Gurten against Wallern

Two contrasting philosophies with similar success!

Gurten challenge the goal factory from Wallern

(Bild: Schröckelsberger Reinhard)

The Upper Austrian regional league clash between Gurten and Wallern takes place on Friday. Which is also characterized by different philosophies. While Wallern score regularly thanks to countless goals, Gurten are extremely economical with goals, but score almost exactly like their upcoming opponents.

As we all know, all roads lead to Rome! In the Regionalliga Mitte, however, countless different paths and philosophies lead to almost the same success. The best example of this are the two Upper Austrian clubs Gurten and Wallern, who face off on Friday.

While Wallern produce a goal spectacle almost every week thanks to their enormous attacking power, Gurten are rather sparing with their goals. "They have an enormous offensive power and are also a title contender for me," says Gurten coach Peter Madritsch, who knows the strengths of Wallern, who are currently in third place and have already scored 39 goals (best value) in the current season. The fact that the attacking line-up around Affenzeller, Steinmayr and Co. has a knack for scoring in the spring has also been proven in the preparation games, in which they were able to score 39 (!) goals in seven games.

39 goals in seven test matches
"But they were all lower-class opponents, so we shouldn't overrate them," says Wallern coach Horst Haidacher, keeping his cool, although he does note: "But you can see that we're going all out for 90 minutes, even though we've already scored a few goals! We try to use our offense as well as possible, but we also want to find a balance defensively!"

Gurten prove that you can have similar success with just a few goals. In the last six league rounds, Madritsch's team only scored three (!) goals (one goal conceded) and still managed to pick up eleven points, making them the team with the best form in the league behind Wallern (14 points) and FC Hertha Wels (13).

"We absolutely want revenge!"
"We simply come through our compact defense, which conversely sometimes comes at the expense of our offensive play," says Madritsch, who counts much more on a collective with a strong character. Which, incidentally, was able to crack Wallern's attacking power in the first leg in a 2:1 victory. "There was a bit of luck involved at the end, but I would sign off with a narrow 1:0 this time too," smiles the Gurten coach, while Haidacher says: "We definitely want revenge, even if it's always extremely difficult against Gurten!"

Good omens for the top match in the third division!