Hamburg "Sonntag Doppel"

The conclusion of this particular European football trip concluded in Hamburg, with a double header from the lower tiers of German football...

1045 Oberliga Hamburg
Teutonia Ottensen 4
Wandsbeker TSV Concordia 2
Att: 175 (plus 20 or so tightwads, who wouldn't pay the €6, watching from road)

What better way to blow the cobwebs off than a spot of Sunday morning Oberliga action. FC Teutonia Ottensen regularly play their home games at 1045 in the morning so this was ideal. The ground, Sportplatz Kreuzkirche, is about a 15 minute walk from Hamburg-Altona station and, as suggested in the name, is in the shadow of the Ottensen Kreuzkirche (Church of the Cross). 

FC Teutonia were the Landesliga Hamburg-Hammonia champions in 2017, earning promotion to the Oberliga (level 5 of German football) Hamburg. They are enjoying a good season and they are comfortably in third place in the table (at the start of play today).

However in this league there is only one promotion spot to the Regionalliga Nord and that looks sewn up by TuS Dassendorf, who are 12 points clear at the top, with games in hand.  Teutonia do play the champions-elect in a couple of weeks time in the Hamburg Cup semi-final, so maybe there is still a chance of silverware this season.

Abdel Abou-Khalid gave Concordia the lead after two minutes but Aytac Erman (19, 32) and Georgios Cholevas (23) gave Teutonia a comfortable half time lead.

Two Wandsbeker TSV Concordia players received red cards, Martin Werner after 66 minutes for his second yellow card and  Kevin Zschimmer after 75 minutes for foul and abusive language. In between the red cards Concordia did pull a goal back when Abou-Khalid (73) scored from the penalty spot. However after 80 minutes Erman completed his hat-trick to make the game safe.

The second game of the day was 5 miles across town in the district of Lokstedt. The timings were tight so I had to be on my toes at the final whistle. I had to catch a bus to Schlump station and then jump off at Hagenbecks Tierpark and then walk 10 minutes to the ground. However whilst I was on the bus I received a text message to say kick off had been delayed due to an injury sustained at a earlier match on the pitch. The knock on effect meaning the remaining games were at least 30 minutes behind. The second half of Lokstedt's second team versus Inter Eidelstedt was just kicking off as I entered the ground, so at least there was time for a chill and a beer (or two) in the clubhouse as the temperature began to rise...

1430 Bezirksliga Nord Hamburg
Eintracht Lokstedt 2
HFC Falke 2
Att: 272

Sportpark Lokstedt, on Dörntwiete, is another artificial surface (if you can remember, it is very similar to Luton Town's pitch of the 1980's).

There is a small piece of wooden cover and also a decent view from the clubhouse decking behind the goal. Eintracht Lokstedt are celebrating their centenary this year and there is a display in the clubhouse to commemorate this achievement, including a plaque from the Deutscher Fußball Bund and a signed photo from Germany and Hamburg legend Uwe Seeler (pictured above right).

Eintracht Lokstedt were the league leaders with HFC Falke in 5th position (at the start of play) in the Bezirksliga Nord Hamburg, which is a district league and basically the equivalent of an English County League. In Hamburg the Bezirksliga sits at Level 7 in the German structure.

Today was a chance for me to catch up with friends who follow HFC Falke and chew the fat, sink a few beers and watch a decent game of football. 

Lokstedt raced into an early two goal lead. Mario Beslic opened the scoring after 5 minutes, after a defensive mix up up left him with an open goal. After 10 minutes Tamino Kunter raced through to slot home and double the home sides advantage.

Tobias Leuthold (25) halved the deficit after Falke were awarded a dubious penalty when Lokstedt 'keeper Jan Giesecke pushed  in the area resulted in the referee pointing to the spot. Kevan Hermann (55) equalised for The Hawks in the second half and the game could have gone either way. In the 81st minute Lokstedt had a chance to grab the victory but Nils Kuchenmeister saved Luis Gleich's penalty kick. The resulting draw was a fair result and brought to a conclusion another fantastic week of European Groundhopping. 

All that was left was to head back into town and sink a few more ales at the fabulous Galopper des Jahres! Until next time, a very fond farewell! 

HANSA ROSTOCK (Ostseestadion)

3.LIGA, HANSA ROSTOCK 2-0 WEHEN WIESBADEN, ATTENDANCE: 15,200

After watching SV Meppen and stopping over in Osnabruck on Friday there were more obvious destinations on this Saturday than the Baltic coast. However for reasons I can't really explain Hansa Rostock is a football club I have always wanted to visit, so today was when I decided to scratch that particular itch, for the want of a better phrase.

This meant catching the 0723 from Osnabruck to Hamburg before changing onto regional trains from Hamburg to Rostock via Lubeck and Bad Kleinen. I arrived in Rostock just before 1pm. Hansa Rostock versus Wehen Wiesbaden was kicking off at 2pm so I had no time to explore the city, which I am certain will be put right at some point in the future.

If you think that journey sounds a little ridiculous, then spare a thought for the Wehen fans who faced an similar journey but with an even earlier start. I tip my hat to the 23 supporters who made the effort to head north.

The Ostseestadion, which translates as the Baltic Sea Stadium, has been home to Hansa Rostock since their formation in 1965, the year zero for the old East German elite football clubs, but the ground was completely re-built in 2001 (the original Ostseestadion was built in 1954).

Hansa Rostock won the last ever GDR league title, and the GDR Pokal for good measure, in 1991 meaning they took their place in the Bundesliga (with Dynamo Dresden) after German re-unification. They were relegated in their first season but returned in 1995 for a decade before suffering another relegation in 2005. They returned in 2008 before suffering back-to-back relegations to 3.Liga in 2010. After finishing runners up in 2.Bundesliga in 2011 they dropped back to the third tier in 2012 where they have remained since.

For Hansa Rostock the game had nothing riding on it but for Wehen Wiesbaden they needed a win to keep their slim chances of automatic promotion alive, whilst cementing their position in the promotion play-off spot.

Wehen's top scorer this season Manuel Schäffler was injured in the warm up and had to be replaced, meaning the game kicked off 5 minutes late. Wehen started the game like they meant business and missed plenty of good chances in the opening period of the game. However it was Rostock who should have taken the lead midway through the half when Fabian Holthaus missed an absolute sitter from 5 yards, blazing the ball over when all he had to do was tap into an empty net. This was soon forgotten though when, after 29 minutes, Pascal Breier ran onto a through ball to fire home.

Wehen continued to press hard for the equaliser in the second half, especially as other results were going against them, and they certainly had Rostock under the cosh. However with 12 minutes remaining Stefan Wannewetsch tapped home a second goal for Hansa, after a Luca Scherffas shot was parried into his path by Wehen 'keeper Markus Kolke.

The home side managed to keep Wehen out to clinch the three points. The result meant automatic promotion for 1.FC Magdeburg and SC Paderborn. The best Wehen Wiesbaden can hope for now is the play-offs by finishing third, but with Karlsruher breathing down their necks this is going to go to the wire.

I must end by giving a special mention to the Rostock fans. The support they gave their team this afternoon was absolute fantastic. The noise and choreography was simply brilliant and it made for a great atmosphere inside the ground. If only grounds back home could create atmosphere's this good, eh?

Stefan Wannewetsch celebrates with his teammates

The travelling Wehen Wiesbaden fans

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I have the groundhopper app installed on my phone and whilst checking into this stadium I pressed the feature to see if there were any fixtures nearby, just for my reference. It said there was a game in Güstrow at 1800. I then checked the internet and it did indeed confirm that the information was correct. So from Rostock I jumped on the train and took a 20 minute ride south to....

Verbandsliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Güstrower SC 1-1 SV Pastow
Attendance: 124 (h/c)

This is the sixth tier of German football, which promotes to the Oberliga Nord. Güstrower play at The Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion, which is 10 minute stroll from the main train station.

There are two pitches next to each other, the main grass pitch and an artificial pitch. The game tonight was being played on the artificial pitch. There are two small bits of cover and the ground looked rather pleasant bathed in the evening sunshine.

The game was not of the highest quality. Alexander Bonecke gave Pastow the lead after 20 minutes before Rico Keil levelled 5 minutes later. Despite constant pressure from the home side, they could not find a way past a stubborn Pastow defence and a 'keeper, Jonas Wiek, in top form. Güstrower are the league leaders but the other teams chasing them down have games in hand so they really needed the win this evening.