Unlucky week for Banik. We struggled in the finale, lamented Harpal

“It was a very interesting match for both teams. Initially, we failed to get through Slovac’s well-organized defense. However, we created two chances, but unfortunately we didn’t score. Before the halftime break, we unfortunately scored an own goal in the penalty area,” lamented Banik head coach Pavel Hapal.

After the change of sides, his team had a clear advantage. “We pushed forward and dominated the pitch. We wanted to do something about the result at all costs. However, we lacked more aggression and desire to score in the opponent’s penalty area. We did not solve some situations well, but especially Djiko Klima or Kubala were close to scoring. Unfortunately, we struggled in the end.” The coach was saddened by the discarded tut.

Hapal made seven changes at Uher Castle compared to the starting lineup against Banik on Thursday. “Some of our players had enough during the 120 minutes in Copenhagen. We didn’t want to risk possible injuries. The team that went into the Slovak game showed no signs of declining physical strength. Even in the top ten, we ended up playing better after Buchta was dismissed. Our performance was very good, even though it didn’t bring us points,” he claimed.

Bannik midfielder Daniel Holzer was decidedly more critical. “I’m not happy with it. We sent a lot of crosses into the opponent’s box, but we didn’t have many shots on goal against Slovak in the final. It’s a pity to miss two chances at the beginning. Now, we are chasing everything down in the new season. We played well in the league at home against Hradec, but not in Hradishje. We had a very difficult week,” he said with relief.

He was annoyed because he saw that Slovakia was more hungry for victory. “It scored a lucky goal, but even so, it was more luck. We can’t make excuses for tiredness, we had enough time to recover. Our biggest problem was that we had already scored in the first half and we couldn’t control ourselves,” Holzer repeated.

In the summer, he moved to Ostrava from Slovakia, which was still coached by head coach Svidik. “In my opinion, things didn’t change much after he left. Hradyš was again very unpleasant, they were very well prepared tactically. In short, it was almost exactly the same as in Slovakia,” he compared.

Holzer appreciated the home fans who chanted his name after the final whistle. “I went to applaud them. I thank them for that. I have a very good impression of Slovak. I had great experiences here,” he recalled in particular the MOL Cup victory and the subsequent performances in the league’s basic division.