In the top duel of the 2nd Regional League South, St. Michael narrowly won 2-1 at home against Maria Alm after falling behind. A setback for the visiting title contenders, who are now six points behind the unbeaten leaders Mittersill.
Yesterday, Sunday, two top teams from the 2nd Regional League South met in the brand new Lungau Arena: St. Michael doesn’t want to lose touch with the top 3, whereas Maria Alm is aiming for the championship. In difficult weather conditions, the almost expectedly competitive encounter took place. Tense initial phase It didn’t take long for the game to gain momentum, as Lukas Herzog shot the guests into the lead after just twelve minutes. The answer came quickly and was worth seeing: A little later, Pfeifenberger scored a dream goal to equalize, after a rebound in the penalty area he shot powerfully and hit the top corner unstoppable. Michael Macheiner went one better and completely turned the game around in the first half with his goal in the 36th minute. Increased intensity in the second half After the restart, the hosts focused even more on defending, with passion and physicality they only left the opponent alone come to half chances. “St. Michael successfully destroyed the game. We didn’t find the right solutions for this,” summed up Maria Alm trainer Christian Lederer. The fouls, yellow cards and unsportsmanlike behavior increased. Shortly before the end, the first goalscorer Lukas Herzog was justifiably excluded, after he had also been provoked appropriately. This didn’t change the final result: St. Michael, somewhat surprisingly, won 2-1 and thus remains on track to achieve its own goals after having had to cope with bitter defeats in the preparation. Maria Alm, on the other hand, has suffered a setback in the title race, but is still within reach of the undefeated league leaders Mittersill (1-0 against pursuers Neukirchen). Thomas Schaier
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