League Play-Off

Punat Arena
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Ljubo Hodak got the match started through his kick off. Zvonimir Peharda fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 8th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Zvonko Nađ having to interfere. Ljubo Hodak recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 10th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Tomo Lasić fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 15th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Zoltan Peruško having to interfere. Tomo Lasić blasted a shot towards the goal in the 18th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Zoltan Peruško having to make a save. Veljko Končar kicked well hit freekick during the 20th minute of the match. 24 minutes into the match, Punat's goal looked a bit too open when Njegoš Murgić came free, but Zoltan Peruško reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Tomo Lasić fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 25th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Zoltan Peruško having to interfere. Ljubo Hodak fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 28th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Zvonko Nađ having to interfere. With a little luck, NK Strojar Palovec's Zvonko Nađ got control of the ball when Zvonimir Peharda tried to sneak it across the goal line. When Zlatan Brozović fell near the penalty area in the 31st minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored NK Strojar Palovec's protests and gave Zlatan Brozović a yellow card for diving instead. In the 32nd match minute, NK Strojar Palovec was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Zlatan Brozović to maneuver through the defense. Tomo Lasić sent away a hard shot on goal in the 39th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. When Tomo Lasić came up free with the goalie in the 44th minute, the NK Strojar Palovec fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Tomo Lasić couldn't finish the play. In the 46th minute of the match, Zvonimir Peharda got a very nice opportunity to score, but Zvonko Nađ was well-placed and pushed the ball away from the goal at the left post. Zvonimir Peharda sent away a hard shot on goal in the 48th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

Zvonimir Peharda sent away a hard shot on goal in the 52nd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The crowd rose to their feet as NK Strojar Palovec's Tomo Lasić slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Zoltan Peruško. That made the score 0-1 after 56 minutes of play. If Zvonimir Peharda had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 60th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 65 played minutes NK Strojar Palovec got a freekick which was hit by Zlatan Brozović. Zvonko Nađ stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ljubo Hodak's shot from short distance in the 66th minute. Njegoš Murgić received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Zoltan Peruško came out and tried to block the shot, but Njegoš Murgić slotted it home off the left post making it 0-2 in the 68th minute. Zvonko Nađ made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Zvonimir Peharda in the 73rd minute of play. Zoltan Peruško made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Miroslav Gašparević in the 77th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Njegoš Murgić in the 79th minute of play forced Punat's goalkeeper Zoltan Peruško to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After some careless play in the Punat defense, Njegoš Murgić kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Zoltan Peruško. The Punat fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Zoltan Peruško should have stopped the shot. In the 88th minute the ball was on its way in behind Punat's goalkeeper Zoltan Peruško, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Punat's Zvonimir Peharda got a good chance for a goal in the 92nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. When Tomo Lasić came up free with the goalie in the 95th minute, the NK Strojar Palovec fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Tomo Lasić couldn't finish the play. The NK Strojar Palovec supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing NK Strojar Palovec would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.