Anif Surge Past Hallwang in Seven-Goal Thriller to Deepen Relegation Fears
As the afternoon sun cast its long shadows across the pitch at Sportplatz Hallwang, the mood in Salzburg’s northern outpost was one of brittle defiance. Hallwang, marooned at the bottom of the Landesliga, took the field against fourteenth-placed Anif chasing only their second win in eleven matches—a statistic that has come to define their harrowing autumn. Yet, by full-time, it was Anif who left with renewed hope, their 5-2 away victory signaling not just three points, but perhaps the beginnings of a way out of the league’s lower reaches.
It was a contest that never wanted for drama, pace, or the sense that a season’s trajectory might pivot in its wake. Hallwang, desperate to shake off the memory of last week’s 0-5 defeat at Thalgau, deployed a high line from the first whistle, pressing in numbers and challenging Anif to play out from the back. For a flickering moment, their gamble paid off; a sharp interception on the right wing saw Hallwang’s veteran midfielder carve into space and deliver a crisp cross, finding striker Florian Leitner for a close-range finish on 13 minutes. Hallwang, against the run of their recent history, led early.
But if Anif have been battered by inconsistency—alternating lopsided wins and dispiriting losses in recent weeks—their offensive firepower is undeniable. They responded with composure and, crucially, with goals. On 21 minutes, Anif’s own talisman, Maximilian Kofler, equalized, finishing off a surging counter-attack with a low drive beneath the Hallwang keeper. Barely five minutes later, the visitors struck again, this time via a clever set-piece, with defender Julian Auer rising above a tangle of bodies to nod home a corner. The 2-1 turnaround in under 30 minutes drew a stunned hush from the stands.
The match’s turning point, however, was still to come. Hallwang, already struggling to contain Anif’s fast-breaking wingers, suffered a blow when center back Sebastian Meier was shown red for a last-man foul just before the break. Down to ten men, Hallwang’s resistance began to crack.
The second half saw Anif exploit their numerical advantage with ruthless efficiency. Quick, incisive passing found gaps in the depleted Hallwang back line, and in the 53rd minute, Kofler claimed his second, sweeping home a low cross from the left. Anif’s confidence surged. By the hour mark, the scoreline ballooned further—midfielder Luka Petrovic adding his name to the scoresheet after a slick one-two at the edge of the box left the Hallwang defense chasing shadows.
To their credit, Hallwang refused to fade quietly into the evening. A rare spell of possession on 68 minutes produced a powerful header from substitute David Hofer, cutting the deficit to 4-2 and momentarily raising hopes of a late rally. But Anif swiftly answered, extinguishing any flicker of a comeback as Kofler completed his hat trick on 75 minutes, arriving at the far post to bury a driven cross and settle the result at 5-2.
For Hallwang, the afternoon was cruelly familiar. A string of recent defeats—conceding five at Thalgau, falling by two at home to Hallein, and suffering through a three-match losing streak before that—has left them anchored to sixteenth place with just three points from eleven matches. Their solitary win, a tense 3-2 against Union Henndorf over a month ago, now seems a distant memory. The gap to safety widens; what promise the campaign once held is now clouded by the specter of relegation.
Anif, meanwhile, are beginning to find their rhythm in attack. Fresh off a resounding 6-0 rout of Anthering, they have now scored eleven goals in two matches—a remarkable tally that vaults them to eleven points, offering breathing room in the survival battle. Their recent stumbles—the heavy loss at Salzburger AK, and defeats to Grödig and Puch—are not easily forgotten, but today’s result marks a critical inflection point.
The head-to-head history has favored Anif in recent years, with Hallwang rarely able to unsettle them, and today’s evidence underscored that trend. Anif’s blend of youthful energy and clinical finishing exposed the fault lines in Hallwang’s system, especially in the game’s chaotic second half.
As the season approaches its midpoint, the stakes grow with each fixture. For Anif, the momentum from this emphatic win must be harnessed if they are to pull away from the bottom three and reclaim a foothold in the league’s midfield. For Hallwang, each week now carries the weight of survival. Unless they can shore up their defense and rediscover the confidence that has so often deserted them, the road ahead will only grow steeper. The urgency is plain: in the Landesliga’s relentless autumn, there is little time left for second chances.