Rot-Weiß Oberhausen followed in the footsteps of RWE and MSV. The Kleeblätter won at VfB Homberg and can now continue to dream of winning the Niederrhein Cup.

After MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiss Essen had already managed to prevail against an Oberliga team and thus march into the quarter-finals of the Lower Rhine Cup, it was Rot-Weiß Oberhausen’s turn on Tuesday evening.

The Kleeblätter faced VfB Homberg, a top team in the Oberliga Niederrhein. After their 1-3 defeat against Fortuna Köln last weekend, Sebastian Gunkel’s team redeemed themselves and celebrated their place in the last eight of the Niederrhein Cup with a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

The decisive man on the night was Denis Donkor, who rewarded the visitors’ best spell with his first competitive goal of the season (57′). “It’s outstanding, of course, that Denis has finally scored in a competitive game. Everyone is particularly happy about that,” said coach Gunkel.

But he also knows that his Kleeblätter owe a big thank you to goalkeeper Kevin Kratzsch. The keeper kept the score at 0-0 in the 23rd minute with a magnificent reflex save against Julian Bode. “In the first half, ‘Kev’ kept us in the game a little bit (laughs). No, he really saved it superbly,” said Gunkel.

The third-placed team in the Oberliga Niederrhein definitely gave Oberhausen a tough game. In the end, however, the Kleeblätter were able to celebrate. “Homberg did really well and kept the spaces very compact. I think we tried to be versatile in getting into the spaces and are deserved winners. We hardly allowed them anything. Especially in the second half, we defended everything,” the coach summed up afterwards.

Stefan Janßen’s dream of playing MSV Duisburg is now over, but his team more than sold themselves dearly. However, he is still struggling to come to terms with the chance after 23 minutes and the phase after the restart: ”There’s a fine line between can and must. Who knows how it would have turned out. Of course, I’m annoyed about that phase because we can do better and it wasn’t a time when our energy was flagging.”

In the cup, it’s win or go home, and we’re out now. We’ll just have to wait until next year for the game against MSV in the cup.

Stefan Janßen

But despite this phase and the associated cup exit, Janßen is proud of his team: “I have to give my team a huge compliment. We worked hard and fought for every ball for 90 minutes. We weren’t as clinical going forward, but they are also one of the top teams in the Regionalliga. In the cup, it’s win or go home, and we’re out now. We’ll just have to wait until next year for the cup game against MSV,” joked the 54-year-old.

As with VfB Hilden and SSVg Velbert, Homberg’s full focus is now on the league. Janßen’s team will host the undefeated SSVg at the weekend (October 19, 6 p.m.). RWO also has a home game (October 19, 2 p.m.). SC Wiedenbrück travels to the Niederrhein Stadium to live up to its role as Oberhausen’s bogey team.