BRATISLAVA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- After winning the first leg against MFK Dukla Banska Bystrica 2-1, a 1-1 in the second leg on Friday secured FK Senica a spot in the next season of Slovakia's Fortuna Liga.
After scoring both goals in the first leg against the second division runners-up, Tomas Malec also netted for Zilina in the second leg, capitalizing on a rebound in the 41st minute after David Guba made it past a defender and launched a shot at Banska Bystrica's goal.
The second half was dominated by the home team, with the visitors trying to produce the occasional fast break, but nothing serious resulted out of their efforts.
Things got a bit more interesting one minute before the end of regulation time, when Banska Bystrica defender Lubos Kupcik headed in from a free-kick, scoring his first goal of the season. One more goal by the visitors would have pushed the game into extra-time and eventually a penalty shootout, but time ran out and Senica celebrated a successful rescue mission.
"It was hard and the pressure was immense. We were missing a couple of key players but the team stuck together and won. We could have averted the relegation battle altogether earlier in the season but we lost a couple of matches we shouldn't have," said Senica coach Karol Prazenica after the crucial victory. Enditem
