25th Match Day of Regional League Southwest SV Elversberg - FC Homburg Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde Result: 2:2 (1:1) Attendance: 2.235 (250 Guests)
After a loooong winter break, the Regional League finally started again; For Elversberg, it started with a Saarland derby against FC Homburg at home.
Elversberg finished at the top of the league before the break and they were expected to shine against their rival who had just lost to Eintracht Trier in a re-scheduled match three days before the derby day.
Three hours before the game, we meet up with friends at the small pub in town for some drinks and to get ready. As it went more crowded, we finally started walking down to the stadium to get ourselves ready for the day.
It was a completely difference feeling to go to a game with a team that you support compared to groundhopping. In the two-month winter break, we watched a few games but it was chilling. On this day, we finally felt involved with mixed feelings – nervous and excited.
The Waldstadion didn’t change much. The renovation was still on going, just like as any other constructions, it could only be done after a few delays. The rooftop on Block C behind the goal was still not there; The road outside the stadium was still muddy; There was still no clock inside stadium.
The away fans only started showing up about 30 minutes before kick off and slowly started decorating the away block in green and white. We didn’t expect much from them; They chanted a little bit, but we didn’t hear much.
Meanwhile, banners and flags were also hung on Block C. About 2,000 home fans filled up the stadium as the game was about to begin. We were happy to see how the turnout has been growing amid the SV delivering well in the league.
It had also been a while since we had some good grilled food. Just in case you didn’t known, all Saarlanders are natural born grill masters, really. Normally, we would order a frikadeller (minced meat dumplings; looks like a burger). But if you decide to watch a game in Saarland, you should definitely try a Lyoner, a double-sized sausage, which you won’t find in any stadiums outside Saarland.
As the players entered the stadium, we also started to get into the derby mood. Elversberg opened the score at 16th minute with a strike from the team’s top scorer Maxi Oesterhelweg. However, the home team failed to show dominance despite being 10 places above Homburg in the league.
Homburg managed to score an equaliser right before the first half was over, and then another goal 1 minute after the second half started. We saw cups and beers flying in the air across the pitch and mad celebration from the away fans.
At the 66th minutes, a Homburg defender blocked the ball with his hand in front of the goal line. The referee awarded Elversberg a penalty and gave the defender a red card. We weren’t sure why the defender and his teammates were so furious towards the referee’s decision, but it also wasn’t something that we had to care about at that time.
Oesterhelweg scored the penalty and made it 2-2 for Elversberg. After some celebration, another penalty was given to Elversberg for another handball in the box. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side this time. The goalie blocked Oesterhelweg’s penalty and denied his chance to score a hat-trick.
Although Elversberg played with one player more for most of the second half, they couldn’t manage to create another goal. Of course it would be nicer if we could leave with three points, but one point was also a fair result… only after we realised that both penalties should never have been given when we saw the replay on TV. Ooops!