Beltinci stunned table-toppers Taborska Cezana with a 5:1 victory in the Second Slovenian League's seventh round on Saturday. To be fair, the home side had been building momentum through a mixed run of form, but this performance suddenly made them dangerous. The result shifts the landscape of the division entirely.
And here's the thing — Beltinci took control early. Antolin opened the scoring in the seventeenth minute with a composed finish. Taborska Cezana's hopes of recovery evaporated further when Krajnc turned his own net against them just before the half, making it 2:0. By then, the visitors looked shell-shocked.
Jelovica pulled one back for the guests in the sixty-fifth minute, briefly stirring something in the away end. But the home side responded with relentless pressure. Briski restored the two-goal cushion in the seventy-third, and Gibson marked his first start with a goal five minutes later.
Gibson completed his brace in the seventy-ninth minute, sealing what had become a routine afternoon for Beltinci. The academy graduate's brace was the story of the match, but it was the collective shift in intensity that made the difference. The old head settled them down after Jelovica's reply, and they never looked back.
Taborska Cezana dropped from top spot after their five-game winning run came to an end. Beltinci climbed to within three points of the leaders at 13 points, while the visitors fell to 16 points. A sell-out crowd watched their side finally hit form, and the table now looks very different from what it did on Friday evening.
