Kult & Punk: Petric saves a point for Hamburg

Kult and Punk make it from their bar stools in time to post this blog. Probably not, however, when we find the provenance of this report we will attribute it as soon as possible. So, here is their (more than likely) nicked report of the port city derby.

FC St Pauli 1 HSV Hamburg 1

A stunning late strike from Mladen Petric salvaged a draw for Hamburger SV in their first trip to city rivals FC St. Pauli in almost eight years.

Following a closely-matched affair in both halves, Fabian Boll looked to have secured the points for the home side when he fired home on 77 minutes, but Croatian international Petric's dipping volley ensured the visitors left with a share of the spoils

With AC/DC blaring from the speakers, the teams emerged to a cauldron of support at the sold-out Millerntor, and it was the hosts who began the more positively as Fabian Boll tried his luck from distance, his right foot strike sailing high and wide. HSV keeper Frank Rost was forced into his first save just a few minutes later from Rouwen Hennings' header.

Chances few and far between

The home side first came under threat when Bastian Oczipka lost possession to Jonathan Pitroipa on half way. The Burkina Faso winger sprinted to the by-line, but his low cross was heroically cleared by Markus Thorandt with Ruud van Nistelrooy awaiting. Surprise starter Tomas Rincon sent a low long-range effort into the side netting shortly before the break, but in truth it was the fans who had provided the major highlight of the first half with their infernal cheering.

The teams remained unchanged for the second period and true to form chances remained at a premium. Ze Roberto's corner caused a brief moment of confusion at the back for St. Pauli, while at the other end visiting goalkeeper Rost was almost caught out with the ball at his feet by Hennings. Deniz Naki was then sent through twice, but first Rincon and then Rost were on hand to avert the danger.

Petric levels the scores

With the hosts at least looking the more likely, Ebbers' low cross from the left was sent narrowly wide by Carsten Rothenbach on 75 minutes for what was the first real chance of the half. The pressure continued, and the right-back was celebrating with the rest of the Millerntor just two minutes later as the unmarked Boll fired in from the edge of the box after being teed up by substitute Gerald Asamoah to put Pauli in front.

Their joy was short-lived. With just two minutes to go Croatian international Mladen Petric controlled a loose ball 25 yards from goal before firing an exquisite left-foot volley into the far corner to maintain HSV's unbeaten start to the season and avoid a first defeat to their cross-city rivals in 33 years.

Pauli: Kessler - Rothenbach, Zambrano, Thorandt, Oczipka - Lehmann, Boll - Bruns (Bartels 67'), Hennings (Asamoah 74'), Naki (M. Kruse 84') - Ebbers

HSV: Rost - Rincon, Westermann, Mathijsen, Jansen - Jarolim (Trochowski 80'), Ze Roberto - Pitroipa, Guerrero (Petric 62'), Elia (Choupo-Moting 80') - van Nistelrooy

Goals: 1-0 Boll (77), 1-1 Petric (88')

Attendance at the Millerntor: 23,794 (sold-out)

We understand the report was taking in full from the official Budasliga translated website, thanks chaps.