Third division club Rot-Weiss Essen has reached the quarter-finals of the Niederrhein Cup. This is how Christoph Dabrowski sums up the team’s confident progress in Straelen.

After three league wins in a row, Rot-Weiss Essen traveled to Römerstraße on Tuesday evening with a sense of confidence. There, the third division club played against fifth division club SV Straelen in the Niederrhein Cup round of 16. “Last season showed us what can happen in the Niederrhein Cup,” said Christoph Dabrowski, warning of the knockout game.

What the coach meant was that RWE only escaped an early exit in the previous cup season by taking penalties against a lower-league opponent on two occasions.

However, the team from Essen managed to avoid another nail-biting game: Dabrowski’s team won 4:0 (2:0) at the fifth division club.

After an even opening, the visitors increasingly took control of the game. Ron Berlinski (37′) and Torben Müsel (40′) put the ball in the net with a double strike before half-time. Nils Kaiser (47′) and Moussa Doumbouya (88′) added two more goals in the second half. The team never looked back.

Dabrowski was understandably satisfied after advancing to the quarterfinals. “The opponent tried to make life difficult for us, keep a clean sheet for as long as possible and cause a few problems. We approached the game seriously. The fact that we were able to score two goals before half-time made life a lot easier for us. The 3-0 at half-time then gave us the necessary confidence to play out the game seriously,” said the 45-year-old.

I’m glad we won the game and are through to the next round. That was the clear goal. Every victory is important for self-confidence. This was the fourth victory in a row. We draw a lot of self-confidence from that.

Christoph Dabrowski.

Dabrowski continued: “I’m glad we won the game and are through to the next round. That was the clear goal. Every win is important for self-confidence. This was our fourth win in a row. We draw a lot of confidence from that. It was my first time in Straelen. This is a great facility. I would like to thank them for their hospitality and wish the club every success for the season.”

Rot-Weiss Essen continue in the 3rd division with a home double-header: the next two opponents are Arminia Bielefeld (November 4, 2 p.m.) and SV Waldhof Mannheim (November 12, 4:30 p.m.).