At last! Football season 2011/12! Not some poxy pre-season friendly where the manager makes 11 substitutions at half time. Nor when you turn up and the youth team and my favourite player, A.Trialist is playing.
This was the preliminary round of the Niedersachsen Cup, away at Bezirksliga (Step 4) team TV Dinklage. Win this and we would face either TV Havelse or BV Cloppenburg in the next round, both being a plum draw.
I drove to this fixture straight from work, setting Emily (the sat nav) to avoid major roads, so had a nice pootle across country, 114.7km.
The address I had been given were incorrect, it was not the football part of the club where I ended up, but I asked a bloke and he showed me where to go. And so it was that I arrived at the Jahnstadion, built in 1954.
Dinklage has a population of 12,815 and was once ruled by France. Fact!
The game kicked off and in the first minute Tim Buchwald had a fizzing shot which grazed the far upright. It was tit for tat for the first 10 minutes until the wonderfully named Burak Buruk lost the ball in midfield for Bückeburg and the ball was passed forward to the TVD forward. Markowski rushed out and made a fabulous block, then stood up to make a second. Great double save from "The Cat".
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| The cat was in fine form |
After 28 minutes another defence splitting pass put a Dinklage forward through but he fluffed a one on one.
Bückeburg couldn't really get their passing game going and it was left to Jan Steiniger to throw himself round, terrier like in the middle of the park. Niko "Terror" Werner was mopping everything up at the back.
In the 32nd minute, Bückeburg win a free kick on the right. Burak floats the ball over and Schmalkoch ghosted in at the far post to glance a header past the Dinklage custodian.
Three minutes later it was 1-1. A mix up in the VfL penalty area, the ball bobbling around and Ercan Ablak taps home from 5 yards for the leveller.
Just before the half time break, Bastian Könnemann dribbled his way down the left and into the area and unleashed a rasping shot which the Dinklage keeper did well to tip onto the bar.
Halftime 1-1
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| Colourful dug out |
The second half got underway in a storm, with lashing rain. Nico Rüffer had replaced Moritz Heine in the break. Jonas Abram was playing much more offensively in this period and having some success on the left. However, neither side really dominated and the game petered out into a series of half chances at either end as conditions made it difficult.
In the 90th minute, a cross from the right was met by the head of the onrushing Ablak and he glanced his header wide of Markowski and into the Bückeburg goal. 2-1 to the hosts. A few minutes later the referee blew for the end of play and that was it. First game, first defeat. Not a bad performance by any standards and there were a few stand out performances from Markowski, Werner, Steiniger and Rüffer when he came on. Next game is our first league game on Sunday at home to Goslarer SC.
Ratings
Friendliness: 7/10
Clubhouse: 0/10 (Would have been 8 but people were smoking inside it)
Floodlights: No
Seats: No
Behind goals: Hard standing
Cover: Yes
Barrier: Metal fence painted in club colours
Beer: Haake Brau, not sampled
Bratwurst: 1.70€ - 7/10
Entrance fee: 3€
Programme: No
Weather: 5/10 - Dark, showers
Ground: 7.5/10
Home fans: 7/10
Player Ratings
23 Tobias Markowski 8
3 Jonas Abram 7
5 Niko Werner 7
11 Burak Buruk 6
12 Tim Buchwald 6
14 Nils Rinne 6
15 Bastian Schmalkoch 7
18 Jan Steiniger 8
19 Jan-Eike Raschke 5
20 Bastian Könnemann 7
24 Moritz Heine 4
Subs:
17 Nico Rüffer 7 for Heine
9 Spilker for Buchwald
16 Hauke Voß for Schmalkoch
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