District league team DJK Sportfreunde Katernberg would also like to survive the intermediate round of the Essen Indoor City Championship. However, the goalscorer is out.
The 28th edition of the Essen Indoor City Championship kicked off on January 6. On the very first day, last year’s finalists DJK Sportfreunde Katernberg were challenged in a tough group with league rivals SV Burgaltendorf and Tusem Essen as well as Kreisliga A leaders Fatihspor Essen.
Katernberg did not show any weakness and won the group with nine out of nine possible points. Nevertheless, coach Sascha Fischer was not completely satisfied: “The performance was enough to finish first in the group, but we still expected more. If you want to go far, you have to show a lot more. But it’s also normal that you don’t show your best performance in the first round.”
Despite the flawless points haul, there was one major downer for Katernberg in the qualifying round: Goal scorer Kevin Zamkiewicz was shown a red card in the second game against Burgaltendorf. It was a very harsh decision. The referee had adjudged Zamkiewicz to have kicked the ball, but this was not visible on the video footage. The 34-year-old was therefore sent off in the intermediate round for no real reason.
Fischer couldn’t understand the referee’s decision at all: “I’m really angry. The referee told me after the game that Kevin had kicked with both legs. But the video clearly showed that he hadn’t done anything at all. Even a two-minute penalty would have been too much. I have no idea what the referee saw. That was really shockingly weak of him. But at least Kevin was only suspended for a week. “
We hope that we can compensate for Kevin’s absence. Last year, we even managed to replace three important players. We’ve got a tough group and will have to improve.
Sascha Fischer
Even without Zamkiewicz, the goal is clear: Katernberg wants to survive the intermediate round in order to be represented in the final weekend. The district league team has once again found itself in a challenging group.
The opponents are Oberliga side Adler Union Frintrop, ambitious Bezirksliga side Vogelheimer SV and A-league side NK Croatia. “We hope that we can compensate for the loss of Kevin. Last year, we even managed to replace three important players. We’ve got a tough group and will have to improve,” Fischer looks ahead.