A long-awaited feeling

“As a higher-class club, you have to win the game – especially us after our start,” said Torsten Lieberknecht after the 3-1 away win against FC Teutonia 05 from the Ottensen district of Hamburg: “It’s good for the team to have won a competitive game .” His captain that afternoon was also “happy that we won and progressed,” said Clemens Riedel: “In the cup, the main goal was to progress. We’ve fulfilled that.”

He and his team controlled the game, especially in the first half, and created several promising chances. Two of them resulted in goals: on the one hand, in the 19th minute, Kai Klefisch fired a spectacular shot into the top corner via the underside of the bar. On the other hand, the busy, constant hustler, Luca Marseiler, could only be stopped in the penalty area by a foul. Teammate Fabian Nürnberger placed his spot kick into the bottom corner whilst the goalkeeper dived to the opposite corner.

“We could perhaps have made it 3-0 or even 4-0 earlier, but then we got into a short, small whirlwind after the break,” says Riedel, summarising the periods before and after the half-time break. “We have to act more calmly,” criticised the 21-year-old. The Teutons intercepted a misplaced pass after 49 minutes and scored the next goal after their first shot was saved. Lieberknecht: “We made a mistake in the second half to bring Teutonia back into this cup game. We lacked security there.”

Because Oscar Vilhelmsson made it 3-1 after around an hour, the home supporters also had to get used to the idea that a cup sensation would probably not happen that afternoon. And the loud Lily fans who had travelled along came to the realisation that there would finally be a successful return trip to Darmstadt. Even if the home team playing at the Millerntor didn’t give up until the final whistle. But we stuck to ourselves and carried on,” said Klefisch: “It was then important to restore the old gap with the 3:1 and thus stop Teutonia’s upswing.”

In the end, the text doesn’t have to be too pathetic at this point. The South Hessians have completed their mandatory task and completed their cup homework. An overall lacklustre but safe victory. Before future first round draws, August 14, 2023 is probably mentioned as a warning example. August 18, 2024, however, remains a footnote in Darmstadt Cup history. In the present, however, it just feels nice to have achieved success and to leave the weekend with a positive feeling. With relief that other teams have to drink from the cup of early cup elimination this weekend, but not their own. And looking forward to the coming week. The first task in the cup has been solved. Next task: collect something worthwhile next weekend.