Trailing the leader by five points, ESC Rellinghausen headed into the winter break in the Landesliga Niederrhein Division 2.
ESC Rellinghausen is one of VfB Bottrop’s most tenacious challengers in the race for promotion to the Oberliga. At the halfway point of the season, the Essen-based team trails the still-undefeated VfB by five points.
Coach Sascha Behnke emphasized just a few days ago that he still believes in the team’s chances: “From the start, our goal was to compete at the top, and that’s been working out pretty well so far. The two losses were frustrating and avoidable, but Bottrop will lose too. I definitely don’t see them as strong as Dingden or Frintrop were last season. The league is balanced, and that’s just the way it should be.”
Just in time for the turn of the year, ESC Rellinghausen was also able to end its mini-losing streak of two consecutive defeats with a derby win against FC Kray (2-1).
Sascha Behnke, how would you assess your team’s first half of the season?
We’ve had a great first half of the season, and we can be very satisfied with it. We’re continuing to pursue our goals and want to compete at the top. The league is evenly matched, and that makes it a lot of fun.
What has been the highlight for you so far?
The matches against SV Budberg, Sportfreunde Niederwenigern, and DJK Sportfreunde Katernberg were really good. That was a lot of fun. But Katernberg was more emotional, especially when you clinch the win with the very last play.
And what was the biggest negative experience?
All the losses, of course, though it’s not negative—or wasn’t—but simply avoidable.
Will there be changes to the roster during the winter break?
Two players who were at the back of the lineup will be leaving us, and as things stand, only one player—Maurice Muschalik—will be joining us. But we want to bring him back gradually after his ACL tear.
What is your goal for the rest of the season?
In the second half of the season, we’d like to build on our first-half performance and simply stay near the top.
