With two wins from two games, DJK Adler Union Frintrop are top of the table in the Landesliga Niederrhein Group 3. However, three key players will be absent for the upcoming match.
After two match days in the new season of the Landesliga Niederrhein Gruppe 3, the promoted and league newcomer DJK Adler Union Frintrop is at the top of the table. The team from the Wasserturm won their first two games and is the only team to have the full points tally. First they beat SC Germania Reusrath 5:0 and last Sunday (04 September) they celebrated a 3:1 victory against SC Velbert and took over the lead in the table.
However, the Eagles had to pay dearly for the first victory in the first Landesliga home match in their club’s history. Goal scorer Tommy Groll was sent off with a red card, while his team-mate Christian Büttner was shown a yellow card. Niklas Toepelt also injured his foot. “We are missing three absolute top players, which hurts,” admitted Adler coach Marcel Cornelissen, but also emphasised that there are still enough good players in the squad who can step in.
Laying the foundation for staying in the class with a good start
Although the three absences cast their shadow over the current situation, the Frintrop coach is delighted with the successful start to the season: “This is outstanding. No other team has six points, you can see how close it is in many games.” He particularly likes his team’s attitude: “We have had a high level of readiness for a long time. Our training participation is at 90 per cent.” The Adler coach identifies some “adjustment screws” that still need to be turned in the coming weeks in the following areas: “In the game with the ball, some processes are not yet so clean. In addition, we can still improve individually in the defensive duels.”
Cornelissen also thinks that a start with a small winning streak is important for the Frintrop team’s big goal of staying in the league: “We were flirting with a start like that. It’s important that we get into a certain frenzy and continue to carry along the great euphoria in the environment and the team. It’s much easier that way than to already be chasing after two matchdays.”
Next Sunday (11 September, 3 p.m.), the Eagles will continue against DV Solingen. If things continue to go so well for the Frintrop team, the top match against DJK Blau-Weiß Mintard could be on the agenda the following week. But Cornelissen doesn’t want to think about that for the time being: “The focus is on Solingen. They are a rival in the relegation battle that we want to distance ourselves from. We’ll see if there’s a top game against Mintard on Sunday evening. “