Wednesday’s Hanappi encounter pitted two teams against each other both in need of three points but for very different reasons: Peter Schöttel’s side were looking to get back on track in the title race following the disappointing draw against Mattersburg, while Kapfenberg were desperate to claim something in their increasingly difficult looking battle to scramble away from the Bundesliga trapdoor. Rapid coach Schöttel had a bit of a selection headache before the game: Nuhiu and Drazan were both unavailable for selection through suspension, while Burgstaller and Schimpelsberger were ruled out through illness and injury respectively. Christopher Trimmel then injured himself during the warm up so Boris Prokopic was drafted into the starting 11 in his place. Prokopic and Hofmann shared duties on the right hand side of the field, with youngster Grozurek on the opposite flank. The game didn't get off to a particularly fluent start, proving very stop-start with limited chances for either side. From a Rapid point of view good approach play was being blunted in the final third by a combination of dogged defending and misplaced final passes. As the game wore on the men from the capital began to impose themselves on the visitors: Deni Alar twice went close with headers against his former employers but the deadlock remained intact. On the stroke of half time the Green & Whites edged in front: Grozurek came off his wing on a mazy run, leaving several Kapfenberg players trailing in his wake and beat goalie Wolf with an effort that clipped the cross ball and dropped to Alar, who was lurking in the penalty area, to slot home. The Huetteldorfers carried the momentum from the goal into the second half with them. They played with a higher tempo and began pressing and squeezing the opposition. The hard work paid off on the hour mark as Deni Alar swept home a Katzer cross to double Rapid’s advantage and his own personal tally for the evening. Kapfenberg managed their best attempt in response just two minutes later through Nathan Junior but found an alert Lukas Königshofer in top form as the Rapid keeper parried the close range effort away to safety. It was the high point of the afternoon for Kapfenberg as the Viennese re-gathered their composure and started to play the game out in full control. Dominik Wydra joined the action late on, celebrating his 18th birthday by making his Bundesliga debut. A decent performance was capped in the 90th minute as substitute Rene Gartler got in on the act, popping up to round off good work from Thonhofer and add a bit of gloss to the score line to ensure a well deserved victory and the perfect tonic to the disappointment last time out. Tipp3-Bundesliga, 26th round: SK Rapid - Kapfenberg 3:0 (1:0)Hanappi-Stadion, 13.200, Referee Hameter Goals: 1:0 Alar (45.), 2:0 Alar (60.), 3:0 Gartler (94.) SK Rapid: Königshofer - Thonhofer, Sonnleitner, Pichler, Katzer - Heikkinen (86. Kulovits), Prager - Prokopic, Hofmann (92. Wydra), Grozurek - Alar (84. Gartler) Kapfenberg: R. Wolf - Pitter, Gerson, Vulin, Prettenthaler - Lovin (81. Erkinger) - Elsneg (69. Felfernig), Sencar, Grgic (85. Sand), Babangida - Nathan Junior Yellow Cards: Prokopic, Kulovits Vulin, Felfernig, Pitter (gw)