Paradizo secured a 2:0 victory over Ham in the Group Stage of the 1. Liga Promotion on Friday evening. The away side took all three points despite a shaky start that included a missed penalty within the opening minutes. Ham had been the stronger side on paper, sitting second in the table with 13 points from six games.
Ham tasted disappointment early when they failed to convert a penalty in the seventh minute. The hosts pressed forward after that setback, building pressure through the middle periods of the match. Paradizo weathered the storm and looked to counter, though they struggled to find real clarity in attack for much of the contest.
The turning point arrived in the seventy-eighth minute when A. Babic found the net for Paradizo. The goal shifted the momentum sharply, leaving Ham to chase the game rather than control it. «Things came to a head» after that strike, and the visitors began to settle into their rhythm.
Paradizo doubled their advantage shortly after, extending their lead to 2:0 before the closing stages. The hosts grew increasingly desperate, throwing bodies forward in search of a consolation. «Had nothing to do all evening» might have been said of Paradizo's defence before Babic's goal, but their organisation held firm under pressure.
E. Tia was shown a red card in the eighty-second minute, reducing Ham to ten men and effectively ending their hopes of a comeback. By then the result was beyond doubt, and Paradizo saw out the remaining time with composure. The dismissal was perhaps the final nail in Ham's coffin for this encounter.
Paradizo move up to fourth place with 12 points, while Ham remain second on 13 points after the defeat. The gap between them narrows to just one point in the table. «The old head settled them down» — that is what the visitors' experience showed in these closing moments.