Duinnewassel

In reply to Glenrothes Saintee, Trnava did indeed lose 2-0 to their near neighbours, Trencin. This, by the way, is the team that held Hull to a scoreless drawn in Slovakia. Trnava fielded much the same team as played against StJ at McD. However, the most interesting and encouraging news was that Trnava conceded the second goal in the last minute. A repeat performance on Thursday and there will be "dancing in the streets of Saint Johnstone".

I did, of course, forget to mention the Euro 200,000 for a win and Euro 100,000 for draw. The UEFA website gives a complete break down of the revenue for each team in the mini-League stage of last year's competition. The revenue for the teams, which finished last in their Group (our worst case scenario) was far higher than the basic Euro 130,000. In addition, there is the extra reveune that will accrue from the sale of half-time sandwiches and tea.

St Johnstone is just one win, two draws and a penalty shoot-out away from the biggest prize in its history. The UEFA mini-League will guarantee Saints a minimum Euro 1.3 million. There are other large bonuses for wins and draws but just focus for a moment on that Euro 1.3 from UEFA. That would mean, we had no need to sell our players,including May and we could strengthen our current squad for an assault on the SPL and the retention of the Scottish Cup. If we turn Spartak over in Zlate Moravce, we will probably face a play-off against a team that has just been dumped uncerimoniously out of the Champions League pre-qualifying round. A team with a fine pedigree but poor current form. The mini leagure format might be a stage too far but what an experience and what riches await the club. The chairman and manager will have this very much on their minds as the team heads out to Slovakia. One win, two draws and a penalty shoot-out. That's all it takes

The Spartak website (www.spartak.sk) has advised their supporters that tickets for the return match in Zlate Moravce are already on sale at the club shop initially to their season ticket holders. Next week, Spartak will release tickets to non-season ticket holders and again these will be available from the club shop and authorised outlets. The top price is Euro 10 (ten). Please note, however, that these tickets are on sale only in Trnava. Any remaining tickets will be sold in Zlate Moravce only on the day of the match, Thursday 7 August. Spartak's website confirms that tickets will be available for Sections B1 and B2, which had been closed for the previous match by order of UEFA's Disciplinary Committee. There is no specfic reference made to the sale of tickets to away fans. Neither does the press release refer to the number of tickets nor the section(s) of the stadium reserved for away fans. This means that Saints fans, who wish to travel to the match in Zlate Moravce and who do not receive tickets from STJ in Perth would have to travel first to Trnava or take the risk of travelling to Zlate Moravce on the day of the match in the hope of obtaining briefs at the stadium. Please note that the ticket office in Z M may only be open for a limited period of time and it is not clear from the statement if cash will be accepted at the turnstiles (presumably not). Saints fans who plan to be in Slovakia on Wednesday could travel by bus or train to Trnava and purchase tickets there and stay overnight there or in Nitra, which is closer to Z M. On a separate but related matter, there appears to be no bus or train departing from Z M at the end of the match, which may be extended by extra time and penalties. Either the Club or the official fan club should contact Spartak to establish how many tickets will be made available to away fans - in addition to those already being supplied to the club for its official party. Most probably, the final answer will depnd on the outcome of Thursday's encounter. By any chance is anyone heading Z M via Katowice or Krakow? I had intended to take the train from Poland to Bratislava. If there was a small group, the best option might be to hire a car and drive straight down via Zilina to Trnava and the book a hotel in Nitra. This would make travel much easier and would ensure we could get back to the hotel in Ntra or Bratislava regardless of when the match finishes.

Thank you for your detailed input. This is most helpful as there is little info available about ZM. Is the Yellow Express (Zlty expres) the best way of travelling from Bratislava to Nitra? Also, I understand that the Yellow Express does may make a couple of stops at Zlate Moravce but as this is a long-distance bus service, it may not be able to take many fans at any one time. Is there another bus company operating on the ZM / Nitra route to Bratislava? Nitra is bigger than Trnava and has a good selection of accommodation, restaurants and pubs. It might also be a safer place to celebrate a Saints' victory than Trnava or Bratislava. The Spartak website archive dated 20 July seems to indicate that tickets for the Zestafoni match went ofn sale first in Trnava before tickets were then sent to the stadium at Z M. Would Saints fans be able to purchase tickets in Z M on the day of the match? Thank you in advance for any information you can supply.

Next stop is the small Slovak Town of Zlate Moravce with a population of 13,800. Spartak Trnava's own stadium is under reconstruction, so they are playing League and Europa League matches at this alternative venue. The stadium holds 3,800 only and tonight UEFA closed two sections due to previous unruly behaviour. The Disciplinary Committee will review this after they receive the report on tonight's game from the official UEFA observer. Although not too far from either Trnava or Bratislava, there appears to be limited bus or train connections from either of these locations. Nearest train station with a regular services would appear to be Nitra, about 13 km away. Spartak Trnava's website has some pictures and film of this compact stadium. It might be a squeeze trying to pack in the same number of away fans as travelled to Luzern.

UEFA webpage ( www.uefa.com) does a reasonable job reporting on all of tonight's matches with an update about every minute.The left-hanf column gives instant updates from all around the grounds but if you scroll down the righthand column, you will come to the Saints game. Click on that and you will be a full update on the match as it progresses. Far better than anything currently on the BBC website. At present, Aberdenn are two up (0-2 away from home) and Trnava re leading 1-0 at home. :

It is possible that the away match on Thursday 7th of August would not be played at the Spartak stadium in Trnava but at a small ground in a place called Zlate Moravce. Spartak's stadium is undergoing major repairs and they have had to reschedule their Europa League fixtures to Zlate Moravce, which has a capacity of only 3,800. This is where Spartak are playing the return leg of the tie against their Georgian opponents this Thursday. Further details are available on the Spartak Trnava website (Slovak only). Please also note that UEFA has closed two sections of this stadium for this Thursday's match. UEFA will monitor the behaviour of the Spartak fans and will then decide if further action is required. Please refer to the UEFA website and search under Disciplinary Committee.. When checking for connections from Bratislava or Trnava to Zlate Moravce, I found there was a total of 4 buses (four) per day from Trnava none of which operated after the match finishes at 21.30. This would cause a few logistical problems if the match on the 7th were indeed to be held at Zlate Moravce.The Spartak website has a diagram of the stadium in Zlate Moravce and I think there is also some film of it on the same website. Almost all the Slovak teams round about Trnava (Slovan, Trecin, Zilina and Kosice) are involved in the qualifying rounds of the European competitions, so it is unlikely Spartak will be able to loan one of the stadia from their local rivals. I emailed this information to the club on Sunday and asked them to alert fans to the possible change of venue. .