Lovćen Steals Victory at the Death: Late Strike Sinks Iskra in Second League Stunner at Stadion Braća Velašević

By the time the dusk had stretched its shadow across Stadion Braća Velašević, the match between Iskra and Lovćen seemed destined for a draw—another cautious chapter in Iskra’s steady but unspectacular push toward Montenegro’s Second League summit. Instead, with the clock ticking into its 90th minute, Lovćen, a side battered by recent defeats and league obscurity, found the clarity and composure their hosts so plainly lacked. One final foray, one fatal lapse, and the visitors erupted in celebration: Lovćen 1, Iskra 0.

For Lovćen, whose season has traced an uneasy line between frustration and futility, this was more than just three points. It was a reclamation of pride, a hint of revival—snatching victory at the very ground where Iskra had built its reputation as one of the league’s most stubborn, least forgiving hosts.

A Tense, Cautious Struggle

The afternoon unfolded in tight, nervous patterns. Iskra, perched fifth in the standings, entered the match with the look of a team in control of its own destiny, unbeaten in its last five and determined to keep the chase for promotion alive. Lovćen, languishing in eighth, carried the weight of three straight 0-1 defeats—its ambitions already frayed, its confidence fragile.

Iskra pressed in fits and starts, their buildup methodical rather than inspired. In the 19th minute, a probing run down the right produced the first significant threat, drawing a sprawling save from Lovćen’s keeper. Lovćen, meanwhile, kept their discipline, wary of conceding space, content to wait for Iskra’s growing impatience to crack the script open for them.

Neither side found rhythm in the final third. Iskra’s forward line—so often the architects of late drama this season—was blunted by Lovćen’s deep-lying defense. The match settled into a midfield battle, punctuated by half-chances: a flashed header here, a misfired volley there. The tension simmered, neither side willing to risk more than the bare minimum.

The Game-Changing Moment

It took until the 90th minute for caution to finally give way. A Lovćen counterattack, born from a loose Iskra pass inside their own half, unfolded rapidly. Surging down the left, Lovćen’s wide player exploited indecision in the Iskra back line, threading a precise low cross to the far post. With Iskra’s defense scrambling, Lovćen’s forward—whose name, as if matching the mystery of the moment, eluded the record books—arrived unmarked to sweep the ball home.

The stadium fell silent except for a pocket of visiting supporters, whose wild relief told the story: a side that had not tasted victory since September 14 had stunned one of the league’s most consistent teams, and done so in the cruelest possible fashion.

Implications for the League Table

That single swing of the boot reverberated through the Second League standings. Iskra, previously well-positioned with 17 points from ten matches (4W-5D-1L), missed the chance to cement its place among the promotion contenders and instead remains locked in a cluster of teams separated by the thinnest of margins. Their recent run—unbeaten since mid-September, with late winners against Rudar and Otrant-Olympic—finds its first blemish. For the first time in over a month, Iskra failed to find the late magic that has underpinned its rise.

Lovćen, by contrast, moves to 13 points, offering breathing room in the bottom half of the table and a lifeline after three consecutive 1-0 losses. The psychological weight of those defeats—falling by the narrowest possible margins against Mladost Lješkopolje, Igalo, and Kom—was lifted with a single strike.

A Rivalry Renewed

Today’s result flips the script on their last meeting, a 2-1 Iskra win in August, in which Lovćen was outgunned in the second half. The shift underscores the unpredictability of their rivalry; both fixtures this season have now been decided by solitary goals in the final half-hour, each producing a different hero—and a different heartbreak. If hints of ill temper or controversy defined earlier clashes, today’s affair was remarkable for its discipline: no red cards, no boiling over, just the ever-present threat that one moment might tilt the balance.

What Comes Next

For Iskra, the road ahead demands a response. The promise of promotion remains alive—built on a foundation of defensive grit and last-minute heroics—but the sting of this defeat will linger. Their ability to recover, especially as the campaign tightens and every point demands ever more resolve, will determine whether today’s setback becomes a blip or a turning point.

Lovćen, emboldened by this hard-won victory, will see new purpose in the weeks ahead. With their faith in late drama restored, and their margin for error slightly wider, they have a chance to claw back relevance in a season that threatened to slip beyond reach.

For both clubs, the Second League’s long and winding road continues. But on this autumn evening in Danilovgrad, it was Lovćen who seized the spotlight—if only for a moment, if only by the narrowest of margins.