Matchday 25: FC Heidenheim – FC Sankt Pauli 2-0

COMPLETE DISASTER!!!

Hahaha, of  course not, just picked a bloody tabloid-like header to make the situation more “dramatic” 😀 😀 😀 Seriously, not the best possible afternoon for the Boys in Brown who lacked the solutions against the determined Hillbilly brigade of FC Heidenheim and lost fair and square both the game and the close gap with FCN. So, no nice-to-have promotion-related talk (we usually avoid it anyway) until further notice, heads up you Boys in Brown, life is good when staring the relegation horizon from the safety that the 42 pts are providing 😉

 

This was one of the relatively few times that our intuition was proven absolutely right, there was a lot of anxiety before the match based on the brown white tendency of managing to do the unthinkable when into deep shit and screwing things up when everything looks pink. Add our short but not really flattering match history vs these guys and you have a first class screw-up candidate here. However, the grand Sun, shining outside the venue before the match along with some warm up chat and drinks managed to ease the anxiety and by kickoff we were in front of the big venue screen in top militant mode 🙂

…which simply evaporated with kickoff, as FCH reminded us all our pre-game fears from the very beginning. 1st good chance for them with just 12″(!) on the clock, an extremely, parallel to the goal, poisonous cross that thankfully found no one in the right place to finish the job and an opening 5′ period that look like the absolute Hell with hosts pressing high and taking full control of the game, besieging our box like there’s no tomorrow and the Boys in Brown in a state of panic, sending the ball away to Hell like they’re waiting for the full time whistle to save us. Another good one for FCH with a Leipertz 9m threat neutralized to corner by Himmelmann on 4′, FCSP managed to survive the opening 5′ Inferno but this was the only good thing as the merciless opening pressure slightly decreased but still there was only one team in the pitch and this wasn’t us. Situation went on until 20′ with match highlight another FCH chance on 19′ with Himmelmann winning Griesbeck, who was charging into the box from the right, on the 1-1 duel. From this point until the end of the half was the only period that FCSP somehow balanced the game and asked for more in the pitch. Our first visit to their box (24′) wasn’t even a visit, it was a Rzatkowski 50m telegraph shot, from the ones that work out well mainly in Belek but ball ended up a few meters by their left post under (already positioned) Zimmermann’s surveillance. From this point and for the next 10′ seemed temporarily that FCSP had managed to get control of the game and we were walking on the right path, having 3 good chances to take the lead. Good teamwork leading to a power shot from Alushi (into the box from the left but from a somehow acute angle) repelled by Zimmermann’s legs on 28′, another shot, from Thy and from the center of the box this time, blocked by Zimmermann on 30′ and (AAAAAARGHHH!) the Alushi’s 20m shot which hit Zimmermann’s right post before bouncing off to safety on 32′! A balanced game for the rest of the half, with the last chance belonging to FCH, a very dangerous Schnatterer 17m shot (43′, after some dribbling bullying to Ziereis 🙂 ) which almost ended just by Himmelmann’s left upper post – phew! Full time whistle 0-0, after a game that belonged much more to FCH than us, even though the number of chances was comparable…

image source: dpa

Game resumed, with FCH having again the upper hand and on 53′ they lost what simply couldn’t be lost!!! Long deep cross from the right, Leipertz header from the heart of the box blocked by Himmelmann who repelled but failed to send the ball away – first on the ball arrived Kraus who while being half a meter from the goal line with Himmelmann still down…instead of finishing preferred to make a parallel assist to Beermann, charging in from the other side, whose shot was blocked on the line thanks to Ziereis!!! Fuck me, this is the unluckiest teamwork choice that I have seen for a looong looong time 😀 The Boys in Brown saved (with a little help) what couldn’t be saved but lost on 56′ John Verhoek after only 14′ in the pitch… Official diagnosis JUST arrived, fortunately isn’t as bad as it seemed, get well soon Big John 🙂 For the next 10′ game lost pace and it looked like we can get at least 1pt here but our hosts hadn’t said their last word yet… Warning shot by Schnatterer on 70′ with Himmelmann, saving but failing again to secure the ball, something that we didn’t pay here but we paid with big interest directly afterwards, when after another, 30+m this time, Leipertz shot (they noticed that Skyman wasn’t on his best day) Robin failed again to clear effectively, something that was fully exploited by Thomalla who got first and completely unattended to the ball and did from almost zero distance what Kraus didn’t do on 53’… 1-0 for FCH on 71′ and now things suddenly started looking extremely gloomy… FCSP moved full throttle ahead but without having any answers and FCH secured the match on 81′ after a counter attack that got us off our seats in despair even before the ball crosses the middle of the field and was finished by Finne, just like in a training session… The Boys in Brown had nothing more to give and nothing important happened until the end of the match. Full time FCH 2 – FCSP 0, an absolutely deserved win for the hosts…

Get well soon Big John!!!

This was a fair and square loss to an opponent clearly superior throughout the game (with the exception of the 25′-35′ period). Even though that we were the ones that needed the points harder, FCH was the squad who played like they need them desperately. This, along with the fact that we seemed to play it more safe instead of aggresive (Ewald changed from Thursday and used Thy as the only forward again) look like the main factors that decided the fate of the game. Maybe there are more serious tactical reasons but excuse me here people, our real football expert AndyChristos was unfortunately working at the time of the game 😀 Heads up squad, shit happens, get over it, we have Paderborn coming to Hamburg next Friday 😉

A game that looks easier when it comes to NOT losing but I’m not quite sure that is easier in terms of winning it. Paderborn is for good with their backs on the wall and even a point in Millerntor could be extremely critical during the progress of their desperate struggle to avoid the Hell of Liga 3, a place that is unknown if and when they can return from, in case they go down… This will be probably a game that, in case we’ll not be lucky enough to catch them early by surprise, will require a lot of focus and patience… Let’s go, do our duty and get the best we can out of it.

IMPORTANT: After the game, there’s a scheduled march against the late provocations by HH police, who has started during the latest matchdays behaving in a way quite similar to the Gefahrengebiet case. For anyone interested in the details there are already statements both from our Fanladen and USP and a very informative piece by Magischer FC. Dear HH Paulianers, participation is considered of vital significance, we have been there before, we can’t let these bastards occupy our neighborhood, this is not anywhere, this is bloody St. Pauli, let’s keep them the fuck out!

GANZ HAMBURG HASST DIE POLIZEI!!! ΚΑΡΙΟΛΗΔΕΣ ΚΑΤΩ ΤΑ ΚΟΥΛΑ ΣΑΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ SANKT PAULI!!!

Line Up:

Himmelmann

Hornschuh Ziereis Sobiech Buballa (Keller 82′)

Alushi Rzatkowski

Dudziak Buchtmann Picault (Verhoek 46′ (Choi 59′!))

Thy

Match goals:

1-0 Thomalla (71′, Right foot shot, Leipertz)

2-0 Finne (81′, Right foot shot, Schnatterer)

Spectators: 14000

Sankt Pauli cards: Buballa(2)

Match highlights

Further reading:

• Kicker (German)
• Official website (German)
• Official website photo gallery
• Grenzenlos Sankt Pauli (German)
• Magischer FC (German)
• Kleiner Tod (German)
• St. Pauli Athens Club (Greek)