DJK Adler Union Frintrop played their last game of the season in the Oberliga Niederrhein last Sunday. Now it’s a case of watching and hoping.

The situation for DJK Adler Union Frintrop could hardly be more unpleasant. On the final matchday, the Essen team can only watch and must hope for help in the relegation battle in the Oberliga Niederrhein.

Last Sunday, Frintrop were held to a 2-2 draw at 1. FC Kleve. “There was more in it when you see how the goal was scored. From a deflected cross. We didn’t concede much out of the game. I would have liked to keep the lead for longer and I think we would have won it then. The team still gave everything they had,” said coach Marcel Cornelissen.

Union are now 15th in the table, two points ahead of TSV Meerbusch. Although this would currently save them, Cornelissen is aware: “On the last matchday, the team that still has something at stake usually wins.”

Despite a Meerbusch win, a defeat by Mülheimer FC 97 could see the team slip into a deciding round, but the Frintrop coach believes that is unrealistic: “We’re not expecting a deciding game. TVD Velbert are playing such a disastrous second half of the season, they can’t really win it.”

This was another reason why the mood after the final whistle on Sunday was depressed: “It felt like relegation,” explained the head coach. “The most likely scenario is that we slip below the bottom on Sunday.” However, he also explained that the whole thing feels more hopeful with a little distance

The most likely scenario is that we slip below the line on Sunday.

Marcel Cornelissen

“Two days later, it feels a little more like hope,” he explained. Nevertheless, he knows: “Unfortunately, it’s out of our hands. We’re putting everything on Hilden.” Cornelissen says that some of his players will travel to Meerbusch to watch the game against VfB 03 Hilden. The head coach himself will not be there.

Relegation was just a tactical foul away

One game in particular remains in Cornelissen’s mind: the 3:3 against TVD Velbert around two weeks ago. Frintrop only scored the opening goal in the 88th minute to take a 3-2 lead. Velbert were then awarded a penalty in stoppage time and equalized at the last second.

“The fact that we were awarded a penalty against Velbert in the last action of the game is what could cost us everything in the end. If we run towards the corner flag or draw a tactical foul in midfield, then we’re saved now,” said the coach.

Regardless of the outcome of the season on Sunday, Cornelissen once again praised his team: “What the team has achieved is outstanding. We’ve developed tremendously. Even if Hilden doesn’t pull it off for us on Sunday, the team did a great job that nobody would have thought we could do. “