Stalemate at Sportski Center A. Kozlina: Unbeaten Zeleznicar Inđija Held in Frustrating Draw by Resolute FK Veternik

On an autumn afternoon at Sportski Center A. Kozlina, FK Veternik delivered a display of disciplined resilience, denying table-topping Zeleznicar Inđija their seventh victory of the campaign in a tense 0-0 draw that spoke as much to the hosts’ newfound resolve as to the visitors’ uncharacteristic inefficacy in the final third.

October rarely brings ease to Veternik, a side that has labored in the lower rungs of the Srpska Liga - Vojvodina this season. Yet, the twelfth-placed hosts, still licking their wounds from a narrow defeat at OFK Bačka just a week prior, found in this match a platform for collective defiance. Zeleznicar Inđija, having steamrolled their last two opponents by an aggregate score of 7-1, arrived with a perfect league record in their sights and bristling with expectation.

From the opening whistle, Zeleznicar asserted authority—possession, territory, and ambition firmly on their side. Their midfield, led by an industrious Luka Milojević, probed and prodded, looking to pierce Veternik’s disciplined two banks of four. Inđija’s frontman Nemanja Stević, whose brace had sunk Kikinda last week, hovered around the penalty area, but space was at a premium. Veternik’s defensive line, marshalled by captain Marko Jovanović, remained compact, rarely straying from their assigned posts.

The game’s first real moment of danger arrived in the 18th minute, as Stević wriggled past his marker and lashed a low shot that forced a sprawling save from Veternik’s keeper, Aleksandar Petrović. The crowd, small but spirited, roared their approval—a rare show of optimism for the home side, who had failed to find the net in three of their previous four outings.

For all Zeleznicar’s pressure, Veternik’s threat on the counter was palpable. In the 29th minute, winger Dušan Pavlović broke free along the right and delivered a teasing cross that found striker Nikola Tomić lurking at the back post. Tomić’s header, however, was tipped over the bar by Zeleznicar’s alert goalkeeping veteran, Bojan Simić, preserving the deadlock.

Tackles flew with increasing ferocity as the match wore on. The referee’s card remained pocketed until the 40th minute, when a cynical lunge by Zeleznicar’s holding midfielder, Ivan Petrović, halted what looked a promising Veternik break. The booking was met with howls from the benches, but it did little to unsettle either side’s tactical posture. By halftime, neither team had managed to seize full control.

The second half was a study in frustration for the visitors. Zeleznicar, perhaps unaccustomed to such dogged resistance, ramped up the urgency. Their best chance came on the hour mark, when a lofted free kick found central defender Marko Ristić unmarked inside the six-yard box. His header, however, clattered off the crossbar—an audible gasp swept the stadium, the kind that signals both relief and disbelief.

Veternik’s own moments in attack were fleeting but purposeful. Twice, midfielder Nemanja Popović threatened with speculative efforts from distance, testing Simić but failing to break the impasse. As the minutes ticked away, both benches made tactical changes—the hosts injecting fresh legs in defense; the visitors throwing on an extra forward, a hint of desperation entering their usually measured play.

In the 81st minute, the temperature rose further when substitute Aleksa Stanković’s surging run was halted just outside the box, earning Zeleznicar a dangerous free kick. Milojević’s curling effort, destined for the top corner, was turned away by Petrović at full stretch in what proved to be the save of the afternoon.

Neither side could find a winner, and when the referee’s final peep echoed through the Kozlina, it was met less by jubilation or despair than by a sense of weary respect.

For Veternik, this point is a hard-earned prize—an affirmation that, when organized and committed, they can frustrate even the league’s frontrunners. With eight points from eight matches, they remain on the edge of the relegation zone, but a second draw in three games offers a glimmer of stability amid a turbulent autumn.

For Zeleznicar Inđija, the draw is a reminder of football’s caprices. Their record—still unbeaten—keeps them atop the Srpska Liga - Vojvodina with 20 points, but the cushion narrows. Their prolific attack, so ruthless in previous fixtures, saw its momentum blunted by a disciplined opponent. Yet, their ability to control matches and create chances remains undoubted; new questions, however, will be asked about their efficiency in breaking down low blocks.

This fixture, rarely so closely contested in recent memory, might well echo into the season’s latter stages. If Zeleznicar’s bid for promotion is to be realized, matches such as these will serve both as warning and instruction. For Veternik, the formula for survival may have been discovered on a chilly October afternoon: A refusal to yield, a willingness to scrap, and, above all, belief in the sum of the collective.

Both clubs—at opposite ends of the table—departed with a solitary point and much to ponder. For the leaders, a reminder that dominance must be earned each week. For the underdogs, a sign that with grit and order, upsets are always possible. The long Serbian autumn rolls on.