After more than 3 months of the winter break, the First League matches resume tomorrow. 15 more rounds and a champion will be crowned in May – which team will finish first?
Current leaders Vardar take on Teteks for their first competitive match of 2012. Vardar had a solid preparations period in Antalya, Turkey where they recorded good results in friendly matches. Right before the start of the second half, one of the club’s most important players in Vlatko Grozdanoski left and transferred to China, but Vardar has enough depth to cover for his loss. Vardar will play the game against Teteks at the Boris Trajkovski Stadium in Madzari since the Phillip II Arena is still not available, and is considered a firm favorite to win this match.
Second placed Metalurg visits Kratovo in their quest to stay in the race with Vardar for first place. Metalurg did not travel abroad for winter preparations, instead they stayed in Macedonia and played several friendlies in Ohrid. The club lost leading goalscorer Baze Ilijoski, who moved to Romania, but added young attackers Ilija Nestorovski and Hristijan Dimoski. Metalurg has a good track record against Sileks but this should be one of the more interesting encounters in the round.
Bregalnica hosts Shkendija in Stip looking to repeat the success they had against the Tetovo based club in the Macedonian Cup when Bregalnica eliminated Shkendija by winning 2:0 in front of their fans. Bregalnica compiled good results in their recent friendly matches and the squad looks pretty similar from the first half campaign. The club was in fine form to conclude the first half and will look to carry that into the second half of the season. Meanwhile, Shkendija lost several key players in Ferhan Hasani, Mensur Kurtisi, Nebi Mustafi plus the long-term injured player Muhamed Huseini. They are currently in third place – a spot that leads to Europa League qualifications, but the club is having some inner problems with management which the players will be looking to forget once they get on the pitch tomorrow to resume the season.
In the other end of the table, Napredok will host Rabotnicki in a match that will surely attract lot of attention in Kicevo. Napredok always seems to play well at home but have a bad memory when it comes to recent matches against Rabotnicki. Napredok, more or less, kept their squad from the first half while Rabotnicki has many changes including a new coach in Slovenian Robert Pevnik.
Ohrid, who changed many players in the squad, will host second from bottom Horizont Turnovo. The current Ohrid squad looks nothing like the one that played in the first half of the season with around 10 players having left the club and the same number of players joining the club. It will be interesting to see how the many changes affect the club’s performance. Finally, in the 6th match of the round, Renova will take on last placed 11 Oktomvri in Tetovo.
Sunday:
Boris Trajkovski stadium in Skopje, 14.00 CET
Vardar v Teteks
Referee: Marjan Markoski (Ohrid)
Gradski stadium in Stip, 14.00 CET
Bregalnica v Shkendija
Referee: Dimitar Meckarovski (Skopje)
Sileks stadium in Kratovo, 14.00 CET
Sileks v Metalurg
Referee: Zoran Temelkov (Kavadarci)
SRC Atina Bojadzi in Ohrid, 14.00 CET
Ohrid v Horizont Turnovo
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (Skopje)
Gradski stadium in Tetovo, 14.00 CET
Renova v 11 Oktomvri
Referee: Petar Mantev (Negotino)
Gradski stadium in Kicevo, 14.00 CET
Napredok v Rabotnicki
Referee: Zoran Petkovski (Veles)