VIDEO Suffering and debacle in live broadcast… Slavists had a hard time finding words: It’s a shame!

BRATISLAVA – After winning last season, they made no secret of their ambitions to defend the title. They started the season well and have been leading the Tipos extraliga table for a long time. However, the hockey players of Slovan Bratislava were hit by a severe crisis, from which they cannot and will not get out.

The disastrous results of the “Whites” were underlined yesterday by the match against the last Prešov, which they lost very convincingly 1:4. The second Zvolen also lost on the ice in Michalovci, so Slovan is still the leader of the table, even though in its current form it is not among the best teams in the competition by far.

The guests from the east came to the capital with one goal – to gain important points in the fight for salvation. The match started very badly for the Easterners. Daniil Fominykh, the home team’s winger, scored after just a few minutes from the first shot on goal.

Prešov was not scared by the goal and responded with the same phrase. New acquisition Jakub Nespala, who started the first match in the “Koniarov” jersey, presented himself with a goal from the first shot on goal. However, that was all of the hockey beauty in the opening third.

Both teams seemed very heavy-handed, did not create chances, and the fans in the stands began to suspect that this match would not be eye-catching at all. There was no passion for the game on the ice and it was absolutely impossible to see that the first team was playing with the last.

Slovan seemed to have forgotten the great two thirds against Nitra, and his spiritless performance was crowned by the exclusion of elite scorers during the power play. The second period began as the first period ended.

The lethargic performance from both sides was complemented by missed chances and unnecessary exclusions, especially on the Slovan side. Prešov used that to score the leading goal, and from that moment the home team began to show their frustration and helplessness.

More than 3,000 spectators saw two more goals by the Easterners in the final third, which completely defeated the home team. There were unnecessary conflicts in front of the goal, the match had no pace and ended in complete disgust.

The icing on the cake was the booing from the stands for the home players, which they definitely deserved for their performance. At the end, the entire Ondrej Nepela Arena shouted in unison: “Purple, get out!”which was just the nail in the coffin for disappointed Slavists.

We must apologize for this performance

After the mentally demanding match, only the assistant captain and one of the team leaders, Samuel Takáč, stood in front of the journalists from the home players.

“Every loss is hard to digest, especially on home ice in front of the fans. It can’t happen, it’s a shame and we have to apologize for the performance we gave,” said the home striker with his head down.

He could not say what was behind the decline of the incumbent master’s form: “It’s hard for me to find words, but it can’t go on like this. Maybe we’re troubled by nervousness, maybe even some frustration. We won again at home and when we should have taken it into our own hands, we got a goal right away, and then that mentally will lay.”

Even after the loss, Slovan is in first place and before the final rounds of the regular season, they have a chance to win the Vladimír Dzuril trophy. Although they definitely did not deserve it for their performances in the last few games.

“Individual quality may be on our side, but until we want to, it’s hard to play anything.” added a disappointed Takač.

This was not a Slav

Even the assistant coach of the Whites, Andrej Podkonický, did not hide his frustration with the performance. “It is certainly not easy to evaluate such a match. This was not the Slovan we would all like to see here,” he said at the beginning of the press conference after losing the match with an outsider.

Slovan played a convulsive game, and at times it was visible that the players could not pass to each other, pulled the pucks on their sticks unnecessarily and dragged out substitutions. All of these things the coaching staff sees and knows they have to eliminate.

According to Podkonický, Slovan should have played simply, which they didn’t do, and that cost them any chance to think about success against the well-defending Prešov. At the same time, the assistant coach added that he knows what style Slovan has to start presenting himself in order to get out of the game crisis.

“We need to start playing ugly, playoff hockey, shoot more and push the goal because we’re not going to go far with the hockey we’re playing right now. We’re still in the title game, but we need to start playing with heart because we can’t go with this game to the playoffs,” he added in an obviously disappointed voice.

“We play relatively nice hockey, but it brought us here,” added Podkonický. Slovan found himself in the place where he was already after the loss to L. Mikuláš, and the entire implementation team together with the players are facing a really difficult challenge.

“The players were left alone in the cabin. We have to get out of this together. We must not break up, but put ourselves together,” pointed out Podkonický.

Prešov excited to save himself

On the contrary, the assistant coach of the guests, Dušan Brincko, did not hide his joy at the performance and did not spare the Prešov players with superlatives. “We are very happy that we won here today. All the boys fought, from the first to the last. The players played for the team with a lot of heart and they deserve a big thank you for today’s performance.” said Brincko.

The team, which has been struggling at the bottom of the extra league table all season, knew that it was possible to play at Slovan and they came to the capital city to fight. In the fight for survival, they lose three points to the penultimate Liptovský Mikuláš, so the end of the regular season will not only be a battle for the first place, but also for the penultimate place.

Prešov defeated Slovan on its ice for the first time in history, which can be one of the advantages it now has. “It’s a big boost. The team has come together, the team is great and everyone is helping everyone. We will do everything to save ourselves,” said Brincko determinedly.

His words about staying in the competition were also repeated by Prešov’s new striker Jakub Nespala. It was he who started the team from the east of the republic to a convincing performance, when he scored in the first substitution, from the first shot on goal.

“I’m happy for every goal and for the chances I got. I hope I didn’t disappoint the coach and that we will continue and save the league.” he was looking forward to the match against Nespala, who added that Slovan was not scared at all and from the start of the match they went for important points.

However, the pressure on the last Prešov is increasing, and five more duels against teams of the highest caliber await them on the schedule. “There is some pressure, but I believe we will save ourselves,” concluded the striker of “Koniarov”.

• Author: © Zoznam/Martin Turčin
• VIDEO: YouTube/Types Extraliga
• Source: Sports shoes