FC Locarno v FC Winterthur
Last Swiss 36 visit of 2012/13 season and indeed the last game of the season in the Swiss Challenge League. Also the Stadio Comunale Lido is the last of the stadia that we have to visit in Tessin. Among all those lasts, we had to have a first, and so we took the decision to travel by fan-bus instead of by Train.
We loaded up the AC/DC (beer as well as rock music) and met the Bierkurve fan bus at the Schützi just before noon. Yes, it looks like its been in a few battles but it is surprisingly comfortable. Certainly it was good to enjoy the 4 hour trip down to sunny Tessin with fellow fans....and indeed pissheads.
So - comfort compared with the train, not as good but only because we couldn't move around and had to wait for toilet stops. Other than that not bad! The journey time was if anything a tad shorter even with the toilet stops....or was I speaking too soon?
Points Time
Getting There
9 / 10. We had a good trip! We also noticed the train station about 10 minutes or so walk from the stadium so if the choice was public transport, it would probably have been equally as good.
Friendliness.
10 / 10. "Win-ter-thur!" sang the Locarno faithful
"Loc-car-no-o!" came the reply. How friendly could it be? OK, I'll let the English fans into a secret. Locarno are a kind of sister-club to Winterthur. We love 'em, and they love us. Hence the mutual singing that went on from time to time. I'm not sure they'd be so welcoming to Lugano or any of their other Tessin rivals but Winterthur are always welcome at the Stadio Comunale Lido.
Safety
8 / 10. Our fourth and final Tessin stadium and we saved the best until last. To be fair, the competition isn't great but Locarno have no fences. I've brought back the Fuzzy-foot test to show the only minor concern - a terrace height that's great for sitting but if there were more of a crowd, a slip could cause quite a fall. On the subject of crowds, Stadio Comunale Lido state a capacity of 11000. That looks about 3000 too many to me.
View
6 / 10. We've got that word "Comunale" in the stadium name again. I'm going to make a generalization here, which I hope doesn't offend. If your stadium has words like "Community" or "Municiple" in it's name it will be (as we say in Yorkshire) "neither Now't nor summat". Not a football stadium, not an athletics venue...not really anything. I hope that doesn't offend. I mean, it's not like saying all kids called Tyler are pains in the arse is it?
 |
| 5.5 Lanes? |
So there you have it. A 5 and a half lane athletic track around the pitch with big areas of field events at either end. Every stadium in Tessin has an athletics track. Is Tessin a hot-bed for athletics that I don't know about? Well, I googled "famous Tessin athletes" to find out.
Google's reply: Did I mean "famous Tennis Athletes" or "famous Russian Atheltes or "famous tass(?) athletes"? Says it all really. Politicians in their determination to please everyone piss-off their main customers.
Rant over!
Atmosphere
7 / 10. Friends. It was as simple as that really. Not electric like you get at a local Derby but very enjoyable for all that.
Refreshments
7 / 10. Standard fare cooked on barbecues around the ground. All very enjoyable but nothing special.
Overall
47 / 60 . Best ground in Tessin. Just lose the running track.
The Match
Not a classic and not one Winterthur will like to dwell too long over. Locarno were bottom of the league and would have been relegated if it weren't for the demise of Bellinzona, who due to financial problems will not be taking their place in the Challenge League next season. So technicalities save Locarno from the drop.
The points penalties imposed on Bellinzona had brought them in range of Winti for the last game of the season. If Lugano could do us a favour, a victory would have given Winti a runners-up spot. The way I've written about that, I think you can guess that it's not what happened. Lugano did the business, beating Bellinzona 4:3. So Winti just had to beat the basement club then!
The first quarter of the game belonged to the home team with their best moment coming when an audacious attempt to lob Christian Leite by Drilon Pacarizi found the post rather than the back of the net. It had taken Winti 20 minutes to get out of their own half, and when they did, Patrick Bengondo was unusually wasteful with a header from close range. But the lead went deservedly to Locarno on the half-hour.
Locarno cleverly switched play to the left wrong-footing the Winti defence, Amos Ngan then crossed for Marko Bicvic to first slam against Leite's post but then make no mistake with the rebound that conveniently had come back to him. Locarno one - nil to the good with Winti looking like it had been a hard season for them.
Early in the second half and Nick von Niederhausen was brought into the fray for his last game in a Winti shirt, his transfer to Vaduz next season being confirmed. And von Niederhausen did bring something to the up to then disappointing away team. Within 10 minutes of the restart, Winti had the game level again. Janko Pacar was able to play the telling ball, crossing for Marco Aratore to slam home. But the comeback was to be short-lived. Just 10 minutes later, Mate Bilinovac ran at the Winterthur defence who backed off allowing him to the edge of the area. A simple pass to Drilon Pacarizi and a good finish returned the lead to the Tessiners.
Winti nearly had a point they had scarcely deserved. Patrick Bengondo glanced a header inches wide from Altin Osmani's free-kick but it stayed at 2:1. Disappointing for Winti but a nice way to celebrate a reprieve from relegation for our Tessin friends. Nice for the missus too. That shirt Mr. Iten is wearing now resides in her wardrobe. Thanks Stefan!
We went to the bar to celebrate with the locals but unfortunately news that the traffic back home was bad meant our leaving earlier than we otherwise might. We could have took a hint and got the train home but no, we'd come on the fan bus. We'd leave on the fan bus.
Eight hours later (yes, eight) the fan bus rolled into Winti. So much for principles! Never mind, as ever the Winti fans made the best of a bad situation.
Posted with Blogsy