Shortly after the conclusion of the spring round in 1978, which was brought forward due to the World Cup in Argentina, the second edition of the (unofficial) League Cup was played, as in the previous year, in which 12 teams from the Polish first division and four from the Hungarian first division took part. Stali in group I had to compete against: Polonia Bytom, Diósgyőri VTK (Miszkolc) and Lodz’s Widzew. Last season’s runners-up (Stal finished 8th with 29 points, while the Łódz team were 10th with one point less) started the match (before the game, Henryk Jałocha and Krzysztof Rześny were given a ceremonial farewell) with the hosts’ attacks. Despite the fact that in the team of Steel were missing the cadres: Kukla, Lata, Szarmach and Kasperczak, who is still dreaming of leaving for the West, the team looked good in the central line and were able to accelerate their play under the rival goal. An exemplary action was carried out in …the 13th minute of the duel, when the ball went like a string from: Duchnowski to Hnatia, to pass through Demko to Edward Oratowski, who with a precise strike surprised the Lodz goalkeeper. Mielczanie could have increased the result of the meeting a minute before the end of the first half. The action of the trio: Demko – Karaś – Per, did not end successfully, as the latter lost the duel one-on-one with the visiting goalkeeper. In this half, the visitors were limited to only a few counter-attacks, but one more dangerous strike by Kowenicki was easily handled by Heniek Jałocha.
In the second 45 minutes Widzew wanted to make up for the loss, so they attacked more boldly. Mielec’s defence survived this onslaught. In the 57th minute, Dąbrowski’s header from close range missed the target, two minutes later Tłokiński hit into the hands of Jałocha, while in the 67th minute former Mielec man Jerzy Krawczyk stamped the post. At the very end, the FKS players woke up, launching several quick counter-attacks. After one of them, in the 80th minute Krzysztof Frankowski almost beat Surlit. Stal finished the group games in last, fourth place in the table of their group (just 3 points in 6 games, with 6-16 in goals), while the winner was the Hungarian team, with whom, in an away game a week later, Stal suffered their heaviest defeat (0-8) in their international contacts. But that’s a topic for a completely different, not very glorious in the history of our club, memory.
10.05.1978 – Mielec, 2nd round of Group I of the League Cup, Stal Mielec – Widzew Lodz 1-0 (1-0)
Referee: Krawczyk (Katowice) Spectators: 2,000
Stal: Jałocha – Rześny, Kosiński, K.Polak, Per, Oratowski, Demko, Frankowski, Hnatio, Karas, Duchnowski (83 Makuch) Coach : K.Pawlikaniec
Widzew: W.Surlit – Skonieczny, Chodakowski, Możejko, Zawadzki, Tłokiński, Błachno, K.Surlit, Kowenicki, Dąbrowski, Krawczyk Coach: B.Waligóra
Goal: Oratowski 13 min.
In summary, the balance of only extra-class duels between Stali and Widzew was 37 matches (6 wins for Stali, 15 draws, 16 defeats, goals: 38-51). 1 meeting was played in the Polish Cup, a 0-2 defeat for Stali. 3 matches were played in the League Cup in 1977 and 1978 (unofficial) (1 win, 2 defeats; goals: 2-3).
Leszek Śledziona
