Weekend sports roundup

The season in the Serbian League, Vojvodina group, has ended. In the final round of the championship, Hajduk’s footballers beat Vršac 4:2 in front of their home fans in Kula, bidding farewell to the fans with a victory, but it was a Pyrrhic one. Despite their triumph over new First League members Vršac, Hajduk will, by all appearances, be relegated from the Serbian League, because their direct rivals in the battle to stay up, Radnički from Zrenjanin, won in Kikinda and thus preserved their Serbian League status. We say “by all appearances” because rumors have already begun circulating that some clubs will merge and others fold, which could open the door for Hajduk to stay up, but for now these are only rumors. As for the match between Hajduk and Vršac, aware that a win would keep their hopes of survival alive, the Kula side entered the game with determination and secured victory with two goals by Matijašević and one each by Vlajsavljević and Radmanović.

Hajduk’s footballers finished the season in the Serbian League Vojvodina group in thirteenth place in the table with 39 points. The recording of the Hajduk–OFK Vršac match will be shown on KU Television tonight at 20.

Our representatives in the Sombor District League—Rusin, Crvenka and Lipar—also bid farewell to their fans with victories ahead of the next season. Rusin hosted Polet from Karavukovo in Ruski Krstur, and the fans enjoyed a match featuring no fewer than seven goals. Rusin won 4:3, with the score 1:0 at half-time. When Rusin’s players took a 3:0 lead in the 52 minute, with goals from Malacko, Kulić and Sajanković, it seemed the outcome was settled. However, over the next half hour the visitors cut the deficit to 3:2, before Budinski scored Rusin’s fourth goal in the final minute of regulation time to secure the win. Crvenka outplayed Naša Zvezda from Silbaš in front of their home fans, beating them 3:0. However, Crvenka secured the victory only in the second half, as the first ended goalless. In the 48 minute, Radojica Jovanović “unlocked” the visitors’ defence; two minutes later Milan Subotić scored Crvenka’s second, and Srđan Bulatović sealed the match with a third goal in the 80 minute. Our third representative, Lipar, hosted Budućnost from Mladenovo and won 2:0. Gavrilo Popović put Lipar ahead in the first minute, and after half an hour Aleksandar Marčetić scored a second, making the final score 2:0 for Lipar. With one round left in the championship, Rusin are fourth in the table with 55, Crvenka are tenth with 39, and Lipar are twelfth with 36 points. In the final round of the Sombor District League championship, all three of our teams will play away. Rusin visit bottom-placed Radnički in Sombor, Crvenka travel to Kljajićevo to face Kordun, and Lipar visit league champions Bratstvo in Prigrevica.

The season in the Sombor Inter-Municipal League, First Division, has also concluded. The final round featured a local derby in Sivac between hosts Polet and Mladost from Kruščić. Polet won 4:0, with goals scored by Marko Varga, Perlić, Vukašinović, and Mitar Varga. Kula defeated OFK Odžaci 3:1 at the Geder ground, but that was not enough to overtake Odžaci in second place and try to secure promotion through the playoffs. Kula led through goals by Bortnik, Savić, and Anđelković, 3:0, and needed one more goal to take second place, having lost 5:1 in Odžaci in the autumn. There were chances to do so, but then OFK Odžaci punished a careless mistake by Kula goalkeeper Radulović with a goal. This unsettled the Kula team, after which home players Savić and Bortnik received two red cards, and it became clear that the desired result would not be achieved. Kula finished the season third in the standings with 48 points, Polet was fifth with 38, and Mladost from Kruščić finished tenth with 28 points.

Đ. Bojanić