A Rainy Night In Brno

Week 19: FC Zbrojovka Brno 0 - 1 SK Slavia Praha

For the second time in two weeks, there's a weekday game. This time, it's more sensibly scheduled for a Friday night. Monday night football may work for the coach potato neutral, but everybody gets down on Friday.

The good news is, I can catch a bus near enough to the office straight to the football stadium. The bad news is, it's intended to shuttle drunk hockey fans to the stadium and keep them out of bother elsewhere. This is my second time making use of this novel, police escorted service.

We arrive safely, however some tool outside the stadium drops a firework directly next to the bus. I'm first out, and thankfully get away with nothing more than a ringing in the ears. Does this count as banter?

Tonight's opponents are SK Slavia Praha. It's fair to say that they're the second most well-known team in the league, and actually have a slightly larger (capacity) stadium than Sparta. They won the league as recently as 2009, but have since been in the doldrums and equally out-of-form this season as Zbrojovka. Tonight's game should be winnable for the good guys.

The self-proclaimed intelligentsia. 

They've also re-acquired Derek Riordan's best mate. Rudi Skacel (pronounced Skaaatsel, as opposed to Skatchel, as oft heard on UK TV). Unfortunately not in the squad for this game, probably since it's not a Scottish Cup tie.

Slavia, then. A pretty good away turnout, considering the kick-off time meant that anyone travelling from the capital

would need to finish work early. It also humours me to see an ultras flag emblazoned with 'SLAVIA INTELLECTUALS'. Okay, then.

I'm forced out of my usual location to seats closer to the away section and the south stand. I'm a little bit closer to the pitch, and I'm appreciating the game more as I am by myself. I'm noticing that the Slavia left-back and left midfield work well in tandem together, and I see that the centre backs of both teams possess pretty good ball control.

Friday Night Lights

Despite a pretty unremarkable game with few chances, Slavia take the lead (and ultimately win 0-1) after the Brno goalkeeper fumbles a tepid, wayward shot into his own net. It's an absolute gift, and incredibly frustrating for the 4100 witnesses.

Yet another tame loss for Brno. Sadly, one of the more memorable moments occurs when the North stand ultras release a huge firework next to a fancy Mercedes within the ground. The sound is ear-shattering, and the smoke rises above the stands. They certainly generate atmosphere, but sometimes....