SVWW narrow defeat to Champions in season finale
Pros |
There was an unusual format and setting for SV Wehen Wiesbaden's first mid-season friendly, which consisted of four lots of 30 minutes and was played against FC St. Pauli during the training camp in Spain. The match at the Oliva Nova Sports Centre ultimately ended in a 5-2 loss (0-0, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1).
SVWW made a bright start to the match, with Gökhan Gül hitting a free-kick from 22 metres in the fourth minute that would have had FCSP keeper Robin Himmelmann scrambling had it been any closer. St. Pauli themselves threatened for the first time a short while later but they too ultimately could not find the net.
An SVWW attempt that was saved by Himmelmann on the 15-minute mark was followed by two opportunities for St. Pauli: first Becker in the 17th minute and then Friede had a volley blocked 60 seconds later.
SVWW did not make any personnel changes ahead of the second quarter and it continued to be a hard-fought contest. The opponents from Hamburg did break the deadlock in the 40th minute, however, when Tashchy skilfully brought down a long ball and left Lindner no chance with the finish. Manuel Schäffler might have brought his side back into the game after 45 minutes when he met a cross from the right flank on the volley, but the ball fizzed a matter of inches over the crossbar – as did Rico Benatelli's shot seven minutes later.
There was a raft of personnel changes at the break as head coach Rüdiger Rehm switched up the entire team with the exception of Giona Leibold. And once again it was FC St. Pauli who got the goal, with Henk Veerman latching onto a cross and firing an unstoppable effort past Watkowiak to make it 2-0 in the 70th minute.
But then, halfway through the third quarter, Phillip Tietz scored his first goal of the training camp, the 22-year-old confidently dispatching a penalty awarded for a foul in the 75th minute to make it 1-1. SVWW had a better foothold in the game in the period that followed and could have levelled when Ajani went close and Knöll had a free-kick spectacularly saved by Watkowiak on the 84-minute mark. But Christopher Buchtmann then re-established St. Pauli's two-goal cushion with a lovely volley in the 88th minute that made it 3-1.
The final quarter began brightly for SVWW, with Knöll reducing the deficit to 3-2 in the 96th minute following a Niemeyer cross. But the joy was short-lived, as Henk Veerman found the net again shortly afterwards with a low shot that made it 4-2 and put St. Pauli two goals clear once more. Miyaichi added another in the 112th minute, with his curling effort into the top right corner making the final score 5-2.
SVWW (Q1 & 2): Lindner – Mrowca, Mockenhaupt, Dams, Chato, Schwede – Aigner, Gül, Friede, Dittgen (Leibold, 55) - Schäffler
SVWW (Q 3 & 4): Watkowiak – Ajani, Medi, Franke, Röcker, Niemeyer – Leibold (Tietz, 65), Lorch, Titsch Rivero, Shipnoski – Knöll