Niecza saw off Odra 1-0 in the First League's regular season, ninth round, at the weekend. The hosts, sitting second in the table, edged past the visitors who languish in thirteenth place. D. Hilbrycht put them ahead after eight minutes, and that proved enough.
By then the pattern was set. Odra controlled more possession, 59 per cent to 41, and registered more attacks — 140 against 99. But the visitors found the target once, while the hosts hit the mark five times. And here's the thing: five shots on target for a single goal tells you how they made it count.
S. Guerrero picked up a yellow card on twenty-four minutes, and S. Gieroba followed suit just after the break. K. Kubica went off the ball too late for his own good, booked on eighty-one. The manager brought on B. Baranski at half-time, then M. Spychala and M. Scalet together at fifty-eight. D. Biniek came on at sixty-four, and the pair of D. Hilbrycht and W. Jakubik at seventy-six.
Too much time passed before the final changes. B. Biedrzycki arrived at eighty, P. Szysz at eighty-five, and Odra threw on S. Guerrero and M. Kozik together in the closing moments. By then it was too late to turn things.
The statistics sit uneasily together. Odra had seven corners to four, but could only muster one shot on target. The hosts, with fewer attacks and less of the ball, were ruthless when it mattered. Shots accuracy tells the story — 42 per cent for the winners, 6 per cent for the visitors.
Niecza move closer to the top four, extending a run of good results. They beat Stal Mielec and Lechia Gdansk in their last two outings, and now add Odra to the list. Odra's run of draws continues — they held LKS Łódź and Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała earlier in the season. Nine points from nine games leaves them with work to do.
