The series of the winter prep games is over. The last rival to checkup Trenčín’s readiness for the spring part was Žilina. In spite of the clear win of the Corgoň-Leauge’s, there were a lot of positives on the side of the defeated team.
Boris Godál played an excellent game. Yet at the beginning of the preparation, he wasn’t doing very well. As the winter period progressed though, his performance improved significantly. “The problem was probably in my head. I wasn’t convenient about constant position changes. I needed to find a stable post in the lineup and I’m glad that Adrián Guľa helped me to do so. We often discuss these things and I think that the discussions as well as regular playing in the position of the right defender improved my performance,” said the reliable back.
The last pre-season match is always a kind of a test before the first league round. “We didn’t call the game a general rehearsal this time. The coaches told us to fight as much as in the previous games. Thus, each prep game has been a general rehearsal for us. I know, there will be qualitatively different rivals in the league, but I welcomed the Žilina challenge. The duel against such a strong rival was a good warm-up for the team before the first league round,” the assistant captain said about the effects of the weekend’s game.
It’s true that his formation was quite busy during the whole game. „Žilina proved the difference in quality. On the other hand, our performance wasn’t totally desperate. We conceded four times, but some goals came after unusual, fantastic shots,“ Godál praised both the efficiency as well as viewiness of the rival’s play .
Another player whose performance shows an improving trend is Roman Gergel. Just a month ago, he was really struggling. Since then, he has also been gradually getting in shape though. “I really wasn’t feeling very well at the beginning of the winter period. Maybe it was because of my illness. I couldn’t find the right pace. I’m glad that it’s improving,“ one of the most technical players in the league and the only goal scorer of the last prep said about his readiness for the spring part. “I wanted to make use of the hard terrain. I wanted to shoot so the ball touches the ground before the goalkeeper. Unfortunately for him, the ball deflected from one of the players standing in the wall,” the important member of AS team described the goal moment.
Trenčín took the lead unexpectedly after Gergel’s goal. The rival equalized after just a few seconds. “That shouldn’t happen. We scored against a strong competitor, but instead of gaining self-confidence, we conceded right from the counter-attack,“ the dissatisfied U21 national player said.
