus on Machovec’s elbow. Gallus makes just enough of a jump to prevent referee Arif Erdem from seeing what he’s up to.

Referees should watch Peter Gallus closely this season if he is bending the rules so hard in the first game. That said, I’m not all that troubled by Gallus’s behaviour. Apart from the elbow to Tomas Bastian’s face, there was no intention to injure, just to hinder. What makes me unhappy are players who play in this regional league to injure their neighbours. There’s no glory in hurting other players in any league, and even less when they are your neighbours and friends. Happily this was not one of those games.

Peter Gallus is back up to his tricks again. Here we can see Gallus reach for Jaroslav Machovec’s shoulder while the ball is in the air to make sure Machovec cannot compete for the header.

Andreas Fabsich and Markus Szegner chase Mustafa Atik. Atik played hard and had some chances on headers.

Kittsee players, trainers and fans all have a lot of questions for referee Arif Erdem. Clearly UFC Pama were sitting on their single goal, prepared to hold, trip and elbow to slow down the game. Erdem missed many of the fouls. While Erdem did hand out four yellow cards to UFC Pama, he avoided giving a second yellow to any single UFC player. In particular, Erdem failed to award a second yellow and red card to Peter Gallus. Normally Erdem has a keen eye and doesn’t let a game get out of hand. It’s also the first competive game for Erdem in three months.

SC Kittsee had all the chances in the world to win this game in the second half, as UFC Pama did not take advantage of Kittsee’s disarray on defence in the first half to score another goal or two. Then UFC Pama sat back in the second half instead of pushing forward hard.

Neither team deserves great credit for Sunday’s performance.