Stal, under the coaching eye of Konstanty Pawlikanec, despite their high ambitions, played a patchy game in the spring (0-1 against Polonia Bytom in Mielec, 1-0 against Zagłębie in Sosnowiec and 0-0 at home against Śląsk Wrocław) and after 22 rounds occupied 5th place in the table (24 points – 7 points loss to Wisła), while the hosts were vice-leaders of the table, having 4 points more. In addition, as many as 8 Mielec players suffered stomach problems due to turbulence during the plane flight. Andrzej Szarmach did not appear in the visiting team’s line-up, and this is what the coach of the white-blue team had to say about his absence after the match: Szarmach did not play, as he is currently in poorer physical condition. He is a bit too little involved in trainings, but I think that these are temporary issues [the dispute between the coach from Mielec and the representative striker is well remembered by older fans of Stala – LŚ]. Despite the fact that Lech played in front of a full house at the old stadium in Dębiec and were more frequent visitors to the Mielec goal (20-2 in corner kicks for the Lechites, as noted in the report by Sport of Katowice), the solid defence of Stal did not allow the locals much in the first part of this meeting. Their chances were wasted in the 34th minute by Krakowski (the ball just missed the crossbar) and ten minutes later by Napierała, whose shot was easily caught by Kukla.
As early as the beginning of the second half, Okoński was behind the sideline for a few minutes (after a harsh intervention by Rześny) and then it was the Steelers who gained the lead, in the 54th minute. After a foul by Justek on the right, a free kick was taken by the injured Henryk Kasperczak. He quickly fed it into the 5-metre area onto the head of Edward Oratowski and the scoreboard read 0-1. Lech, surprised by the loss of the goal, attacked harder and won several corners. In the 74th minute, after Okoński’s cross from the right side from a corner kick, the ball was deflected backwards with his head by one of our players. It found its way to Szewczyk’s head (he outpaced Kukla and the visitors’ defenders), who extended it to Jerzy Kasalik, who also hit the ball accurately with his head. After the locals had equalised, the Mielcans defended effectively in their own half, often knocking the ball out of bounds. However, they were also able to launch several offensive attacks.
12.03.1978 – Poznań, 23rd round 1st league, Lech Poznań – Stal Mielec 1-1 (0-0)
Referee: Sobiecki (Warsaw) Spectators: 20,000
Lech: Mowlik – Gut, Szewczyk, Barczak, Justek, Milewski (70 Grobelny), Napierała, Kasalik, Szpakowski, Chojnacki (26 Krakowski), Okoński Coach: J.Kopa
Stal: Kukla – Rześny, Kosiński, Oratowski, Per, Załężny, Hnatio (46 Demko, ż), Kasperczak, Buda (ż; 81 Chamielec), Lato, W.Karaś Coach: K.Pawlikaniec
Goals: Kasalik 74 (head) – Oratowski (head) 54 min.
At this link you can watch excerpts and goals from this meeting –
https://www.laczynaspilka.pl/biblioteka/mecze/lech-poznan-stal-mielec-11-12031978
Stali’s league balances with Poznan Lech amount to 52 extra-league matches (15 Stali wins, 13 draws, 24 defeats, goals: 51-68). In the 2nd league, they competed 4 times (2 wins for Stali, 2 defeats, in goals: 5-4 for FKS). The Polish Cup was contested twice (1 victory for Stali, 1 defeat, goals 3-4).
Leszek Śledziona
Photo: Leszek Śledziona’s archive; Przegląd Sportowy 13.03.1978, p. 3.
