Grünau wins again

Austria misses big step towards the title

Goalkeeper Manuel Kalman had to make two saves.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Wals-Grünau are still going strong in the Regionalliga West. On the artificial pitch in Reichenau, coach Christoph Knaus' team claimed a narrow 1:0 victory. Meanwhile, Austria Salzburg failed to pull away in the top match against Hohenems. Bischofshofen set an exclamation mark.

Two neighbors from the Pongau region enjoyed clear victories in the Westliga on Saturday. St. Johann did their duty at home against bottom of the table Rankweil with 4:2, while Bischofshofen celebrated their first "three-pointer" under new coach Schnöll - 5:0 at penultimate-placed Dornbirn. "We should have scored more goals," said the coach, finding only one fly in the ointment. "We always had our noses in front," said his counterpart Lottermoser. However, any victory celebrations afterwards took place separately despite the close proximity. Not just because BSK didn't get home until late in the evening. There has to be a limit to such neighborly relations somewhere.

Meanwhile, league leaders Austria Salzburg were shown their limits. In the top match against Hohenems, the Violets lacked a lot. What's more, they gave away gifts in defense by conceding both goals and missing a penalty. Even Claus Salzmann's speech in the dressing room at the break was to have no effect. The president had called in from abroad. In the end, the score was 1-2 and the Vorarlberg team reduced the deficit to six points.

The sun shone again after a crisis meeting
Michael Switil used the crisis meeting at Salzburgligigist Bürmoos after the 7-0 defeat against Seekirchen to give a speech. "And the team showed the right reaction," said chairman Robert Eckschlager, breathing a sigh of relief after the 4-0 home win against Eugendorf. The sun was shining not only over the community in the north of Flachgau, but also on the home side's play. Suljic opened the scoring on the counter-attack. Last year's top scorer Ugrinovic then shone with a treble, doubling his tally to six goals and drawing level with internal leader Probst.

Straßwalchen at least picked up a point in a 2-2 draw against Golling after the 1:7 against Puch. "That was a good response," said coach Bernhard Huber-Rieder. Both teams took the lead once. Golling's Huremovic equalized 20 seconds after the restart to make it 1:1. After the visitors made it 2:1, Schörghofer fixed the final score with a Sunday shot 90 seconds later. Anif are five points off the pace after the 4-1 defeat to Puch.