Slovan Bratislava 1-0 Dundalk, Europa League 3rd qualifying round, 1st leg, att. 9,980 (Narodny Futbalovy Stadion AKA Tehelne Pole)
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| Welcome to ... |
If I’d played this
right, I could have seen 2 games today, one at Slovak’s brand new stadium, and
the other, a women’s Champions League game at Pasienky, a few hundred yards
away. However, I wasn’t complaining
(much). I’d had my clothes washed and I’d
spent the afternoon wallowing in and out of the Tehelne Pole swimming pool,
itself next door to the stadium of the same name.
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| Talking of Bratislava sights...welcome to Eastern Europe. |
With a couple of days in Bratislava, I was keen that my swim shorts would be
put to some use and on having a choice of pools, I plumped for Tehelne Pole as
I could then buy a match ticket for the evening’s game. The plan worked a treat. After my swim I walked around the new stadium…so
new, various bits of road, pavement and the adjoining office block weren’t yet
finished. Neither had the ticket office,
given the mangle of cables, plasterboard walls and banners trying to cover the
mess. And I also learnt that ‘cashless’
signs meant the very opposite; yes, I could pay in cash. €12, upper tier, behind the goal.
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| Buying a match ticket. |
After dropping off my swimming gear (my hostel being 15-20 mins away) I headed
back to the stadium. Tonite’s visitors
were Dundalk, who’d brought maybe 150.
There was to be little to no animation from the away end tonite.
The home end was another matter, giving it some real noise. Who’d have thought Slovan was such a hotbed? For a side who normally play in front of a
couple of thousand in the league, Slovan brought numbers this evening. The official attendance was 20 shy of 10,000,
about 5 times the norm.
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| The home end, with drummer and cheerleader. |
Their zenith came in the second half, as, tipping it down with rain and us
mortals running for cover, the ultras (of course) took their shirts, bared
their chests and sang heartier. I looked
at the lightning overhead and mused on their chances.
Slovan did eventually nick the win, a late 20 yarder rebounding off the post
for the cene forward to scuff in past a wrong-footed keeper. No more than Slovan deserved, but harsh on
the Irish keeper, who’d shone throughout.
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| Get your kit off for the lads! |
Dundalk even had a later chance to equalise, the header down being tipped over
on the up. Otherwise, the pick of
Dundalk’s team, for all the wrong reasons, was the centre forward. He LOOKED like Shane Long. He PLAYED like Shane Long (enthusiastic,
small, ineffective). Was it Shane
Long? (No.)
Walking back, I got drenched within 5 mins and could take no more. I made it to the main street (next to the ice hockey stadium, all sports
being catered for in this precinct) and stood for ages for the bus, along with
others. Not only was I freezing cold by
now, but once on the bus I sat on some chewing gum in my new shorts. When it’s not going for you…
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| I'm telling you. It was teeming. |
The Damage:
€12 ent
€26 beer and wursts
€5 badge
€2 plastic beaker
€1 prog
= €34
The Tunes:
none
Stayed at:
Freddie next to Mercury, Bratislava (€30, 2 nights)
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| The Main (exec) Stand. |
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| concrete mixers still here... |
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| Reward for climbing the stairs? |
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| The view from the concourse. |
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| The stadium blending into attached offices. |
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| Spotless. |
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| The queue for tickets. Should have got here earlier... |
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| The Dundalk massive. |
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| Even their photographers are stunning. |
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| A ballboy awaits some work. |
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| The view from the bottom corner. |
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| The home end. |
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| The Main Stand. |
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| The view from the top row. |
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| The Slovan players celebrate at full-time. |
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| The stadium lit up. |
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| He's a pussycat, really. Loves his mum. |
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