VfL Bochum II’s first home win in the Regionalliga came in February against SV Rödinghausen. Coach Heiko Butscher praised the manner in which it was achieved.

VfL Bochum II welcomed SV Rödinghausen on Saturday afternoon for a basement battle in the Regionalliga West. The second team had yet to win at home this season, but finally did so against SVR with a 2-0 victory.

VfL desperately needed the points to stay in touch with the safety zone. After their first home win, they are still in 16th place in the table, but Wuppertaler SV are within striking distance with only two points and one game more. Rödinghausen, in 14th place, also have 18 points – just two more than Bochum.

Heiko Butscher’s team started the game in dominant fashion. Rödinghausen could hardly break free and VfL created chances. Initially from set pieces, later through their play. Niklas Jahn got the ball rolling, curling in the opening goal to make it 1-0 (14′).

It was only after the break that the visitors found their feet. Rödinghausen tried to press high up the pitch on occasion and win the ball back in the VfL zone. But the second team managed to break free well. During SVR’s best phase, Luis Hartwig scored the 2-0 (58th minute), sealing the victory.

“That was an incredibly important win for us. Now the curse is finally off our home games. We didn’t concede anything at the back, which is just a really good feeling,” said VfL II coach Butscher shortly after the game.

VfL could have won by an even bigger margin. Bochum missed several chances to score, especially in the first half. Louis Köster missed the target twice in two minutes and ended up in the back of the net himself. “As in previous games, we played very well. But today we were also very dangerous in front of goal. We could have, or even should have, scored a lot more goals in the first half. We also had a few chances in the second half, but the way we played was important. We showed that we can win home games and are far from finished,” explained Butscher.

The next task for VfL Bochum II is Borussia Dortmund II (February 15, 2 p.m.). “We’re back in the game. Dortmund is superior to us in terms of quality, but we’ve seen many times that you can beat teams like that on a good day,” said the VfL II coach, looking ahead.