Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II remains firmly focused 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 victory.

Last Friday, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II was back in action in Kreisliga B, after league play had been on hiatus for nearly two months due to the winter break. And the start of the second half of the season went well: RWO II won 4-1 (0-0) against Sportfreunde 06 Sterkrade and defended its first-place position. Their biggest rival, Grün-Weiß Holten, is tied on points with RWO’s reserve team but has already played one more match.

Yet in the first half, there was little to suggest a victory for the Kleeblätter. RWO II struggled, barely made an impact, and looked lackluster for long stretches. Head coach Günter Abel had some strong words after the break: “What we showed on the field in the first half was simply awful. I had to step in as a wake-up call during the break. I was actually glad when the referee finally blew the whistle for halftime.”

Abel reacted decisively, shuffled some positions, and brought on Jussef Hassan, who would go on to be the match-winner. The 20-year-old striker immediately looked to get behind the defense and was rewarded for his effort just nine minutes after the restart. A long ball from Florian Abel reached Blonzo Tsapbeng, who kept his head up and delivered a perfect pass to the onrushing Hassan—1-0 in the 54th minute.

The Sportfreunde continued to hold their own and equalized shortly thereafter: After a long ball into the penalty area, a Sterkrade attacker went down following a foul, and the resulting penalty kick made it 1–1.

But RWO II remained unfazed—and, more importantly, the game now had a clear protagonist. Just three minutes after the equalizer, Marcel Parak sent a free kick from midfield into the penalty area, where Jussef Hassan was once again on hand to score the 2-1 goal. Another three minutes later, it was the same story: Florian Abel took a low corner kick, Hassan was lurking in the right spot and pushed the ball over the line to make it 3-1.

In the 88th minute, Hassan capped off his outstanding performance. After another attack, the striker remained ice-cold and sealed a flawless hat trick with his goal to make it 4-1—which was also the final score of a match that clearly went to the Red-Whites after the break.

“If we don’t keep closing down the spaces, we naturally create room and can create scoring opportunities. Jussef did that really well. He opened up spaces with his runs into the box and finished his chances with ice-cold precision. The three points are in the bag,” Abel said, ultimately satisfied.

Abel’s team won’t play again until after Carnival: On February 22, 2026, the Kleeblätter will visit the second team of Blau-Weiß Fuhlenbrock at 1:15 p.m.