Aug 14, 2013 - OFS Prostějov Cup SF - Hvozd 1 Mostkovice 5

Centre of Konice

Bus station in Konice.  Waiting for the bus to Hvozd

Stands below the pitch

Village of Hvozd

August 14, 2013

OFS Prostějov Cup Semi Final

Hvozd (7th tier) 1 Mostkovice (7th tier) 5

Attendance - 40

Last Wednesday I got a chance to go to the village of Hvozd (population 700).  It is a village about 30km northwest of Prostějov, but it is very difficult to reach by public transportation on the weekend.  Luckily for me there was a regional cup qualifier last week, which gave me the opportunity to finally go to Hvozd.

Getting to Hvozd during the week isn't too difficult.  There are a few direct buses from Prostějov (1 hour) or you can take a train to Konice (45 minutes) and from there a bus to Hvozd (20 minutes).  I had to take the last option because I missed the direct bus.  Hvozd is a farming village surrounding by rolling hills and fields of grain.  Up until a few years ago the local football side played in the 9th tier, but thanks to a little fortune they have climbed up to the 7th tier.  They play in the Olomoucký Kraj 1 B třída skupina B, while Mostkovice play at the same level but in skupina A.  Hvozd caused a major upset last week in the quarter-finals when they defeated 5th tier Konice.  Six years ago Konice defeated Sigma Olomouc in the 2nd round of the Czech Cup.

Around the Czech Republic regional qualifiers are played for the national cup competition.  The winners of the regional competitions get into the preliminary round of the Czech Cup.  The competition in Okres Prostějov started the first week of August a full year ahead of the 2014/15 Czech Cup.  The winner of Okres Prostějov Cup goes to the Olomoucký Kraj Semi Finals, where they meet a winner from one of the four other regions.  The winner of the Olomoucký Kraj Cup Finals gets a place in the Czech Cup.  Not many people know, but technically a 10th tier side (bottom of the pyramid) could earn a place in the preliminary round of the Czech Cup.  However, usually the lowest sides in the preliminary round are from the 6th tier, and sometimes the 7th tier.

Now getting back to the Hvozd-Mostkovice game after that rather confusing explanation.  Hvozd had a number of injury problems and were missing about 3 or 4 players from their line-up.  This is just too many for a small village side.  The visitors came with almost a full line-up, and showed their dominance with 2 goals int the first 8 minutes.  The coach of Mostkovice later said it could have been 5 goals after the first 15 minutes.

Mostkovice will now play Kralice na Hané in the Okres Prostějov final to be played on September 18th in Smržice.

July 11, 2013 - Perth Rocs 1 Ottawa St Anthony MR1 4 (Canada)

July 11, 2013
Ottawa Carleton Soccer League MR1 (10th division in Canada... roughly)
Perth Rocs 1 Ottawa St Anthony MR1 4
Attendance - 8

Perth, Ontario is where I grew up and learned to play soccer.  The men's side is currently playing in MR1, which features teams mainly in the Ottawa area.  Perth is one of the southern most sides in the league, about 80km southwest of Ottawa.  The visitors on the night were the reserves side of Ottawa St Anthony who play in the OCSL Premier Division (5th tier in Canada).

Off to Canada

I will be in Canada for a month, so probably no updates.  I hope to get to a game or two in Canada, but it seems rather unlikely.

June 23, 2013 - Nové Sady 9 Haná Prostějov 3

June 23, 2013
1 A třída - 6th tier
Nové Sady 9 Haná Prostějov 3
Attendance - 115

This was never going to end well.  Haná were missing a number of players, and they are not the type of team which has a deep bench.  Nové Sady had only lost one game going into the final match of the season, and they were celebrating promotion as well.  They are basically the 3rd team in Olomouc and have quite a few players who played youth football at Sigma Olomouc.  Nové Sady were clearly on a different level than Haná, and it showed.

The good news is that despite some financial problems, Haná Prostějov will be back in the 6th tier, as they avoided relegation.

June 8, 2013 - Kojetín 3 Haná Prostějov 2

Old style gate

30 minutes before the game

What is left of the old terraces

June 8, 2013
Olomoucký Kraj - 1 A třida - 6th tier
Kojetín 3 Haná Prostějov 2
Attendance - 100

Kojetín is a town of 6200 people located about 20km south of Prostějov.  I had been to watch Haná play in Kojetín 4 years ago when both sides were in the 7th tier.  Haná needed at least a point at the bottom of the table, while Kojetín needed a win to try to keep their promotion hopes alive.

Getting to Kojetín is not a problem on weekends, as the town has many train connections running to Přerov, Nezamyslice, Výškov, Brno etc.  The walk from the train station to the football ground takes about 25 minutes, and it is best to print out a map, or ask a local for help.  It can be tricky to find if you do not know where you are going.

The ground was built in 1953, and was apparently at the time the envy of all the surrounding football clubs.  Around the same time, the club was playing in the 3rd tier of football in Czechoslovakia, and would regularly get crowds of 2,000-3,000.  Obviously, the main stand doesn't have the capacity, but it is obvious that terraces once surrounded the pitch.

No one really expected Haná to get anything from the game, but they almost proved everyone wrong.  In the 89th minute, they scored the tying goal and it looked like they might have stolen a point.  Unfortunately, one minute later, Libor Bosák scored from a penalty.  He is now 36 years old, but he has 1st division and 2nd division experience, and this was clear.  He ran circles around the Haná players.

One minute away from a shock draw, Haná had to make the short drive home with no points.