HC 19 Humenné secured a narrow 3-2 victory over Hamlíkovo in the 1. League on Thursday evening. The match, played at 16:30 local time, saw the visitors claim all three points despite a spirited home effort. By then, Humenné had already demonstrated why they sit top of the table.
The away side arrived with a perfect record — nine wins from nine league games, though the points tally reads zero across both sides in an unusual standings configuration. Humenné held their nerve in a tight contest, capitalising on their momentum from recent victories including a 4-3 win over Skalica and a 6-5 thriller against Dubnica.
Hamlíkovo, meanwhile, found themselves rooted to 10th place with eight games played and zero points accumulated. Their recent form has been anything but consistent — three wins from five matches, including a comfortable 2-0 victory over Žiar nad Hronom, but also heavy defeats such as the 3-7 loss to Detva.
And here's the thing about this result: Humenné's seventh consecutive win in all competitions extended a run that had seen them concede only three goals across their last five league outings. The clean-sheet run came to an end, but the pattern of tight victories — 1-0, 3-2, 3-0, 4-3, 6-5 — suggests a team comfortable grinding out results rather than dominating them.
To be fair, Hamlíkovo showed they could compete. Their two goals against a side that had kept three clean sheets in a row indicated they had found some rhythm, even if the final scoreline didn't reflect their best moments. One mistake ends it, and in hockey as in football, margins are razor-thin.
The result leaves Humenné still leading the division with nine wins, while Hamlíkovo remain in the lower half with their points situation unchanged. Both teams now look ahead to their next fixtures with something to prove — or to protect.
