HOLSTEIN KIEL (Holstein Stadion)

2.BUNDESLIGA, HOLSTEIN KIEL 2-2 ERZGEBIRGE AUE, ATTENDANCE: 9,702

My final trip of the weekend took me to north to the city of Kiel, located on the shores of the Baltic Sea. The city is a major maritime base and busy port and the Kiel canal is one of the busiest in the world.

It was an early start from Münster in order to make the 1300 kick off. The ground is a good 30 minute bus ride from the main station, but fortunately buses are frequent so there was plenty of time for a beverage and a frikadellen. Holstein Kiel were hosting Erzgebirge Aue in a 2.Bundesliga clash. Coincidentally, Kiel were the visitors when I travelled to Aue a few years ago.

Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein were formed in 1900 and in their early years were a dominant force in the north. They won the German championship in 1912 but have never reached the promised land of the Bundesliga, spending most of their history in the second and third tiers.

The club returned to the 2.Bundesliga for the 2017/18 season and are enjoying a very good season thus far. Admittedly the good ship KSV has hit choppy waters in 2018, having failed to win so far, but going into the winter break they were in one of the automatic promotion positions. Kiel are still third in the table, which is a promotion play off position, but the other teams below them are now closing in.

In order to meet the criteria for any promotion, plenty of work has been done on the Holstein Stadium. At one stage the ground did not meet the minimum criteria necessary for the Bundesliga so major renovation has taken place. Two new stands were erected to replace the old terracing. In fact the only remnants of the old terracing are behind one of the goals where the away fans are placed.

All the differing builds give the feel of a bit of a hotch-potch ground. I was having a chat with a couple of fans and there is talk that the club could, in the next few years, be demolishing the ground completely and re-building it to create a stadium with a capacity of around around 25,000. 

Erzgebirge Aue were the visitors this afternoon, making the 400 mile journey from Saxony and they would have returned happy having secured a precious point as Holstein Kiel's inability to turn draws into wins haunted them once again.

It started well for the Stork's as they found themselves 2-0 up. After 10 minutes good work down the right led to Dominck Drexler crossing the ball to an unmarked Marvin Ducksch to sidefoot home from 12 yards. Kiel were on the front foot and their winless run looked to be coming to end when Drexler swept home a second goal, after Rafael Czichos headed the ball on from a corner kick.

However on 36 minutes The Violets got a goal back in slightly controversial circumstances. A corner was flicked on and Malcolm Cacutalua challenged the Kiel 'keeper, Kenneth Kronholm, who appeared to have caught the ball. He subsequently lost control and Cacutalua prodded the loose ball home. It terms of modern football it was certainly a foul on the 'keeper but the referee let the goal stand.

It got better for Erzgebirge Aue 90 seconds later when Cacutalua levelled things up. A free kick was launched forward and Cacutalua's header from the edge of penalty area looped over the 'keeper into the net.

The second half was a more cagey affair and both teams had chances to seal the win but the game eventually petered out and both teams had to settle for the draw. That's eight games without a win for Kiel and if that continues their promotion hopes will surely be sunk.

After the match I headed back to Hamburg for a few night caps. On the journey north it was noticeable how much snow there was on the ground and on my way back south I received confirmation the my game of choice for Sunday had been postponed. The weather had played havoc with other games in the lower leagues too, so this turned out to be my final game of this trip. Another fantastic weekend in Germany and hopefully I will be able to get over once more before this season is out.