These relegation matches for the last second division place are actually a clear-cut affair. To paraphrase former English footballer Gary Lineker: 22 men chase a ball for 180 minutes – and sometimes a little longer. And in the end, the third division team (almost) always wins. Since the play-offs were reintroduced in 2009, the third-placed team in the third division has beaten the 16th-placed team in the second division eleven times. The force, the peak form from the final games of the season, regularly led the teams to triumph.
But this year everything is a little different. It is not a team in top form, but rather “misery against misery” that awaits them against Wehen Wiesbaden, some spectators said before the match in Regensburg’s Jahnstadion. After all, after extremely questionable performances, the SSV, who finished 18th in the second half of the season, lost what they thought was a sure bet of direct promotion. Regensburg has completely lost its form in the last six months, the club has been waiting for a win for seven games – and the still second division team Wiesbaden took advantage of this in the first leg on Friday evening: The match ended 2:2 (1:0) – a fair result – and Wehen is now slightly favored going into the second leg in their own stadium on Tuesday evening (8.30 p.m.).
It will be a duel “on a knife edge,” said visiting coach Nils Döring, who was himself relegated to the stands after receiving a red card last weekend, before the match. And he was right, as the two teams played an “intense game,” as football coaches like to say. The two teams looked like two boxers in the twelfth round who wanted to attack again after eleven rounds that were really in need of improvement – as best as they could. It’s about saving the season.
Suddenly things get wild – and three goals are scored in 14 minutes
Regensburg took the lead because their coach Joe Enochs, a clever tactician, was able to outwit the opponent – and better showcase his players’ own strengths. His SSV Jahn handed the ball over to their opponents, who were supposedly more skilled at playing, from the start. A long ball to winger Dominik Kother, who sent attacker Noah Ganaus into the penalty area after a turn, was enough to put them in the lead at half-time. Ganaus scored through the legs of Wiesbaden goalkeeper Florian Stritzel (27th minute).
But after the break, Wiesbaden came out stronger, pushed Jahn further and further into their own half – and after several great opportunities, they deservedly equalized. In the confusion in the five-meter box, the ball landed right at the feet of the goalscorer Robin Heußer (66th). And as the Jahn eleven could not clear a mediocre Wehen attack shortly afterwards, their substitute striker John Iredale scored with his heel (72nd). But that was not all: Like a boxer who wants to get that one left shot in, Dominik Kother shot the ball from a tight angle from the left into the right corner of the goal to make it 2-2 (80th).
A powerful shot that gives his team hope again. And then there is the statistic with so many successes of the third division teams. Incidentally, Regensburg has internalized this like Gary Lineker has good sayings: In 2012 and 2017, the Upper Palatinate team was promoted after a draw in the first leg of the relegation play-offs.