REED. In glorious spring weather, the 650 spectators experienced a great afternoon of football at the Gladiators Ried Division II home game against the Upper Styrian Rhinos in the athletics stadium. Only the result didn’t quite fit.
The Gladiators narrowly lost the extremely exciting game at 13:14, although they literally had a chance to win in the very last second.
Exciting game
Rieder took the lead with the first action thanks to a sensational kick-off return from Lukas Ziegler. Shortly before the end of the first quarter, they made it 10-0 with a field goal. In the second quarter, the guests fought back and were ahead at half-time after a touchdown, a field goal by Rieder and a second, somewhat controversial touchdown (which, however, was preceded by an excellent drive) with 14:13 seconds before the whistle.
The rest of the game was dominated by both defenses that didn’t allow any more points. The Gladiators had a chance for a field goal two seconds before the final whistle, but the shot was blocked and the kicker brought down.
First home loss
For Rieder, the 13:14 not only means the first defeat in more than a season (since they lost the promotion semifinals to the Styrian Reavers in 2019), but also the first home defeat in the “Colosseum Noricum” ever.
Away in Gmunden
The focus is now on the away game on April 17th at the Gmunden Rams. The Gladiators are also planning a fan bus this time (gladiators.at).
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