Vorwärts earned a point against the second-placed team

“In the first half, I felt that our game lacked a little bit of desire to get behind the line,” said Vorwärts coach Markus Eitl after the 1:1 home draw against second-placed Gurten. His Red-Whites would benefit from a bit more dynamism and precision, and then his team’s points tally would probably look significantly better.

After 28 of 30 games this season and 37 points, SK BMD Vorwärts Steyr is in ninth place in the Regionalliga Mitte. With this secure mid-table position, the SKV has probably achieved more in its debut season than many had feared.

In the penultimate home game of the season, the home team had the first great chance: the 800 fans in the stadium were choked up by their premature goal-scoring cries after less than three minutes when a cross from Mirsad Sulejmanovic from the right side got longer and longer and bounced over the visiting goalkeeper Maj Pavli onto the crossbar. Almost immediately afterwards, Gurten had a double chance: after only hitting the post from close range, Tobias Schott failed on his second attempt due to the super reflex of Vorwärts goalkeeper Valerian Hüttner. Then it was Steyr’s turn again: Meriton Kabashaj’s shot from 30 meters narrowly missed the Gurten goal. Minutes later, Hüttner parried a shot from Fabian Wimmleitner from close range. After that, scoring opportunities were in short supply.

After the break, both teams became more active again. In the 57th minute, Wimmleitner pushed a cross from a few meters over the line to make it 1-0 for Gurten. The deserved equalizer came in the 84th minute: Milan Ziric scored from a Sulejmanovic corner to make the final score 1-1.