No wonder fans are running out of patience. West Bohemia’s woes were underlined by the tragic second period in the home match against the White Tigers, when they conceded five goals in less than eight minutes. “I have no explanation for that. We failed terribly and gave them all the goals. It was raining on us there and people were whistling. It was difficult,” described captain Jan Schleiss in an interview for the club’s website.
First, Oscar Flynn scored twice in a minute and with provocative celebrations, during which he gestured towards the audience, he wanted to repay the home fans for last year’s preliminary round. Then, after the fourth duel of the series, one of the fans honored him with several vulgar expressions during the interview.
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Flynn provoked the home fans after scoring goals. Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
Zmar underlined the fifth visiting goal. Jakub Rychlovský became the best scorer in the extra league thanks to a really curious shot. His shot was blocked by Jansa and the disc sailed wide of the goal. Goalkeeper Samuel Hlavaj tried to hit him out of the air with his hockey stick, but instead he incredibly knocked him into the net and rather humiliated him on the substitutes’ bench. This will definitely not add to the psychological well-being of the Pilsen number one before the playoffs.
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Curious shot by Jakub Rychlovský to make it 5:0. Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
Although Škoda got up in the third part and alleviated the debacle with three goals, this is only a weak patch on the performances in the entire regular part. “We had a lot of swings again. Whenever we could move up the table, we had a blast. The curve was flying up and down,” Schleiss realized.
While in 2021 and 2022, the blue and whites paid the price for the covid-related rules adjustment, when they finished sixth and fifth respectively in the regular season and were eliminated immediately in the preliminary round, now it has saved them for the second time in a row. They finished twelfth again after a year.
Last year, they entered the preliminary round in a similar position after nine defeats in a row, yet they managed to really torment Liberec and they could only regret that they lost a three-goal lead in the decisive match.
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Pilsen – Liberec 0:6 (33. Bulíř) Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
In Pilsen, they probably took a breather that now they are not going again to White Tigers or Kometa, with whom they did not play a single point in the regular season. Against Litvínov, however, they will also be a clear outsider who can only surprise. “We haven’t played the quarterfinals for a long time, we have a great desire,” Schleiss confided.
To fulfill his wishes, the West Bohemians need a bigger shooting contribution both from the captain, who scored only five times in the season, and from other pupils such as Miroslav Indrák or Petr Straka, who returned with great fame, but burned out in the regular season. “We who are silent must wake up. Hopefully it will come now that there is a different competition,” hopes Schleiss.
The Indians will also be looking for the return of the offensive backs. After a hard hit to the head from Houdek, the Swedish forward Tim Söderlund returned after a three-week break, but the two most productive attackers Adrián Holešinský and Jakub Lev were still missing.
