Third-division club Rot-Weiss Essen remains unbeaten in preparation. That’s what coach Christoph Dabrowski said after the 2:1 win against Ottensen.
After three training sessions in Wesendorf, Lower Saxony, the first test match of this year’s training camp was on the agenda for Rot-Weiss Essen on Wednesday evening. In Langlingen, RWE played against the ambitious northern regional league team Teutonia Ottensen.
After 90 minutes, the third division team won 2:1 (2:0). Essen took the lead in the eleventh minute through an own goal. Torben Müsel (37th) increased the lead to 2:0 with an impressive dipping shot after an assist from Nils Kaiser.
At the start of the second half, head coach Christoph Dabrowski made seven changes. With the exception of Felix Götze (precautionary measure), Felix Bastians (medical treatment, fit for action again on Saturday), Jakob Golz (antibiotic treatment) and Andreas Wiegel (stress management after injury), all members of the first team squad were used.
In the second half, there was hardly anything going forward against a well-performing regional league team, which even managed to get a goal back through Tobias Schwede (54th). The victory for the Red and Whites was alright after the entire course of the game, but there is still plenty of potential for improvement.
In the first half we allowed little and were able to create good chances after bell wins. The second half was not as compact overall. We didn’t have enough access and calmness in possession. We have room for improvement.
Christoph Dabrowski
The RWE coach took a similar view: “First of all, every win is good – even in a preparation that is exhausting. Ottensen has been our best opponent so far. They are very ambitious and challenged us well. In the first half, we didn’t allow much and created good chances after winning the bark. The second half was not as compact. We didn’t have enough grip and calmness in possession of the ball. We have room for improvement there. Those were two different halves again. But despite being tired, the boys marched and got a sense of achievement.”
Romero Gerres, a 15-year-old goalkeeper, was brought on in the final phase and made his debut shortly before the final whistle. Dabrowski explained the idea: “He is already a regular in our training sessions and has now also travelled to the training camp. We wanted to give the boy the feeling that we are supporting him and throwing him into a game like this. He is a promising talent, but he still needs time. That’s for sure.”
The Dabrowski eleven will play one more test match in the training camp. On Saturday (22 July, 1 p.m.), RWE will play against second-division team Eintracht Braunschweig. It will be the most demanding test of the preparation so far. Before that, there will be a total of three training sessions on Thursday and Friday.