astro wrote:

Nico 4 wrote: coverage cut just as the celebrations were warming up!!! some of it on youtube: Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum! t

Great game, I was in the "singing section", but it was like a library for a lot of the time. There were a few good chants, but on the whole it was quiet. I hope this won't always be the case now that the Ultras have moved to the Sud.

timmalloy wrote:

Great game, I was in the "singing section", but it was like a library for a lot of the time

it was quite alright further down on the terrace.

btw: there are new unofficial support sections on the Gegengerade now, one is more to the middle (Alte Schule/Old School) and I think another group more towards the corner towards the North Stand.
Generally, the people on the South Stand, notably USP have a rather "Italian" approach towards support, while those on the Gegengerade (e.g. Alte Schule) try the more traditional "British" (as we call it) style, i.e. not so much "singing all the time no matter what is going on on the pitch" but rather in the context of the match.
This combination seems to work better and better, now the North Stand and the Main Stand have to improve a bit, though Haupttribüne shows some progress already ;)

Sorry if anyone's been waiting for a match report from me, but I've been down with a cold for the past few days - can't imagine why - so I really couldn't be arsed.

Anyway, this was probably the best game at Millerntor so far this season, as far as the quality of football, atmosphere and excitement go. Stani didn't surprise us with the lineup, but with Morena in hospital and Trojan injured, he made the inspried decision to make Marius Ebbers captain for this game.

Marius was one of 4(!) ex-Aacheners in the start formation, along with Bruns, Gunesch and Weigelt, and he had a record of scoring against his former club, which he kept up on Sunday.

The game started perfectly, with Aachen kicking off to the South, but St. Pauli quickly got possession, and with less than 2 minutes on the clock, Boll won a challenge half-way inside the Aachen half, sending a high ball into the left of the penalty area. It was a bit reminiscent of Trojan's goal against 1860, only the pass was from about half the distance, and Ludwig needed half the number of touches to volley the ball past Stuckmann into the Aachen goal.

There may have been a beer shower, but nobody would have noticed. In fact, if you were in an uncovered section of the ground, half a litre could have lasted the entire game. It had been pissing down the whole weekend, but this afternoon was the icing on the soggy cake.

Shortly afterwards, Bruns had a chance to make it 2-0 after a long corner from Ludwig, but although he set the shot up nicely, it went just over the bar from 20 yards out.

Aachen's first real chance of the game came from an extremely offside position after 13 minutes, but Hain dived to save Daun's flying header and Eger headed out for a corner.

The game tailed off a bit after that. Aachen looked quicker, but didn't seem to have any ideas, while St. Pauli were trying to keep up the pressure and get a second. Then in the 33rd minute, Bruns lost the ball on the left in the Aachen half, and Aachen produced an absolutely clinical counter-attack to equalise. Daun knocked the ball forward to Nemeth, with Weigelt trailing in his wake, Nemeth crossed the ball in from the right to Auer, who was ahead of both Schultz and Gunesch, and Auer had no problem slotting in from 8 yards at the far post.

This seemed to put St. Pauli off their stride for a while, but they kept trying, and were rewarded on the stroke of half-time, when a free-kick from Ludwig, just inside the Aachen half, somehow got through to Ebbers, 12 yards out with his back to the goal, and he turned and shot in on the right in one glorious movement.

OK, you've seen the highlights, but watch them again - that was a cracker.

So, wet and happy enough at half-time, but just after the restart, it got better. Hain sent a long ball to Ludwig on the right, he passed in to Bruns, who sent a "sugar pass" to Rothenbach, 10 yards out on the right of the area, and his cross got straight to Ebbers, who knocked the ball in (with his other foot this time) high and left. Mmmmmmwahhh!!!

Another half, another perfect start. We now had a two goal lead, and could - maybe - relax a bit. Alemannia tried to press forward, but we were looking for chances on the counter-attack.

Then with half an hour to go, Hain came out for a cross which he didn't reach, but managed to flatten Aachen's Holtby just outside the 6-yard box. Referee Brych waited about half an hour before calling the penalty, possibly waiting for advantage, and Holtby has obviously had that expensive operation which connects all the nerves in your body to your face, but the fact remains that Hain did foul him, and the penalty decision was correct. Had it ended up a draw, I might have seen that differently...

Daun sent Hain the wrong way, so we had another exciting match on our hands.

Hoilett, who had a good game, but needs to work a bit on his crosses was taken off in the 68th minute for Brunnemann, who was one of the few St. Pauli players to have won a challenge or three in the air during the entire game.

Ebbers came off in the 82nd minute for Schnitzler, and although Aachen tried, they didn't manage to produce any decent chances until the 85th minute, when it looked like our defence had speculated on offside, allowing Nemeth a free header from 8 yards at goal, which Hain managed to defuse with a phenomenal reflex save, knocking the ball over the bar. Phew!

Gouiffé à Goufan (Goofy) came on for Bruns in the 87th, and just as the clock was running down and we were all screaming for the final whistle, Szukula went in with both legs in a challenge on Boll and got a straight red for it.

I must admit I've got a bit of a soft spot for ref Brych after he allowed the ice-skating quarter-final against Bremen in 2006 to go ahead , but I thought a yellow would have been enough. You can see clearly on the replays that Szukula tried to draw back with his legs, even if it was a bit late, and his expression seems to indicate that he was as horrified as anyone else that one of his legs may have hit the wrong target. Maybe it was a red - endangering the health of another player, but at that stage of the game, it just gave us another chance to run the clock down, and "Der Kommissar" is OK, so no big deal.

Next up is Augsburg a week on Sunday, where hopefully we can concede fewer than 3 goals, and/or maybe even get a point. If we can't get a point there, it's looking bad, however good our home record may be.

St. Pauli - better than Aachen, not as good as Fürth