Wallern/Mariënkirchen fell to a heavy defeat against Ried in the Cup's Round of 32 on Thursday evening. The visitors took all three points with a 5:1 victory, progressing to the next stage of the competition. And here's the thing — the home side did well to open the scoring, but Ried never looked back after that early setback.
E. E. Aisowieren gave the hosts a surprise lead in the sixteenth minute, a moment that caught everyone off guard. To be fair Ried responded quickly, with M. Straif's own goal in the thirty-second minute bringing the visitors level. The momentum shifted completely when M. Rasner scored in the thirty-fourth, and P. Pomer added a fourth just four minutes later in the thirty-eighth.
The second half continued in the same vein for the away team. S. Schwab extended the advantage in the fifty-seventh minute, and D. Misic confirmed the result with a sixth goal in the seventy-eighth. By then the outcome was never in doubt — Ried simply ran out the clock after building an insurmountable lead.
This result ends a run of mixed fortunes for Ried, who had taken points from Hartberg and Graz AK but also suffered defeats to LASK and Rapid. By then the squad looked sharper, more cohesive — the kind of performance that suggests they're finding their rhythm at the right time.
For Wallern/Mariënkirchen, the defeat comes after a streak of results that saw them beat Sankt Johann and Wönbach Dietach but lose narrowly to Zell am See. The Cup exit means they'll have to focus on their league campaign, where consistency will matter more than ever going forward.