BW Hohen Neuendorf vs 1. FC Union Berlin
Womens Regionalliga Nordost, 12. Matchday
BW Hohen Neuendorf vs
Womens Regionalliga Nordost, 12. Matchday
Union's Women Win Again
Match report
On Sunday afternoon 1. FC Union Berlin's women's team were able to put a definitive end to a run of three games without a win, beating Blau-Weiss Hohen-Neuendorf 6-0. Elisa Spolaczyk stood out with four goals, with Nour Youssef and Luise Wildner also scoring in Union's last away game of 2022.
Blau-Weiss Hohen Neuendorf: Depenbrock - Buchwalder, Urbanski, Varamann, Pistorius, Friedrich (Pausch), Kollek, Hörbe, Labidi (Kemnitz), Thole, Sierig
1. FC Union Berlin: Wagner - Wildner, Gericke, Schulz, Bach (Reichenbach) - Scheel, Kratz (Fran, Heiseler (Trojahn) - Krauss, Spolaczyk (Bucher), Youssef (Scheffler)
Goals: 1:0 Spolaczyk (14.), 2:0 Youssef (33.), 3:0 Spolaczyk (51.), 4:0 Spolaczyk (52.), 5:0 Spolaczyk (59.), 6:0 Wildner (89.)
Attendance: 141
Spolaczyk gives Union an early lead, Youssef doubles it
Even if it was bitterly cold at pitchside, there was at least a warm reunion before kick off. Christian Liedtke, Hohen-Neuendorff's head coah, had worked for Union's women's and girls' department in various capacities from 2016 to 2022, finally taking charge as head coach last season before he and the club parted ways in the summer.
The friendlinesses and formalities were however soon put to one side, and Union started the game strongly, immediately putting Hohen-Neuendorff under pressure, carving out a good chance in the first minute when Elisa Spolaczyk's shot flew just over the bar. Then, in only the 4th minute, the ball was in the net, but Nour Youssef was adjudged offside and her goal was disallowed. So it wasn't with the greatest of surprises that Union finally took the lead after quarter of an hour, Spolaczyk with an uncompromising finish after a fine through ball from Lisa Heiseler.
After that, Union were in complete control, with their hosts confined almost entirely to their own half. In the 33rd minute it was Youssef who increased the lead to 2-0 with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Union created further chances, but failed to capitalise on them. Shortly before the break, both Heiseler and Youssef saw shots go over the bar. The score, however, remained 2-0 at half-time.
Spolaczyk's goal festival
Union started the second half as they had finished the first, utterly dominant, and almost immediately were making it clear there was little question as to who would win this game. In the 51st minute, Spolaczyk's scored her second to make it 3-0. Similarly to her first, the centre-forward was sent through by Heiseler, slotting home with confident ease. A minute later, the 24-year-old completed her hat-trick with a low shot from just outside the box, and just ten minutes later, she scored her fourth on the stroke of the hour to make it 5-0, rolling the ball over the line after a Lina Krauss shot from distance was dropped by the keeper.
Union allowed themselves to relax after that, but without relinquishing control of the game. Goalkeeper Melanie Wagner remained without a save of note to make all day. Further good news came in the season-debuts of Sophie Trojahn and Celine Frank, back after long injuries.
Luise Wildner scored the sixth and final goal in the 89th minute.
With 26 points, Union remain in third place in the table, behind city rivals Viktoria Berlin (33) and Türkiyemspor (27).
The views on the game
"We completely dominated the game from the first minute," said Union head coach, Ailien Poese after the final whistle, "and those goals in the second half were the reward. In the end, it was a well deserved victory".
Goal scorer Nour Youssef was also happy. "We started the game well, were determined to get three points and score a lot of goals. We managed to do that."
"I thought we were very dominant. We also took our chances. Sometimes we could perhaps have played a bit more calmly, but overall we did very well," said centre-back Ginger Schulz, who was in the starting eleven for the first time in the Regionalliga.
Outlook
Next Sunday, 11.12.2022, Union's last match of the first half of this season will kick off at 13:00 against bottom-of-the-table, Rostocker FC, at Dörpfeldstraße.
Union to play in Hohen-Neuendorff
Match preview
While much of the Union milieu has been enjoying a winter break, Union's women's team haven't stopped, and still have two games left to play this year. The first of which is Sunday's match at SV Blau-Weiss Hohen Neuendorf. Kick-off at the Niederheide sports complex is at 13:00.
The Opponents
Eleven games into the season, Hohen Neuendorf's only real goal this season is to get out of the relegation zone. The blue and whites are currently stuck in 13th, a point from safety, their six points coming from only two victories, both at home against Rostocker FC (2-1) and Babelsberg 74 (3-1).
It seems that the Hohen Neuendorf will not be returning to their glory days, when they were a constant presence in the 2. Bundesliga - spending a total of seven years there between 2008 and 2018 - for some time. In 2018/19, Hohen Neuendorf finished in 5th place in the Regionalliga Nordost, but have been sinking further and further, slipping from lower-mid to their current spot in the relegation battle.
Should the club actually be relegated in the end, it would be a hammer blow. Hohen Neuendorf haven't played in the fourth division in the last 20 years.
Although Hohen Neuendorf is officially in Brandenburg, the town, which borders directly the north of Berlin, is part of the Berlin S-Bahn network (S1, S8) and the club also belongs to the Berlin Football Association (BFV). Blau-Weiss even won the Berlin Cup in 2011, 2012 and 2015.
The head to head
In contrast to the table, a look at the record of both clubs does not necessarily reveal much about the role of favourites this weekend. In 22 encounters, Union women have won ten, and Hohen Neuendorf nine. Three games ended in a draw.
Having said that, in the last few years, Union have been dominant over their near-neighbours in the more recent encounters. Since Hohen Neuendorf's relegation from the second division in 2018, there have been six matches, five won by Union.
The last encounter in October 2021, however, ended in a 3-3 draw, despite Union being 3-1 up at one stage.
The coach's views ahead of the match
"Hohen Neuendorf are a team fighting against relegation in the table, but that is exactly what can sometimes bring the best out of teams, so know we will have to fully concentrate, to play and to fight," explained Union head coach Ailien Poese before the match.
Despite last week's match-free weekend, Union's injury list is still endless. Marie Becker, Naika Reissner, Zita Rurack and Pauline Wimmer are all out, to which can be added the names of Lisa Görsdorf, Anouk Westphal, Pauline Gericke and Elisa Schindler who are questionable through illness.The same applies to Latoya Bach.
There was one piece of good news during the week, however: Celine Frank has returned to team training after an eight-month break following a torn cruciate ligament. However, it is still be too early for her to play at the weekend.
