Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II still has its sights set firmly on promotion to Kreisliga A. Günter Abel’s team got off to a successful start in the second half of the season with a 4-1 win.

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II was back in action in Kreisliga B last Friday after a two-month break for the winter. And the second half of the season got off to a successful start: RWO II won 4-1 (0-0) against Sportfreunde 06 Sterkrade and defended its first place. Their biggest rivals, Grün-Weiß Holten, are level on points with RWO’s reserves, but have already played one more game.

In the first half, there was little to suggest that the Kleeblätter would win. RWO II struggled, found it difficult to get a foothold in the game and remained lackluster for long periods. Head coach Günter Abel had some strong words after the break: “What we showed on the pitch in the first half was simply awful. I had to act as a wake-up call during the break. I was actually glad when the referee finally blew the whistle for half-time.”

Abel reacted decisively, changing individual positions and bringing on Jussef Hassan, who went on to score the winning goal. The 20-year-old striker immediately sought depth and was rewarded for his commitment just nine minutes after the restart. A deep ball from Florian Abel reached Blonzo Tsapbeng, who kept his head up and served the onrushing Hassan perfectly – 1-0 in the 54th minute.

Sportfreunde continued to hold their own and equalized shortly afterwards: after a long ball into the penalty area, a Sterkrader attacker went down after a foul, and the resulting penalty kick made it 1-1.

But RWO II remained unfazed – and, above all, the game now had a clear protagonist. Just three minutes after the equalizer, Marcel Parak took a free kick from the halfway line into the penalty area, where Jussef Hassan was once again on hand to make it 2-1. Three minutes later, it was the same story: Florian Abel took a low corner, Hassan was in the right place at the right time and pushed the ball over the line to make it 3-1.

In the 88th minute, Hassan crowned his outstanding performance. After another attack, the striker kept his cool and scored a perfect hat trick to make it 4-1 – which was also the final score of a game that clearly went to the Red and Whites after the break.

“If we keep running into space, we’ll inevitably create opportunities and be able to create scoring chances. Jussef did that really well. He opened up space with his deep runs and took his chances with ice-cold precision. The three points are in the bag,” said Abel, who was ultimately satisfied.

Abel’s team will not play again until after Carnival: on February 22, 2026, the Kleeblätter will be guests of Blau-Weiß Fuhlenbrock’s second team at 1:15 p.m.