Korona Kielce vs. Stal Stalowa Wola
Strangely both Jochem and I were pretty excited by the start of the season. It had started in typical fashion. Jochem does not have a Karta Kibica, so we were resigned to queuing in drizzle. Armed with my bad Polish I had anticipated most problems by bringing a ticket from the previous season, so I could hand it over and just say “the same, or close” an easy phrase to manage.As expected I was not understood, not an uncommon problem. Kasia tells me its because people don’t expect to hear someone foreign speaking English, but this is never a problem for Fergus, so I have come to the conclusion that I need to work harder at the language. However these little set backs are demoralizing. Anyway the ticket seller had the old ticket, which said Sektor C3G 20 20, she gave me Sektor C4D 5 2. It was only after I had left the queue that I realized this. My initial thought was a ‘shit, she made a mistake’. But it did cross my mind that the stadium could be full and this was as close as she could get us to our original seats.
With 2 hours before kick off, we headed back in town to get our ‘drink on’.
Suitably happy, we made our way back to the stadium. All the while I imagined this buzzing atmosphere a full stadium. It was gonna be great. It was clear, with five minutes to kick off, she must need glasses. The stadium had that feeling of emptiness that can only be described as one of those ‘American Gold rush’ towns that had been abandoned 50 years previously. In our sector there were 5 other people at kick off, and we were down at the front. Had this match been on TV we would have looked like a right bunch of ‘Billy no mates’.
So Korona came out of the tunnel to a polite ‘golf applause’. I think even the ‘Mlyn’ were in a poor voice. Jochem pointed out that the drummers were absent and the guy with the microphone was cutting out, in a style that I imagine annoys people at McDonalds drive thru’s. So which team to support, you might think this is a strange thought, however Korona’s strip had changed so drastically that at a glance around the stadium you would think that we were at the wrong match. Gone were the red and yellow stripes and umbro kit. Hummel are the new makers of Korona’s kit and there interpretation of how we should look is an all yellow top, with red shorts and red socks. Frankly it looked like we were at a Watford match.
The first half was clearly the first game of the season. 45 minutes of chase the football and passing that even I would manage better, and to those who have suffered me on their team, you know what I mean. At half time I decided to take a walk round the stadium. I really wanted to see if the shops were selling this new strip, and also if there was a chance to get a program to familiarize myself with the new line up Korona. The drop to the ’New look first league’ had precipitated selling quite a few players to ‘balance the books’. All the club shops were closed, not a program in sight. However I bumped into Canadian Wojtek., who has shaved off all his hair while on a Turkish holiday and he was confident that Korona would gel better. His reasoning being that the players who stepped up to fill the vacancies in the first team came from the youth team. They had had a great season last year, winning the league. This mix of youth and experience would work well he believed.
So the second half begun, and the ‘Mlyn’ fixed their electrical problems and the drummers were in full on bashing mode. Within minutes Korona went 1-0 up. Pawel Sobolewski scored a peach, a great goal. Then for the turning point of the match, Robert Bednarek received his second yellow card and off he went. Korona played like a team possessed and soon added another goal, however I did not see who it was, one of the new boys I think. Had I had a program!!!!, well anyway, a few minutes later the Stal goalkeeper, clearly out of his box, punched the ball away from the oncoming Edi. What would the ref do? Surely a card? Nothing!!! He just gave Korona a free kick. The refereeing was so inconsistent that it was embarrassing, even the Stal fans smelt a rat! Edi took the free kick and it bounced off the crossbar on to the line and somehow the Stal keeper got it away. In the space of two minutes Stal had a corner, it was well delivered and the Korona goalkeeper, who looked like a schoolboy, came for the ball only to have Wilk head it almost out of his hands. Where was the communication? Come on goalkeeper you’re the boss, tell the players where to go. In all honesty he looked like he had never played before, or at least the nerves were showing. A few minutes later Stal get another corner and this time they knew what to do, goal. Another couple of minutes, another corner, very well delivered I might add, goal, then a few minutes later the Korona goalkeeper went for a simple catch dropped it at the feet of a Stal player who calmly slotted it home. In the space of fifteen minutes we had gone from 2-0 up, to 2-3 down. The Stal players and fans were having a party. An all the while the ‘Mlyn’ never changed their tune. Jochem just walked past me and left the stadium. There was still eight minutes to play. But he was right it was over. The Korona players looked at each other, it might have been the first time in the whole match that they communicated to each other, though mostly with out words, just accusatory glances at one another.
It finished 2-3. I meet Jochem outside the stadium, most of what he said was in ‘Dutch’, but I have become aware of the swear words he likes to use, so I got the gist of it. I guess his main problem, and in a way I understood, was the ‘Mlyn’ they never stopped singing, chanting, banging and taunting. It was clear that they did not give a toss about what happened on the pitch. As for the rest of the supporters, some 5000 who turned up out of a possible 15000, they never even voiced their anger at the team, like Hindu cows they accepted this defeat and filed out of the stadium in an orderly fashion, barely speaking.
I hope that the coach, who has an excellent record, will sit down with the team and break this habit, get them talking, have this club work as a team. I know that it is the first game of the season and there has been a lot of uncertainty because of the corruption scandal, but it doesn’t mean you should be ashamed to play.
The only plus point is that the seats were quite good, and at 12 zloty I might even think about going again in 2 weeks. That is if I don’t get my back waxed, as I can’t decide what would be the bigger torture.
posted by Bob @ 5:50 AM
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