December 11, 2022
This weekend saw the last round of matches before the North Macedonian First League took its winter break after 18 rounds. The league normally features 12 sides who play each other 3 times for a 33 game season, but this season has been disrupted by FK Renova, a side that had participated in the First League since 2005/06 and were champions in 2009/10, withdrawing from the league before a ball had been kicked due to financial difficulties.
The North Macedonian First League has been competed for since its inception in 1992/93 following the break-up of the Yugoslav Republic. Vardar Skopje have won the most titles since independence with 11 successes but they were relegated in 2020/21. Skopje based KF Shkupi are the defending champions, winning their 4th title in 2021/22, which was their first since 2000/21.
Normally the season consists of a double round robin season for the first 22 matchdays, with the remaining rounds determined afterwards. This pattern is expected to continue going into day despite a side less in the competition.
Ahead of today’s fixtures the surprise league leaders were FC Struga, Trim & Lum, a side sounding more like a regional Estate Agent or local solicitors. Formed as recently as 2015, Struga as they have rebranded themselves, won three promotions in four seasons to rise to the First League, where they have finished 10th, 3rd & 6th. Following their third place in 20/21, they played in the Europa Conference, but after a 1-1 draw in Latvia against FK Liepaja, they slumped to a 1-4 defeat in a match played in Skopje as their own Gradska Plaza Stadium, which has a stated capacity of 800, did not meet UEFA standards.
Struga is a popular tourist destination in the South-West of Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid with the Black Drin river flowing through the town. It has an estimated population of around 20,000 and is 60km from the border with Albania.
Struga possessed a 11-3-2 prior today to have a 5 point lead over KF Shkupi, who had played one game less. With only 10 goals conceded, Struga had the best defensive record, and their 26 goals scored was the second best in the division. Their two defeats came in consecutive away matches in October, going down 0-1 at Shkupi and 0-2 at FK Podeba, but they started today unbeaten in their last 5 games, winning the most recent three.
The most notable name in the Struga line-up was probably striker Besart Ibraimi, who has won 16 caps and once had a short spell at Schalke, as well as playing in Cyprus, Ukraine and Greece. He was the league’s joint top scorer with 9 goals. Midfielder Bunjamin Shabani has played in Finland, Albania, Kosovo and in Armenia for Shirak, and won one cap in October against Saudi Arabia when none of North Macedonia’s overseas based players were called-up. Defensive midfielder Zija Merxhani also won his only cap in that match.
Non-Macedonian’s in Struga’s starting XI were ex-Zeljeznicar Bosnian keeper Vedran Kjosevski, ex Cukaricki Serbian centre-back Sava Radic, Albanian defensive midfielder Miklovan Pere and Nigerian midfielder/wing-back Hogan Ukpa, who signed from FK Liepaja and played in both the Europa Conference matches against Struga.
FK Skopje were founded in 1960 and have spent most of their existence in the second tier of North Macedonian football, although they won Division 2 West in 1996/97 and 2020/21 to earn automatic promotion, and also won promotion play-offs in 2009/10 and 2016/17. In their first season back in the First League, Skopje finished 9th and won a relegation play-off 2-1 against Belasica to retain their elite status.
Home is the 3,000 capacity Zelezarnica Stadium, which is essentially a one-sided ground, with a small portion of seats covered, and the club’s nickname is The Pirates.
Skopje were bottom of the table with just two wins and 4 draws from 15 matches, and they had scored only 5 times. Their home form though was a respectable 2-3-2. Skopje started the season with just one victory in their opening 13 games ( 2-0 vs Podeba ) but were on a run of one defeat in four, and had registered a 2-1 win over Akademija Pandev, the academy established by North Macedonian legend Goran Pandev.
Skopje’s team for today’s matched featured 10 North Macedonians, with the one exception being Cameroon midfielder Paul-Henri Moussinga, who has played in the lower divisions in Denmark. Malian striker Seydou Kone was on the bench, and he has also played in Denmark
The journey from Struga to Skopje is approximately 170 kilometers and takes around three hours by road. The weather at the 13.00 local time kick-off was dry, with sunny spells, and the temperature was 11 degrees. The match was streamed live on the Football Federation of Macedonia website ( tv.ffm.mk ), which typically streams three games each round.
FK Skopje were in light blue shirts with black shirts, whilst Struga were in all read. The bookies made Struga 2/3 favourites, with Skopje at 17/4 and the draw at 2/1.
The team lists on the FA stream were in Cyrillic, although there were no names of the back of Skopje shirts and the names and sponsors names for Struga were in Roman script. The stand opposite the camera’s looked to have around 50 spectators at kick-off although fans were still trickling in during the opening 15 minutes.
The home side started brightly and won the first corner of the match after 6 minutes which came to nothing after a foul against the keeper was awarded, but two minutes late they created the game’s first chance. Dimov’s chip into the area put Nastevski clear but an appalling attempted side footed finish from 6 yards gave Kjosevski an easy save. A glorious chance was wasted and perhaps indicated why they had scored so few goals this season.
Struga gradually started to get a grip on a rutted pitch, which was increasingly getting muddy in places, with Bojku prominent as the visitors attempted to play passing football in difficult conditions. Radic was able to shoot on the turn but the effort was straight at keeper Mitev for a comfortable save, then Ibraimi sent a snap-shot from the edge of the area just wide.
With 17 minutes played a long ball found Ukpa in space on the right but after playing the ball into the area, Ibraimi was crowded out and eventually slipped to the floor. With Struga totally dominating possession at this stage, a cross from Ukpa was headed well over by Maleski.
Ibraimi was unlucky in the 26th minutes when his deflected shot from the left hit the post, and a minute late after a good move, Merxhani’s shot from the edge of the area hit Malevski, enabling keeper Mitev to dive on the loose ball.
In a rare excursion into the Struga area, a scramble ended with Omeragniks mis-kicking and the danger was cleared.
The last action of the half saw Struga have a big appeal for a penalty. Radic’s cross from the right was challenged for by both Skopje’s Curlinov and Merxhani who were both injured in the collision. The referee’s decision was no penalty.
With the score remaining level at the interval, Struga had looked the better side, but it felt like it would be a low scoring game with the pitch making chances difficult to create.
Just like the start to the first half, Skopje came out of the blocks quickly at the start of the second period as Ignatov, playing further forward, first blazed over the bar from 20 yards after a loose-pass was intercepted and played forward, and then a low bouncing 20 yarder from the same player was well held.
However, just like the first half, after weathering an initial storm, Struga looked the most likely side to break the deadlock. In the 51st minute Ibraimi fired a low shot across goal from tight angle on left and Bojku sent a long-range effort just over the bar.
The opening goal of the encounter finally arrived in the 57th minute as Struga took the lead. A flowing move involving Shabani and Ibraimi led to Maleski’s side-footed shot being deflected into the corner giving Mitev no chance.
If Struga thought they would then stroll to victory over the league’s bottom placed side then they received a shock in the 66th minute when Skopje were awarded a penalty. Kalpacki’s cross may have struck the arm of Ilieski but the decision looked soft. Ignatov wasn’t bothered by this though, and sent Kjosevski the wrong way from the spot to level the scores, to record only the 6th goal of the season for Skopje.
With their spirits raised, Skopje came close to adding a second goal a minute later but Moussinga’s cross was headed straight at the keeper by Bozinski from 15 yards.
With the game apparently opening up, Struga immediately got the ball into Skopje’s area and Meleski went down under a challenge from Dimov, but the referee was probably unimpressed by Maleski’s rolling around and allowed play to continue.
Under just over 7 minutes remaining Skopje launched a free-kick into the mixer, and after a bit of a scramble, the ball fell to substitute Hajdari whose effort curled just wide of post. With the clock ticking Struga became desperate to claim a winning goal to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Ibraimi’s shot on the turn from the edge of the area went over, then a dangerous cross from the left from Merxhani was headed clear.
With time up, Struga won a free-kick 25 yards out, but Ibraimi’s attempt was straight at the keeper, then in the second minute of added on time, Ibraimi’s header across the face of the area was met by Ilieski, who produced a defender’s finish, sending the ball horribly wide.
The final whistle signed the start of the winter break for the Macedonian First League and Struga would have been disappointed to have dropped points against the league’s back markers. As a result, their lead at the top ahead of FK Shkupi had been reduced to three points from one game more, but the unlikely league leaders would probably have settled for that before a ball had been kicked. Skopje remained bottom, but now only a point behind Akademija Pandev from a game less.
FK Skopje : Mitev – Ignatov ( Kone ), Curlinov, Najdoski, Bozinoksi – Moussinga, Kalpacki, Mecinovic, Dimov – Nastevski ( Mitrevski ), Omeragikj ( Hajdari )
FC Struga Trim& Lum: Kjosevski – Radic, Pere ( Kocoski ), Ilieski – Ukpa, Bosku, Kasami, Shabani, Merxhani – Maleski ( Jusufi ), Ibraimi
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a7flbSliao
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