SVWW narrow defeat to Champions in season finale
Pros |
There were to be no points for SV Wehen Wiesbaden away to SSV Jahn Regensburg. The Red & Blacks were beaten 1-0 in an even encounter, with Erik Wekesser's 52nd-minute strike proving the difference between the teams in front of 7,600 spectators at the Regensburg Arena.
Head coach Rüdiger Rehm handed winter signing Sidney Friede his first chance to prove himself in the Bundesliga 2. The 21-year-old replaced Stefan Aigner – who sustained a muscle injury in the VfL Bochum clash a week ago – in the starting XI.
Both teams threw caution to the wind in an attacking opening phase, but it was Regensburg who looked the more vigilant of the two teams in the first 10 minutes. SVWW, meanwhile, repeatedly caused themselves problems with stray passes in their own half. One such incident presented Jahn with their first golden chance to take the lead in the eighth minute, although Andreas Albers tried one twist and turn too many and captain Sebastian Mrowca was able to block his effort from five metres.
The Red & Blacks sought to hit back immediately with Friede sending a beautiful diagonal ball into the path of Tobias Schwede, but his attempt in the 13th minute went narrowly wide of the Jahn Regensburg goal. That opportunity seemed to bring Rüdiger Rehm's charges to life and, only three minutes later, they appeared to have taken the lead when Manuel Schäffler put the ball past Alexander Meyer. The celebrations were short-lived, however; the video assistant referee disallowed the goal, deeming Schäffler to have been a matter of millimetres offside.
The Red & Blacks continued to apply pressure – albeit without creating more clear-cut chances – while keeping it tight at the back and giving nothing away. But while they enjoyed more of the possession, a lull in the game followed and set-pieces – a tried-and-tested method for SVWW over the course of the past few weeks – were the closest they came to scoring before the break. Meyer turned a free-kick by Daniel-Kofi Kyereh over the crossbar on 38 minutes and Jahn cleared the resultant corner thanks to a team effort.
But despite having had the upper hand, SVWW almost went in a goal down at the interval. Jahn captain Andreas Geipl tested Heinz Lindner from 25 metres in the second minute of stoppage time, though the Austrian parried it behind for a corner to keep the scores level.
The second period began in a similar vein to the first, with Regensburg again making the better start and looking the livelier side in the opening stages. Only five minutes had been played when SVWW custodian Lindner was first called into action, though the Austrian intervened in spectacular fashion to turn an Albers header from a corner-kick over the bar. Two minutes later, however, he was powerless to prevent the opener. Max Besuschkow played a diagonal ball into the path of Albers and he squared it towards Erik Wekesser, who was left with a simple finish into an empty net to put the hosts ahead.
Rehm's charges were left reeling by the goal and posed little attacking threat in the following minutes. The biggest danger to the Regensburg goal came from Correia, one of their own defenders, in the 66th minute – although Meyer made a comfortable save to thwart the danger.
SVWW boss Rehm made some attacking substitutions in the final half-hour, introducing Phillip Tietz, Nicklas Shipnoski and Törles Knöll for Friede, Mrowca and Dittgen respectively. Jahn continued to remained vigilant and confidently kept possession of the ball, but it was not until a while later that the Bavarians next threatened themselves. They made a dangerous incursion into the SVWW penalty area in the 88th minute, although Nicolas Wähling narrowly missed George's square ball to the back post.
SVWW showed spirit, refusing to throw in the towel and throwing everything forward in stoppage time. Cross after cross flew into the home side's penalty area. But Kyereh's attempt from the edge of the penalty area in the 92nd minute took a deflection off an opponent, as did Schäffler's near-post header 60 seconds later. It was Knöll who had the best chance to level in the fifth minute of stoppage time, however, the striker rolling the ball centimetres wide after receiving a lovely ball from Shipnoski. George had a shot well kept out by Lindner at the other end seconds later.
It remained a tense affair right until the final whistle, with Kyereh trying his luck from long range with virtually the last kick of the game in the 96th minute. That, though, was not enough to rescue a point.
SVWW: Lindner – Mrowca (Shipnoski, 81), Mockenhaupt, Dams, Röcker, Schwede –Chato – Kyereh, Friede (Tietz, 67), Dittgen (Knöll, 87) – Schäffler