The first chance in the match was given to Horvath, who received a call to the national team, who received the ball as a gift from the opponent, but shot Giorian from close range. After the turn, Mance tried a powerful shot in the 12th minute, but it went wide of the goal. It took a long time until the next attempt, but he scored in the 22nd minute: Sagaban broke away from his defender and fired a long shot from 20 metres, giving ZTE a 0-1 lead. After half an hour of play, the visitors' right defender, Sindri, successfully shot the ball wide of the penalty area, and then Kersack blocked Mance's effort. Our team mostly tried to pass, but it did not create any significant danger, and the score did not change until the end of the first half.
During the break, István Szabo made two changes, replacing Majer Katona and Szoter replacing Helmich. The last substitute was able to shoot from a good position in the 54th minute, but was unable to score the goal. Two minutes later, Sagapan deceived himself inside the penalty area, but his shot was also inaccurate. It was an hour into the match when Banu-Szabo put the ball to him, and goalkeeper Giorian had nothing to do until then. It should have been in the 62nd minute, but at that point he was helpless, Horvath's sideline free-kick rebounding in front of Nikkischer who scored to equalize 1-1. This made our game more lively and we kept pushing for the second goal. Palinkas was able to shoot from a half-turn and didn't make many mistakes, then in the 77th minute, Horvath shot over. The domestic clashes came in a row, Zeke's pass was headed by Palinkas, and in the 82nd minute a dangerous situation arose in front of the visitors, but Nemeth's close shot was blocked by Lukacs at the back of the goal. Lukacs passed the ball into the other goal as well, and Palinkas was unable to put his excellent pass in the 87th minute past the defenders, but scored a minute later. Szendrei's shot still missed the goalkeeper, but Palinkas took advantage of the rebound as quickly as possible and completed the 2-1 win.
With this success, our team finished the 2023/24 season in sixth place.
Kecskimet TE – Zalaegerszeg TE 2–1 (0–1)
Kekskemet, 2461 spectators, captained by: Csaba Pinter (Joseph Aradi, Petr Bilica Bence)
KTE: Kersák – Májer (Katona 46), Szűcs, Szabó (Lukács 73), Belényesi, Zeke – Nikitscher (Szendrei 87), Helmich (Zsótér 46), Banó-Szabó (Vágó 76) – Horváth, Pálinkás. Head coach: Istvan Szabo
ZTE: Giorian – Sindri, Evangelo, Safronov, Midges (Croisette 38.) – Sankovic, Bede, – Kiss (Németh 72.), Sagaban (Gruber 72.), Mem – Mance (Kovac 72.). Head coach: Gabor Marton
Goals: Nikkicher (62), Palencas (88), or Sabban (22)
István Szabó, head coach of KTE: – In the first half, I felt that there was a huge burden on us. We played slowly, it was difficult to build our attacks, and our situation was made even more difficult by Sagapan's beautiful goal. The guys calmed down during the break. “A kind word opens an iron door,” as I used to say. I stressed to my players that they must play with their hearts, and if they cannot run with their feet, run with their hearts. I congratulate Zalaegerszeg on their great spring run, but I feel like today we were at least one goal better. We've had a tough year, hats off to the owner and management. They stood by us even when results didn't show, they trusted us and that always pays off in the long run. My staff has also put a lot of effort into this. There were times when we gave three players to the national team, and now Christopher Horvath can prepare for the European Championship. Another thing I would like to highlight is our fan base. They are amazing and always have our back. Even at the end of the current match, the team lived together with the fans, which as a Kickskimmet player always pleased me. Overall, we deserved to finish in the House of Councilors!
Gabor Marton, Technical Director of ZTE: We controlled the first half and had chances in the second as well. There was also a penalty shootout, which I looked at at the end of the match. I don't know what is being punished, according to them, nothing. I think we didn't deserve to lose. The taste in our mouths is bitter because we were closer to victory than our competitor. Statistics also indicate this, but the numbers do not mean anything. We've had a great spring and it would have been a bonus if we had a successful sixth place finish today. The team deserves more than ninth place.
author: KTE/kecskemetite.hu
