With a win against Kray, SF Niederwenigern could take a big step forward. Coach Kraushaar talks about the cup defeat, the opponent, and avoiding relegation.

After being relegated from the Oberliga Niederrhein, Sportfreunde Niederwenigern struggled for a long time to find their footing in the Landesliga as well. Throughout the first half of the season, the team was inconsistent and consequently battled relegation the entire time.

However, the guys from the Glück-Auf-Sportplatz seem to have made good use of the winter break. Coach Marcel Kraushaar’s team has lost only one of six games since the season resumed in early February. They’ve earned thirteen points from those six matches. That’s clearly reflected in the standings.

Niederwenigern currently sits in eleventh place and is a full ten points clear of the relegation spot. But that’s exactly what could make things exciting again. Niederwenigern faces FC Kray—which currently occupies the relegation spot—on Sunday, March 29.

With a win and a twelve-point lead, the guys from Hattingen would likely be out of the relegation battle. Coach Kraushaar, however, remains cautious: “I wouldn’t go that far yet—there are still too many games left to play. Of course, we want to keep Kray at bay—a win would help with that.“

”We’ve discussed the entire first half of the season honestly and openly with the coaching staff and the team and drawn our conclusions from it.

Marcel Kraushaar

A loss, on the other hand, would be anything but ideal. Kray would close the gap on Niederwenigern to seven points, and the Sportfreunde would suddenly find themselves looking over their shoulders more than they’d like.

The Sportfreunde should be wary of this, as FC Kray won the cup match between the two teams in early February by a score of 4–2. “Kray deserved to advance in the cup. They always had a lot of energy on the field, were very active, and pressed us high up the field. We had major problems with that,” says Kraushaar, explaining FCK’s strengths.

But now the team should be prepared for that and, above all, hold their ground. The team has already proven that it can bounce back well from setbacks. “We discussed the entire first half of the season honestly and openly with the coaching staff and the team and drew our conclusions from it,” says Kraushaar.

Sportfreunde Niederwenigern can only hope that they, too, have drawn these conclusions from their loss to Kray and will put on a different performance on Sunday.