Week 18: FC Zbrojovka 1 - 0 1.FK Příbram
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| At the end of the tunnel, cometh the light |
Winter is a marketing ploy. Stop the football, bring out the Olympics and starts the invasions. Snow optional. Assuming the worst is behind us and the temperature is now only going to increase, 'mild' is the most apt way of describing the winter past. Our collective winter break ceased last week, with Sparta Praha issuing a 4-0 reminder of the harsh realities of football regardless of seasonal discontent.
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| Anticipate this |
FC Zbrojovka relocated to Turkey for a training camp over the winter break. The initial showing against Sparta - the champions elect - suggested that such an arrangement was not going to yield positive results. However, today's match has more relevance to our fortunes this season and ought to provide a better barometer to that end.
Today's opponents, 1.FK Příbram, are currently 3 points ahead in the league, but have the worst away record in the division. One of four teams (including Brno) yet to win on the road this season. Has to be a home win today, for all our sakes.
1.FK Příbram are the legal successors to Dukla Praha. The two teams merged in 1996, despite Příbram being 40 miles away from Prague. Little else in the line of trivia for this team. They're the only team in the league with the ř sound in their name. This is described by Wikipedia as a raised alveolar non-sonorant trill. Its manner of articulation is similar to other alveolar trills but the tongue is raised; it is partially fricative. It is usually voiced, [r̝], but it also has a voiceless allophone [r̝̊] occurring in the vicinity of voiceless consonants. It sounds like a combination of 'rzjg'.
Linguistics aside, 1.FK Příbram have some current links with Brno. Our former talisman, Petr 'Mercedes' Svancara, is currently on loan there, and their current manager (Petr Cuhel) was at the helm of Zbrojovka for our promotion from the 2nd division in 2012.
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| Two heads and the away fans |
1.FK Příbram boast the presence of Milan Misun in their ranks. Formerly of Celtic, but never managed to break into the first team. Having originally been touted as a commanding full-back, he has reinvented himself as a lumbering centre-half. Could he have a crucial role to play in today's game?
'No' is the answer to that question. Nearly 4000 people are on hand to witness Zbrojovka take an early lead. Markovic tricks the defender (not Misun) with a sublime feint in the fifth minute, and slots the ball beyond a poorly positioned goalkeeper.
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| Five minute rule |
The ball is played high and long and constant for sustained periods in the first half. Despite our early lead, the team lacks confidence and Příbram take advantage of this. A volley onto the bar is followed up by two goal line clearances, which from the stands looked like it comfortably crossed the line. However, there was no reaction from the away team and television replays show that the (female) assistant referee called it correctly.
Chances dwindle in the second half. Příbram lost their drive and their momentum. A few half-chances throughout, but Brno had a golden opportunity to double the lead with the last kick of the game, but the ball goes narrowly wide.
A clean sheet, and three points on the board. This win lifts Brno above Příbram into 12th at the end of this game week. With a long away trip to Liberec on Friday night unlikely to produce anything beyond a hiding to nothing, the next home game against Banik Ostrava looks set to be a six pointer. It's always fun when Banik come to town.
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