Good old fashioned British football weather awaited both teams in the South City: cold, wet and swirling winds. Rapid made the short journey in the knowledge that they had failed to claim a maximum points haul against their neighbours throughout 2014. So a motivated Green & White eleven took to the field, an eleven with a surprise inclusion at right back: Ferdinand Weinwurm came in from the reserve set up to make his Bundesliga debut. "He earned his chance after his great showing in training", commented Trainer Zoran Barisic. Beric with number 15 for the seasonIt took a while for the Hütteldorfers to find their way into the match, but after an uneventful opening fifteen minutes they began to impose themselves on their opponents and began displaying their superior quality. The first effort on goal arrived in the shape of a Max Hofmann header which went a couple of yards over the bar after the defender had connected sweetly with a Steffen Hofmann cross (18.). Full back Thomas Schrammel's burst ended with the defender's shot being deflected wide after a neat one-two with Deni Alar (26.), whilst just a minute later the hosts managed a long range shot on Marko Maric's goal through Lackner (27.). That was the most exciting moment of the half for Maric, who for long periods cut a lonely figure in the Rapid goal as Admira struggled to get out of their own half. The period of pressure applied to the Mödling back-line then finally bore fruit: Schrammel played in Alar, whose shot was parried to the right hand side of the box to the lurking Steffen Hofmann, who turned the ball back into the danger area for Robert Beric to tap home from close range - 1:0 (34.)! The goal was Beric's 15th of the season and capped a decent first half performance by the Green & Whites that saw them deservedly take their lead into the break. Hütteldorfers pegged back by bolt from the blueDirectly after the re-start Deni Alar had a golden opportunity to double his side's advantage: after being played into a decent position by Florian Kainz, Alar's initial shot was blocked, but the forward reacted quickly and latched onto the rebound, unleashing a powerful left footed volley that drew an expert save from Mödling keeper Kuttin (47.). Thanos Petsos' fierce drive from the resulting corner was blocked inadvertently by Mario Sonnleitner and the hosts saw off the early Rapid pressure. With little over a quarter of an hour to go, and against the run of play, Admira stole level: Weber tried his luck from fully 30 meters and the ball moved wickedly in the air, past the helpless Maric and flew into the top corner - 1:1 (74.). Stung back into offensive action, Rapid went in search of an equaliser which looked like arriving right at the death but substitute Louis Schaub couldn't beat Kuttin from a very tight angle (90.). "Two points lost" commented a disappointed Mario Sonnleitner, whilst Zoran Barisic summed up the days events: "We go home with a point and have only ourselves to blame". Nevertheless this could prove a valuable away point come the season's end and sees Rapid climb to second in the league.   Trainer Zoran Barisic: "We were clearly the better side. It was a good performance in a highly competitive match. We didn't get the second to kill the game off. Obviously we can't be satisfied with the point, but you have to congratulate Admira for such a wonderful strike". tipico Bundesliga, Match Day 21Admira Wacker - SK Rapid 1:1 (0:1)Maria Enzersdorf, BSFZ-Arena, 4.970 Attendance, Ref EisnerGoals: 0:1 Beric (34.), 1:1 Th. Weber (74.)Admira: Kuttin - Zwierschitz, Windbichler, Schößwendter, Th. Weber - Lackner - Bajrami (70. B./Sulimani), Auer, Kerschbaumer, Grozurek (46. T. Vastic) - Ouedraogo (57./R. Schicker)SK Rapid: Maric - Weinwurm, Sonnleitner, M. Hofmann, Schrammel - Petsos, Wydra (75./Schwab) - Alar (80./Grahovac), S. Hofmann (68./Schaub), F. Kainz - BericYellow Cards: Schößwendter, Zwierschitz Weinwurm, Beric, Petsos(gw)
24.02.2015