The third competitive clash between Zora and Balšić in 1927 ended in a 3-0 defeat, but this time, at least, on the field. In the match for the Podgorica champion played on October 2, in the first round of the SNP autumn championship, the civic club celebrated with goals Ahmet Mujadzevic (2) and It's possible. Finally, the judge has been "found": Nikola Latkovic, later president of the Cetinje Football Sub-Association, was “excellent”.
The following year would bring new excitement for the two Podgorica clubs. In the spring part of the SNP championship - "spring" is only conditional, because the match on February 12, 1928, was played in "indescribable cold, it rained the whole time, and the pitch was covered in water and mud" - Balšić defeated Zora 3:1.
Once again, Mujadžević scored two goals, and he also shook the workers' club's net. Mustafa Cafo Hodzic, while for the losing team the scorer was Luka BulatovićWe should take both available reports from the match, published in Jadranska pošta and Pravda, with a dose of reserve and doubt about their objectivity.
"Zora played quite technically at the beginning of the game, but when she saw that she had conceded two goals in less than 15 minutes, she used physics instead of technique, which also did not help her and they have to thank the bad weather for saving them from a big result," reports Jovan P. Vukcevic.
“Everyone at the winner’s was mediocre,” reads Pravda, while at Zora the most notable were “the rather ruthless [Bećir] Abdomerović and the goalkeeper [Musaja] Celebicic, who saved some very difficult balls”.
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The next duel between the two city rivals organized by Podsavez, held as part of the so-called "Olympic Day" on May 3, 1928, ended in a 1:1 draw, and is interesting because it can reflect the atmosphere in which Podgorica derbies were played.
"The Podgorica audience has one flaw, and that is great impatience in waiting for the results," writes Jovan P. Vukčević.
"The terrible shouting spread across the field, so much so that the players lost interest in the game itself, which caused disagreements between the players towards the end of the game, and these disagreements instantly turned into a fight."
Between the lines, one can read that the fans of the workers' club followed the match quite noisily and passionately. It is obvious whose side the reporter is on, who warns that "if this kind of shouting continues" - and according to him, the management of Zora is also joining in the chaos - "Podgorica will lose such a beautiful, best and oldest, and in a word, the most beloved club in the entire Zeta region, and Balšić must be given credit for that."
Balšić was the one who had to admit defeat to Zora in their new meeting on October 7, 1928 (1:0), which would turn out to be the final mutual "on points".
How the result was reported in the civic sports section of Podgorica is suggested by the headline “Balšić - Zora 0:1???!” - yes, with exactly that many punctuation marks - from Pravda, whose reporter Vlado Mitrović writes about the surprising and undeserved victory of the guests, and "a considerable regret not only for Podgorica but for the whole of Montenegro, because Balšić most often knew how to win over impartial football fans with his fine, appealing play." How much impartiality there was in the article itself is up to the reader to judge.
With the victory over Balšić, Zora stepped out of Podgorica's confines for the first time and advanced to the final match of the “Montenegrin Championship.” The opponent was their political comrade Lovćen, who won 3:2 in the match held on October 21, 1928 in Podgorica.
The match itself was quite lively. By the 6th minute, the guests had scored two goals. By halftime, Zora had equalized, and then had the opportunity to completely turn the score around from the penalty spot. Which did not happen. Gojko Mitrović hit the post from 11 meters, and the rebound went over the crossbar, to which “a Zora supporter sent the same ball into the net at cinematic speed.” The audience, i.e. Zora supporters, had a general mood, shouting goal, goal... (Caps, hats, sticks, etc. were thrown in the air[.]).”
There was no shortage of fun and humorous incidents, it seems. Lovćen decided the game with a goal scored two minutes before the end. The curtain was lowered: it was Zora's last competitive match.
(From the monograph “Proud Past, One Future”, which will be on sale soon)
Bonus video:
