Goalkeeper Dominik Hrachovina has been trusted in all twelve duels so far, he only substituted once. And on the ice of Kladno for the second time, but in the 43rd minute with a 1:1 draw. The 28-year-old goalkeeper injured his lower body and ended up on crutches. So Jan Strmeň has to step in for him.
In the upcoming home matches of South Bohemia with Pilsen and Třinec, we probably won’t even see 36-year-old Milan Gulaš. The second most productive player in the competition and the captain of České Budějovice limped to the cabin after hitting the goalpost in the third period. It is not yet known how long both supports will be missing. Both Goulash and Peas undergo the necessary examinations.
“We finished it in some formation. Let’s hope that they will both be fine as soon as possible, because in the long term it will be very difficult to replace them,” 40-year-old forward Tomáš Čachotský told the club’s website. He came to Motor to alternate starts from Jihlava, because forwards Jakub Valský and Lukáš Vopelka, and defenders Stuart Percy and Mikuláš Hovorka.
Photo: Josef Vostárek, CTK
České Budějovice goalkeeper Dominik Hrachovina.Photo: Josef VostarekCTK
In the end, the South Czechs lost 1:2 with the Knights, when they did not punish any of the five Kladno expulsions, and on the contrary, they conceded twice in a weakened state. After the ninth defeat in a row, they fell just behind Kladno to the penultimate place, only Litvínov is worse off. “We need to score one or two points and slowly start to bounce back, because the team is good and should be able to get up,” Čachotský believes.
However, if the team will still be led by coach Jaroslav Modrý, that will be decided already in the next match on Thursday on own ice with Pilsen. The 51-year-old coach is leading the team for the second season. But after an unsuccessful month, he received an ultimatum from the club management.
“It is not an easy situation for us, coach Modrý led Motor to great success last season and we appreciate his work, but after nine defeats it is necessary to take concrete steps. We decided that the head coach will get another opportunity to lead the team if Motor wins the next match against Pilsen. Otherwise, unfortunately, our paths will part,” general manager Stanislav Bednařík said in a press release.
České Budějovice are getting dangerously close to the record streak in one season in modern history from two years ago. However, they waited longer for a victory in the 2000/2001 season, when they did not even win thirteen times in a row, but in the system of that time they had two draws. They were in an even worse situation in 2003, when they did not succeed at the end of the previous season or the beginning of the following one. They even recorded fourteen losses in a row.
Now on Thursday and Sunday at home they definitely need to get busy. Or they will bounce off the very bottom.
