Viktoria Köln were able to defeat Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:1 on the second matchday of the A-Junioren Bundesliga West. Coach Marian Wilhelm spoke of a high pressure situation.
After the opening defeat against VfL Bochum, Viktoria Köln were able to record their first win on the second matchday of the A-Junioren Bundesliga West. A 2-1 win over Rot-Weiß Oberhausen was the first step towards staying in the league. Coach Marian Wilhelm was satisfied with his team’s play over long stretches: “Despite the difficult pitch conditions, we had relatively good control of the game. Oberhausen worked a lot against the ball and made the spaces tight. I think that we stayed calm and were able to pinpoint the points. We just didn’t take the scoring chances in the first half.”
But after the break, Cologne scored twice and secured their first points. “Out the back it got very wild. You could tell that both teams had no points yet. In the end, however, the result is fine. In the future, we have to work on not only focusing on the result in the final phase, but also keeping up the quality in terms of play,” explained Wilhelm.
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The game became tight again in the final phase, Oberhausen had a few chances to equalise. The Viktoria coach takes his team to task for this phase: “You could see it on the boys’ faces, but I don’t blame anyone for that. That is a natural process in development. When you haven’t had a pressure situation like that so often and then feel what a game like that does to you, it’s a great experience for the players. “
Keeping the league is not the top priority
Especially because there is only one first round this year, Wilhelm knows how valuable this victory can be: “It is very important to start the season well, especially against a direct competitor. In the league, the roles are clearly distributed, two relegation candidates played against each other here. The final phase also showed how brutally important this victory was.”
But collecting points is not Cologne’s top priority. “Developing the boys is the clear goal. If somewhere along the way we can keep the team in the league, all the better. We don’t set ourselves a position in the table that we want to achieve. Of course it’s fun to play for points. We work hard every week and see what comes out in the end. “
