FC Karnap 07/27 are floundering in the middle of the pack in the Kreisliga A. For a long time, things were looking good for the newly promoted team from Essen – but then things took a turn for the worse.

For a long time, FC Karnap 07/27 was in the thick of the promotion race in the Kreisliga A. Now, however, they are only in seventh place after the first half of the season. Instead of being a top team, the newly promoted team from Karnap is only in the middle of the pack and, with a 14-point gap to league leaders Fatihspor, has probably had no part in the promotion race.

Karnap coach Daniel Jost on…

The first half of the season: “We’re quite satisfied. We’re exactly where we hoped to be – in a secure mid-table position. We didn’t really have any great ambitions to reach the top as newly promoted players. So things are looking really good for us.”

What has been your best moment?: “That would have to be the first match day against Spvg Schonnebeck II. All the effort and work of the last season was finally rewarded with this moment of being able to play in the district league. That feeling was really nice. On top of that, we even won the game 3-2. That was a really great start to the season.”

What was your worst moment?: “It’s a bit of a paradox, but I can mention the second leg against Schonnebeck right now. It wasn’t in the first half of the season, but at the start of the second half of the season, we lost three players at once. Unfortunately, they all even suffered serious injuries. Torn ligaments, broken ankles and what not.”

Goals for the new year: “It’s simple: We want to collect as many points as we possibly can. I’m someone who actually likes to think small. That way, you can’t be particularly disappointed at the end. The goal I would set myself now would be to finish the season in a single-digit place in the table. If it were up to my absolute dream, I would just say top 5 now. That would be great.”