From the very beginning, that is from the second-league competition in the 1957 season, the clashes between Mielec and Piast from Gliwice were extremely close, not least because the team from the Rzeszów Voivodeship had already had a number of Upper Silesians playing for several years. This time, after relegation from the 1st league and the unexpected termination of the career due to heart disease of our best sniper Helmut Tobollik and the return to the coaching bench of Michał Matyas, victory did not come easily. This time, the defensive line was up to the task, and despite numerous attacks from the visitors, they did not allow themselves to be surprised even once. In the first half, the Steelmen imposed a fierce tempo, favoured by the wind, but only created a more dangerous action in the 32nd minute, when a strong strike by striker Kleszcz was stopped by the crossbar. Not a minute later, this time defender Tadeusz Lupa decided to shoot from a free kick from 20 metres. The accurately struck ball went straight into the visitors’ goal window.
In the second part of the game, the advantage of the Mielec players diminished, and the visitors started to speak more and more often. In one of the team’s quick actions, in the 75th minute, Dera outmuscled our defenders, but at the last moment Pytlos threw himself at his feet and snatched the ball away. Piast also tried to shoot from outside the penalty area (Dera, Majka and Urbańczyk – two free kicks), but our goalkeeper was on the spot. The last quarter of an hour was spent waking up from lethargy, but this time Kleszcz, in a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Gąsior, missed badly. The referee from Kielce also failed to show off on that day, unnecessarily allowing the players of both teams to play too roughly, often making wrong decisions as well.
21.04.1963 – Mielec, 20th round 2nd league, Stal Mielec – Piast Gliwice 1-0 (1-0)
Referee: Machel (Kielce) Spectators: 8,000
Stal: Pytlos – Opiełka, Król, Lupa, Rachwał, Budek, Gazda, Czylok, Kleszcz, Harężlak, Kapuściński Coach: M.Matyas
Piast: Gąsior – Chrobak, Urbańczyk, Heller, Górski, Mielnik, Koronowski (46 Koszera), Harko, Dera, Majka, Hein
Coach: E.Metzger
Goal: Lupa 39 min.
Steel’s league balances against their rival from Gliwice at the two highest levels of the competition look as follows: in the top division the two teams faced each other 6 times (1 win for Stal, 1 draw, 4 defeats; goals: 5-13), in the 2nd division they competed 12 times, including 1 match repeated due to a referee’s error (4 wins for Stal, 3 draws, 5 defeats, goals: 15-17). In the Polish Cup, Stal played against Piast four times (4 defeats, goals: 1-7 / penalties 3-4/).
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