With a 4:1 win against RSV Meinerzhagen, Holzwickeder SC reclaims the top spot in the Westfalenliga table. Nevertheless, the coach does not want to talk about promotion.
After two consecutive games without a win, in particular a surprising defeat against Hombrucher SV, Holzwickeder SC, who have been spoiled for success this season, had resolved to make amends against RSV Meinerzhagen in front of their home crowd.
HSC successfully shook off their brief period of weakness and won 4:1 against the visitors from the Sauerland region, who thus bid farewell to the promotion race.
Coach Benjamin Hartlieb was suitably satisfied afterwards. “After the defeat, it was important for us to show an appropriate reaction. I think we did that very well. We knew that this was a game that would be decided by the intensity of the tackles. We took them on and won them at the right moments. We kept our heads up even after missing a few chances to score and rewarded ourselves with goals at the right and important times,” he said happily.
The 1:0 through Connor Mc Leod (41′) came after a weak phase shortly before half-time, the goals for 2:0 (65′) and 3:0 (70′) in the middle of a strong phase of the opponent. The HSC coach, who had only substituted Uzun in the 64th minute, proved to have a lucky hand. After a curious situation, the joker even scored to make it 4:0 (88′).
The HSC coach highlighted three other players in particular. Alongside returnees Damjam Ilic and Philipp Gödde, who immediately impressed with their presence on the pitch, it was Felix Hacker in particular who “kept us in the game at the important moments”.
Despite the renewed leap to the top of the table and the upcoming summit meeting with Concordia Wiemelhausen after the Easter break, Hartlieb does not want to explicitly state promotion as a goal when asked. The coach, who is leaving at the end of the season, simply plans to “have as much fun as possible” with the team over the next two months. However, nobody at the club is ruling out the possibility that they would also enjoy promotion.
The situation is different for their opponents from Sauerland. Playing assistant coach Raphael Gräßer, who stood in for head coach Serkan Kabasakal, reported after the final whistle that they were not pursuing promotion as a goal. “We’re actually satisfied with our season, even if we’re in no man’s land in the table. Maybe now is the time to say, okay, we no longer have anything to do with what happens at the top. We have to finish the rest of the season well,” he said, wishing his opponents luck. Meinerzhagen are in fifth place with 33 points and RSV are eight points off the top