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Matjasic masterclass! |
Fans of NK Svoboda sang the praises of their talisman Ambroz Matjasic after his sublime first half hattrick saw their side continue their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-2 victory at I Tanzana.
Inside the first ten minutes the Svoboda stalwart curled in a freekick from nearly 30 yards to leave the home keeper stranded, before adding a second with a close range finish after Kremen Semolic's knockdown from an Emir Valencic corner on the half hour mark. His third goal, however, was the real icing on the cake as the Tanzana defenders astonishingly allowed him to drift into acres of space on the edge of the box as Valencic surprised them all with a corner that drifted past the near post and found the man on the edge of the box. Matjasic barely had to adjust his feet before hitting a swerving, dipping volley reminiscent of the great Paul Scholes that crashed in off the crossbar and led to wild celebrations amongst the away bench - and saw them take a three goal lead into half time.
Svoboda started the second half in the same fashion, and when Vane Brezec powered a header in from a corner it looked to be game, set, match - only for referee Donald Scott to rule out the strike for pushing. The match became somewhat pedestrian after this, with Svoboda happy to keep possession and conserve their energy for the second round of the cup on Monday. There was a moment to cheer for the remaining home faithful when Mohinder Suresh drove a freekick past Toshiya Naito with nine minutes to play, and when Bobby O'Callaghan poked in from a goalmouth scramble they really started to get excited - until the referee blew the final whistle straight from kick-off and awarded NK Svoboda the win, and three vital away points.
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