Landesligist Tusem Essen lost 5-1 at SC Velbert in a make-up game, but coach Carsten Isenberg is already focusing on the derby on Friday.
As a promoted team, you often pay dearly at the beginning of the season. Tusem Essen also had to make this unwanted experience on Wednesday evening. The newcomers to the Landesliga actually travelled to SC Velbert, who were relegated from the Oberliga, with a lot of self-confidence after their 4:2 opening win against SpVgg Steele, but in the post-season game, the men of promotion coach Carsten Isenberg conceded a clear 1:5 (0:4) defeat. Velbert already led 4:0 after 45 minutes.
After the final whistle, the coach said the defeat was well-deserved, but too high: “It was a bad day for us. We started the game in the worst possible way and fell behind early on due to an absolutely ridiculous penalty. That threw our whole plan out of kilter. After that, we were actually quite good in the game, but the opponent was very effective and scored a goal with almost every attack. We didn’t perform like we did against Steele and made too many simple mistakes. We have to put that behind us. “
Rellinghausen are the clear favourites, they are among the promotion contenders. They are a seasoned, robust Landesliga team with a high level of individual quality. But I am convinced that we will play better than in Velbert.
Carsten Isenberg before the Essen derby
In any case, there is not much time to work through the clear defeat. Because: Tusem is already back in action on Friday evening (09 September, 19.15). The Essen derby against ESC Rellinghausen, one of the strongest teams in the Landesliga, is on the agenda. The 39-year-old Isenberg sees his team in the underdog role: “Rellinghausen are the clear favourites, they are among the candidates for promotion. They are a seasoned, robust Landesliga team with a high level of individual quality. But I am convinced that we will play a better game than we did in Velbert. We’ll have to wait and see whether we’ll be able to score. Once again, Rellinghausen are the clear favourites. “