Rot-Weiß Oberhausen has entered the quarterfinals of the Niederrheinpokal with a show of will, now the league routine awaits. That’s what Stoppelkamp and Nowak say.

Once again, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen did not make it easy for themselves in the Lower Rhine Cup. In the round of 16, the regional league club was once again on the brink of elimination. Until the 85th minute, the Red-Whites were down 0:2 at Landesligist 1. FC Monheim before they actually scored four goals.

“That’s soccer. That’s a sport of mistakes. That’s part of it. I’m proud of the fact that the guys tightened up in the second half and believed in it. I’m also proud of the substitutes who turned the game around and pulled the cart out of the mud,” said a delighted Jörn Nowak after the final whistle.

RWO already failed to convince in the 2nd round of the Lower Rhine Cup. Against VfL Viktoria Jüchen-Garzweiler, the team’s entry into the round of 16 was also on the line for a long time before they were able to steer the game in the right direction late on there as well.

“That it is not so easy in this competition, we have already seen. Other teams have already failed against lower-class opponents. Therefore, wipe your mouth and move on. What counts is the next round,” said Moritz Stoppelkamp, the man who once again turned the game in RWO’s favor with the goal that made it 1:2, in an attempt to put the weak RWO performance into perspective.

Nowak put the focus on another positive point after the victory. Namely, on the numerous Oberhausen fans who made the trip to Monheim: “The victory welds the team and fans together once again. That was outstanding support on a Tuesday at a Landesliga club. It’s anything but a matter of course that such a crowd of fans comes along and supports us. Like the round before, the fans played a big part in us making it through the round after all and getting into the quarterfinals.”

While the Kleeblätter can watch the remaining games of the round of 16 in the Niederrheinpokal in peace and wait for the next opponent, the next encounter in the league is already this weekend. In the home match, it’s against the second team of FC Schalke 04 (Sunday, October 29, 2 p.m.).

Nowak, however, does not want to draw any conclusions for the league from the cup match: “This is a different competition. At the end of the day, we’ll take the positive feeling with us that we’re one round further. It can’t be compared with everyday life in the league. We’ve defended many counterattacks outstandingly in recent weeks. That didn’t look so good in the cup. “