The last game of 2014/15 saw Zoran Barisic continue the recent trend of rotating his playing staff. Brian Behrendt and Stefan Stangl came back into the starting line up, while an incredibly strong looking substitutes bench consisted of the likes of Thomas Schrammel, Stefan Schwab, Flo Kainz and Deni Alar. The sun was shining in Carinthia and a healthy crowd packed into the Lavanttal-Arena. Prior to the kick-off our hosts graciously passed on their congratulations over the loud speaker for our efforts in securing a spot in next season's Champions League qualifiers. Searching for the cutting edgeThere was little other than pride to play for both ourselves and WAC, with both teams destined to finish the day in the league placing in which they started. But with both teams looking to give their respective supporters a winning send off, an open and entertaining first half unfolded. Good movement from Wernitznig saw the WAC forward almost steal in at the back post to turn home a ball that had deceived Jan Novota, but the Rapid keeper re-adjusted himself and turned Wernitznig's shot from a narrow angle away for a corner (14.). The Green & Whites responded through a typical Thanos Petsos long range effort that had Wolfsberg keeper Kofler diving full length to keep the ball out at his near post (18.). As the game reached the 20 minute mark the chances began to dry up, with few opportunities of note created by either side. A long range effort from Brian Behrendt that failed to trouble Kofler largely summed up the attacking fayre on offer during the latter stages of the first period, so with the deadlock in tact the teams went into the half time break. Clinical second half display too much for WACJust five minutes after the re-start Rapid found the cutting edge that had been lacking in the first period as they clinically pounced on an error to take the lead: Philipp Schobesberger picked up a loose header just inside the Wolfsberg half, drove towards the penalty area sucking in defenders before releasing the ball to the unmarked Steffen Hofmann in the right hand side of the penalty area, who crossed for Louis Schaub to tap into an empty net from a couple of feet out - 1:0 (50.)! After the breakthrough Rapid clicked into gear and after Kofler had done superbly to keep out a volley from Beric (52.) the Slovene managed to get in on the act: Steffen Hofmann played a double one-two with Beric, completely outfoxing a WAC defence that was all at sea as our prolific striker grabbed his 25th of the season - 2:0 (62.) and the flood gates were threatening to fling wide open. With the Hütteldorfers cutting their opponents back line to ribbons it seemed only a matter of time before a third goal would arrive - and it duly did through unsurprising source: a Stefan Stangl cross from the left flank was met by Beric, who cleverly let the ball come across his body, glancing a header from the penalty spot into the right hand corner beyond the reach of Kofler - 3:0 (82.)! Just minutes later The Green & Whites were celebrating a fourth of the afternoon: a precise pass from Schwab between full back and centre back played Stangl into the penalty area, where he crossed for the unmarked Beric, who made no mistake, tapping home from a couple of feet to bag a hat-trick and his 27th of the season - 4:0 (85.)! There was still time for Louis Schaub to grab his second of the afternoon, as he latched on to a beautiful defence splitting pass from Schwab to round Kofler and make it 5:0 in injury time. It was the perfect way to round off a superb season for Zoran Barisic's troops, who finally ended an unwanted record by coasting to victory in Wolfsberg. Trainer Zoran Barisic: "The manner of the performance the team delivered speaks for itself. The team has developed brilliantly during the course of the season and was clearly evident today. As Rapid we are responsible to our fans, and the team fulfilled this brilliantly today."tipico Bundesliga, Match Day 36WAC - SK Rapid 0:5 (0:0)Wolfsberg, Lavanttal-Arena, 5.350, Ref Jäger.Goals: 0:1 (50.) Schaub, 0:2 (63.) Beric, 0:3 (83.) Beric, 0:4 (85.) Beric, 0:5 (93.) SchaubWAC: A. Kofler - M. Berger, Hüttenbrenner, Drescher, Baldauf - M. Weber, Tschernegg (78./Seebacher) - Standfest, Seidl (60./Trdina), Wernitznig (67./Kerhe) - SilvioSK Rapid: Novota - Pavelic (81./Grahovac), Dibon, M. Hofmann, Stangl - Petsos, Behrendt (62./Schwab) - Schaub, S. Hofmann, Schobesberger (68./Alar) - BericYellow Cards: Hüttenbrenner M. Hofmann(gw)
01.06.2015