The second time happened in 2012. Opponent at that time: Red Bull Salzburg. With Martin Hinteregger, Soriano. Or a Niko Kovac as an assistant coach on the bench. “Back then we set up extendable grandstands, 4,500 fans were there,” Hartberg veteran Kurt Riedl remembers a bitter, broken shot from a certain Jakob Jantscher, who maneuvered the Bulls into the final at the time. In 2012 Riedl, club secretary since 1997, went through heaven and hell with his club. “In terms of sport, it was actually a catastrophe year, since we would have been relegated last in the second division.” Then the victory over Sturm and the leap into the cup semifinals – as well as the unexpected, successful relegation against GAK (which ended in scandal) after the LASK failed the license.
