Jutrzenka Giebultow - Hetman Zamosc (5-3)

And finally the spectators are allowed back in Poland. I did not have much luck with games outside of Krakow, I could not catch any game when I was in Greece last year and then, as I went to Warsaw, the ban on spectators took effect. And I could not get tickets for the Europa League final in Gdansk. So the only football I could watch was a lower league game through the fence or at the small amateur grounds without the fence. For the first game after a long break I decided to see a match at one of the local Krakow stadiums that I wanted to attend for a long time. 

Giebultow is a small village somewhere around Krakow and they have their own little ground where Jutrzenka usually play. Currently it's a 4th tier of Polish football which is still high for essentially a village team. But this time they're holding their home games in Krakow. I guess their own ground is too small or maybe they're renovating it, but I am happy anyway, as I could get to a new stadium and then when they return, I can see a game there as well as it's very close. 

Pradniczanka is a small amateur team in Krakow, representing one of the city's districts - Pradnik Czerwony. It's mostly a new district with lots of modern construction, offices, highways. The stadium is also very modern, being just recently fully redeveloped. What makes it unique is its location - it is completely tucked away right behind  noisy crossroads from one side, but from the other side it's in the quietest residential street with wooden houses. There are several catholic establishments here - from a large slick and modern cathedral to some kind of  catholic retirement homes. It looks like you're changing different worlds as you simply walk around the arena - from the dusty concrete highway with tall offices to the quaint and serene lane with shade and singing birds. And you can actually peak into somebody's yard from the stand.

The stadium is just one big stand with all the facilities inside it. It's obviously more than enough for the level of the home team. It's even surprising that such a large-scale renovation took place. Unfortunately, the pitch is artificial from what I could see. And the funniest thing is the futuristic but very outdated font they decided to choose for all the writing in the stadium. That fonts reminded me of late 90s early 2000s nu metal bands and their promo materials. First time I saw the name of the stadium etched on the column with that font, I had the cover art of Exile by Gary Numan on my mind.( It's actually a very good dark electronic record btw). 

As it was a first game with fans after such a long break due to Covid, I was unsure about what to expect. Turns out you could simply buy a ticket for cash from a team representative in front of the entrance. But the strangest thing was huge police presence for such a minor event. I saw at least a dozen of police cars, some reinforced. I guess they were waiting for fans from Zamosc but they did not show up. Overall there were maybe around a hundred spectators, obviously lots of players' friends and family members.

It was one of the better games I ever watched live. At first Jutrzenka seemed totally in control, scoring 3 goals in succession. However, when it seemed like there would be nothing interesting, Hetman scored and then scored again. So the first half ends with 3-2 to the home team. Jutrzenka tries to score more in the second half but then concedes an equalizer from the counter-attack. And just 5 minutes after that, Hetman keeper mows down an attacker inside the penalty box and Jutrzenka scores to make it 4-3. The last goal was scored at the 90s minute of the game with the final score 5-3 to the team from Giebultow. 

It was so nice to be back. Hopefully there will be no more restrictions for games with the spectators.