Madness in the Oberliga Niederrhein. The top teams are playing as if nobody wants to get promoted. And at the moment, that could really happen.
What a strange season in the Oberliga Niederrhein. After KFC Uerdingen’s 3:1 (0:3) defeat at TSV Meerbusch and Ratingen’s 3:1 defeat against Baumberg, the Oberliga is in danger of ending up with nobody being promoted.
Frontrunners Baumberg will forgo their license, as will the new runners-up from Schonnebeck. Should VfB Hilden climb to third place – they have not applied for a regional league license either – then no team will be promoted.
This is because a potential promoted team – KFC Uerdingen, Ratingen 04/19 and ETB SW Essen have applied for a license – must occupy one of the top three places in sporting terms.
Otherwise, no team will be promoted. And Ratingen and Uerdingen are currently working in lockstep to ensure that exactly this scenario occurs. Ratingen have lost three of their last four games.
Uerdingen’s run has been a little more rounded, but they keep having lapses. For example, the 1:3 in Nettetal, now the embarrassment at the penultimate – when it was already 0:3 after 35 minutes.
The Krefeld team even missed the big chance shortly after the changeover to make it 1:3 in the form of Dimitrios Touratzidis, who missed a penalty. A short time later, another penalty was awarded and Alexander Lipinski reduced the deficit for the favorites
Both sides then had chances, all of which were missed. At one point, the game even threatened to be abandoned after Uerdingen spectators threw drinks at the Meerbusch players following a scuffle.
This action led to a break, after which KFC were unable to get back into the match. As a result, the score remained 1:3 – to make matters worse, Touratzidis was shown a yellow card and will miss the next match. And that was indeed a sending-off for stupidity, as he received yellow cards for a shot into the crowd and then one for complaining.
Meerbusch will continue on Sunday (April 28, 3 p.m.) with the basement duel in Hamborn. KFC Uerdingen play at home against Adler Union Frintrop on Saturday (April 27, 6 p.m.)
