Wuppertal suffered yet another embarassing defeat, this time at home 2-3 to neighbors SSVg Velbert. And since Fortuna Düsseldorf II shocked Viktoria Köln on the road, it comes down to the last game. And WSV has to travel to Verl, which could be a tough assignment, while the mini Düssels get to play the already relegated mini-Duisburgers.

If you look at the table below, you can see how precarious the situation is. If WSV fails to win, there’s a good chance that they’ll go down. 15th spot means relegation, as Aachen is coming down from the 3.Liga. With Oberliga champions coming up (Uerdingen, Euskirchen, Lippstadt, Wattenscheid) that means too many clubs. The Regionalliga West is also scheduled to reduce to 18 clubs. From what I’ve been able to piece together, that means 15th spot is doomed as well.

So the “Initiative WSV 2.0″ wants voluntary relegation and administration along with a new start. The Runge cronies have been claiming Regionalliga or bust, but it sounds like the Oberliga is becoming a reality anyway because of their own incompetance. The good news is that as long as the request for administration is in by June 30, they wouldn’t get relegated down to the Verbandsliga as a penalty…Seriously, the WSV 2.0 is the only way forward, it’s bad enough WSV is the laughingstock of German football…to think that this is a club that has beaten both Champions League finalists in the Bundesliga days…

REGIONALLIGA WEST

 1  Sportfreunde Lotte	  	37    25   8   4    69:27  +42 	  83
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Fortuna Köln	  	37    25   4   8    68:30  +38 	  79 
 3  FC Schalke 04 II	  	37    20   8   9    61:37  +24 	  68 
 4  Sportfreunde Siegen (N)	37    19   7  11    58:42  +16 	  64 
 5  Rot-Weiss Essen	  	37    18   9  10    62:50  +12 	  63 
 6  FC Viktoria Köln (N)	37    18   7  12    75:62  +13 	  61 
 7  Borussia M'gladbach II	37    16   6  15    53:49  +4 	  54
 8  SC Wiedenbrück 2000	  	37    15   6  16    55:54  +1 	  51 
 9  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	37    15   5  17    49:56  -7 	  50 
10  SC Verl	  	        37    12  11  14    64:55  +9 	  47 
11  Bayer 04 Leverkusen II	37    13   8  16    45:51  -6 	  47 
12  SSVg Velbert (N)	  	37    13   8  16    43:56  -13 	  47 
13  VfL Bochum II	  	37    11  13  13    47:41  +6 	  46 
14  Wuppertaler SV 	  	37    11  13  13    51:51   0 	  46
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Fortuna Düsseldorf II	37    12  10  15    42:47  -5 	  46
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Köln II	  	37    10   9  18    59:61  -2 	  39 
17  VfB Hüls (N)	  	37    11   6  20    46:70  -24 	  39 
18  SV Bergisch Gladbach (N)	37    10   6  21    43:74  -31 	  36 
19  MSV Duisburg II (N)	  	37     8   9  20    32:67  -35 	  33 
20  FC Kray (N)	  	        37     9   5  23    33:75  -42 	  32

Wuppertaler SV continues as the laughing stock of German football. After several horrible games the club decied to take “decisive” action…and fired the head coach, Peter Radowjewski. In theory, WSV could still get relegated from the Regionalliga West, as their collapse has left them only 7 points above the drop zone, although I would think it would be pretty hard to make that “achievement”.

Much more interesting is what’s been going on behind the scenes. A few months ago the “sugar daddy” President, Friedhelm Runge, finally resigned after being fed up being constantly verbally abused by the local fans. Now he’s put a lot of money into the club (mainly as the owner of the main sponsor, EMKA), but he’s also run it like a dictator for over 20 years. So most fans felt “good riddance”. However, he apparently appointed some puppets to run the club in his absence, and they have suitably acted like his lapdogs. He doesn’t want to let go, and the recent coach firing has his fingerprints all over it.

Now recently there has been an interesting development, as some members and businessmen have launched the “Initiative WSV 2.0” which seeks a rebirth of the club. As part of the rebirth, the club would go into voluntary insolvency, which would mean forcible relegation into the 5th division Oberliga. While this sounds drastic, this seems the only way for the club to start fresh, and would mean cutting the ties with Runge and his cronies. The budget would be slashed to around 800,000 euros, of which only about 300,000 would be for the first team. (Much else for WSV-II and youth squads). The plan would be a gradual buildup to competitiveness with the eventual goal of “finally watching WSV on TV again” (which basically means the 3.Liga). It’s not too far-fetched, as the WSV-II squad is already in the Oberliga and in the upper half of the table. But the emphasis would be on sound financial management and partnerships with the city and business.

Predictably, the current leaders didn’t comment until Runge had his say. First of all, EMKA would withdraw sponsorship if the club went into insolvency. Instead, their “plan” is to keep WSV “in the highest possible division” and then get promoted. Supposedly this would mean a budget of 3.5 million euros and a “star ensemble” to gain promotion to the 3.Liga. Presumably this money would come from Runge and EMKA, since nobody else would try and fund this silliness. (And of course the club would assume even more debt). The point was made that “it’s insane to voluntarily go down” and only “Rot-Weiss Essen was successful in doing so, and they’re a bigger club and city than Wuppertal”. Well, they are correct that RWE has been rebuilding, and draws pretty decent crowds in the Regionalliga. And they seem on the right track to challenge for 3.Liga promotion soon. But they’re starting with a sound base, which is clearly lacking at WSV.

Anyway, a “extraordinary” membership meeting will be called and the membership will have a vote. The WSV2.0 crowd are running a slate of candidates to support insolvency and restructuring, and of course the current incumbent clowns want to “stay the course”.
Conspiracy theorists are already telling tales of missing invitations.

This is an interesting story, because it’s not unusual in the lower divisions of German football, far removed from “37 million for Mario Götze” that is plastered all over the place. But the trials and tribulations of the small clubs is what gives German football it’s edge, so it’s worth being reminded of it every once in a while….

Haven’t really said much about Wuppertal recently, since the news almost always sucks. That’s what happens when you are bound at the hip by a crap club like I am…

Another miserable performance and expectations of another worthless winterbreak. But this time, it really happened: Runge ist raus!

Friedhelm Runge has been president of WSV for about 20 years, and has been the patron of the club. While he obviously is no Dietmar Hopp, Runge has invested a lot of his personal fortune into the club (I think he owns some industrial locks company). In fact, a few years ago the club was bankrupt, so he covered the debts from his personal account. You can’t accuse him of not being loyal to the club.

So you would think that the fans would be grateful, but for from it. Runge’s “Reign of Error” has seen WSV basically collapse as a viable contender, and the attendance has plummeted. He seems to have antagonized other potential sponsors – or at least his detractors say. In any case, as the club has continued to sink, he’s come under continued massive criticism, and after threatening over the years, finally decided to step down. Now the club is in chaotic financial state, so we’ll have to see what happens. If the club survives, it will probably be a good thing, at least if it establishes itself as a true fan/member run club again.

The club owes Runge some 2.5 million euros in loans, but the terms require repayment only when the club is in the black. So no crisis there. The new leadership estimates that the club is covered through March 31st, and appears confident that additional funds will allow WSV to avoid bankruptcy.

The whole story illustrates that although German football clubs don’t have individual owners, so you can’t have some wanker buy the club as a personal toy like in the EPL, money still has a way of influencing the club and giving these guys too much power.

As far as winter training is concerned, WSV has been playing “test” matches against a variety of clubs. 1-1 at Elversberg (Regionalliga Sud leader), 0-1 against Stuttgarter Kickers (3.Liga) and a few others. Ho hum…

Another worthless draw for Wuppertal, and a negative record as well. Officially, only 725 fans showed up (other sources gave a generous 753, but the lower number are official WSV numbers). It’s been pretty pathetic since the days of 30,000+ in battles against Düsseldorf and Bayern München, but this has got to take the cake. You figured things might suck when the club announced that it was temporarily banning all “flags and banners” because of fan behaviour at the last match against Essen. (Supposedly smoke bombs and rockets were hidden among the banners). Anyway, the WSV-Ultras responsible announced they would boycott, and since they’re about the only folks that even show up these days, I guess it would suck at the gate. Another silly direction by WSV, especially since they announced that they were going to allow banners and flags at later matches anyway. A game of chicken where both sides get the big “L”.

As for the match itself, not much to report except the usual suckitude. WSV started brightly, especially Tom Moosmayer pulling strings in midfield. Marco Neppe crossed in, and Christian Knappmann rose above everyone and headed in from 14 meters. His 12th goal, off last season’s pace, but still respectable. WSV had a few chances, but as usual wasted them disgracefully. Meanwhile, Verl barely crossed midfield, but eventually managed to get a shot off and equalized. Then they pulled everything back and dared WSV to do anything, clearly a suckers bet, since obviously WSV wouldn’t be able to score again, despite some decent opportunities.

BTW, if you’d like a nice perspective of WSV and Regionalliga football, check out Lenny Barea’s description of the WSV-Essen match last weekend: http://gomadorstopcaring.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/away-day-diary-wuppertaler-sv-borussia_30.html

WSV: 
Semmler – 
Schumacher, Reichert, Wiwerink, El Hammouchi – 
Neppe (81. Abel), Meier, Fleßers, Moosmayer, Quotschalla (75. Knetsch) – 
Knappmann. 
Trainer: Jörg Jung 

SC Verl: 
Mellwig – 
Reekers, Schmidt, Capretti, Kaminski – 
Bömer Schulte, Schröder –
Brinker (55. Krause), Haeder (83. Manstein), Großeschallau –
Kunstmann (89. Betram). 
Trainer: Raimund Bertels 

Scoring: 
1:0 Knappmann (30.)
1:1 Großeschallau (54.) 

Yellow cards: Brinker, Capretti, Krause, Haeder 

Referee: Niolaus Athanassiadis (Bad Salzdetfurth) 

Attendance: 725 (Stadion-Am-Zoo, Wuppertal)

REGIONALLIGA WEST
 	
SpFr Siegen	        -   Rot-Weiss Essen	     5:1 (4:0)   2,384
SpFr Lotte	        -   SSVg Velbert	     2:0 (0:0)     473
Wuppertaler SV 	        -   SC Verl	             1:1 (1:0)     753
Borussia M'gladbach II  -   Fortuna Köln	     0:3 (0:0)     380
FC Viktoria Köln	-   SV Bergisch Gladbach 09  4:4 (3:1)     915
SC Wiedenbrück 2000	-   VfB Hüls	             2:1 (0:1)     207
FC Schalke 04 II	-   Bayer Leverkusen II	     0:0 (0:0)     125
FC Kray	                -   Rot-Weiß Oberhausen	     1:0 (0:0)     590
VfL Bochum II	        -   1. FC Köln II	     1:3 (0:2)     150
MSV Duisburg II	        -   Fortuna Düsseldorf II    0:0 (0:0)     100


 1  Fortuna Köln	  	19    13  2   4     38:16  +22 	  41
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  FC Viktoria Köln (N)	19    12  4   3     46:24  +22 	  40 
 3  Sportfreunde Lotte	  	19    11  5   3     36:19  +17 	  38 
 4  FC Schalke 04 II	  	19    11  5   3     32:16  +16 	  38 
 5  Sportfreunde Siegen (N)	20    11  4   5     35:18  +17 	  37 
 6  Rot-Weiss Essen	  	19    10  6   3     31:24  +7 	  36 
 7  SC Verl	  	        20    7   7   6     40:30  +10 	  28 
 8  Wuppertaler SV 	  	19    7   7   5     31:26  +5 	  28 
 9  1. FC Köln II	  	19    7   6   6     35:32  +3 	  27 
10  VfL Bochum II	  	19    7   3   9     21:26  -5 	  24 
11  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	19    7   2   10    28:36  -8 	  23 
12  Bayer Leverkusen II	  	19    6   4   9     24:29  -5 	  22 
13  SSVg Velbert (N)	  	19    6   4   9     18:29  -11 	  22 
14  SV Bergisch Gladbach 09 (N)	19    6   3   10    20:34  -14 	  21
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15  SC Wiedenbrück 2000	  	19    5   5   9     27:34  -7 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  MSV Duisburg II (N)	  	19    4   7   8     20:27  -7 	  19 
17  Borussia M'gladbach II	19    5   3   11    17:33  -16 	  18 
18  FC Kray (N)	  	        19    5   2   12    20:38  -18 	  17 
19  VfB Hüls (N)	  	19    4   4   11    19:36  -17 	  16 
20  Fortuna Düsseldorf II	19    3   5   11    20:31  -11 	  14

Top club to playoffs. 
Bottom 5 clubs relegated, 15th relegated depending on 3.Liga

… that could have been a win.

This traditional rivalry continues down in the 4th division, but the days of a sold out Zoo-Stadion are long gone. Wuppertalers have essentially given up on WSV, so perhaps half the stands had Essen travellers. Still, this is the hottest derby for the two sides, especially for Wuppertal…the old enemies Bochum and Dusseldorf have long since left them in the dust. Actually, the same could be said for Essen, who might get their traditional rival Borussia Dortmund, but these days at best the BVB II.

The first half was balanced, with neither team really doing anything to upset the other side. In the second half things opened up a bit, with WSV grabbing the quick lead. Christian Knappmann was once again the catalyst, as his headed ball bounced off a defender into the net. A few minutes later it once again Knappmann with the header, this time into the goal. With a 2-0 lead, WSC looked golden. But this is WSV, so you knew they would start sucking. And sure enough, intense RWE pressure soon bore fruit, and the visitors came storming back. Then in injury time, it could have been a disaster. A dubious foul call gifted RWE a penalty. Ellmann stepped up, but WSV GK Christoph Semmler made the great save to preserve the draw, which ultimately was a fair result. If they had lost, a lynching of the referee would have been justifiable homicide.

Wuppertaler SV 	  -    Rot-Weiss Essen	   2:2 (0:0)

1:0 Rodenberg (52., own goal) 	  
2:0 Knappmann (62.) 	  
2:1 Heppke (69.)
2:2 Sawin (79.)

Attendance: 5,480 (Stadion Am Zoo, Wuppertal)

WUPPERTAL: 
Semmler – Schumacher, Reichert, Wiwerink, El Hammouchi – Meier, Moosmayer – Neppe (84. Cornelius), Fleßers, Boztepe (75. Quotschalla) – Knappmann (90. Wassinger). 
Trainer: Jörg Jung 

RW ESSEN: 
Lamczyk – Dombrowka, Laletin, Rodenberg, Guirino (84. Tokat) – Heppke – Avci, Pires-Rodrigues (62. Lemke) , Grund – Sawin, Koep (73. Ellmann). 
Trainer: Waldemar Wrobel 

Yellows: Neppe, Semmler - Guirino, Laletin 

Referee: Thorben Siewer (Drolshagen) 
 
REGIONALLIGA WEST

MSV Duisburg II	        -   1. FC Köln II	     1:1 (0:1)      90
Sportfreunde Lotte	-   Sportfreunde Siegen	     4:1 (3:0)     780
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen	-   Bayer Leverkusen II	     2:1 (1:1)   1,652
Wuppertaler SV 	        -   Rot-Weiss Essen	     2:2 (0:0)   5,480
VfL Bochum II	        -   SSVg Velbert	     1:2 (1:1)     170
Borussia M'gladbach II  -   SC Verl	             4:1 (3:1)     276
FC Viktoria Köln	-   Fortuna Köln	     1:3 (0:0)   6,214
SC Wiedenbrück 2000	-   Fortuna Düsseldorf II    2:2 (2:0)     230
FC Schalke 04 II	-   SV Bergisch Gladbach 09  1:1 (1:1) 	   169
FC Kray	                -   VfB Hüls	             2:0 (1:0)     349


 1  Fortuna Köln	  	18   12   2   4    35:16  +19 	  38
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  FC Schalke 04 II	  	18   11   4   3    32:16  +16 	  37
 3  FC Viktoria Köln (N)	17   11   3   3    40:19  +21 	  36
 4  Rot-Weiss Essen	  	17   10   5   2    29:18  +11 	  35
 5  Sportfreunde Lotte	  	17   10   4   3    33:18  +15 	  34
 6  Sportfreunde Siegen (N)	18    9   4   5    29:17  +12 	  31
 7  Wuppertaler SV Bor.	  	18    7   6   5    30:25  +5 	  27 
 8  SC Verl	  	        18    6   6   6    34:28  +6 	  24
 9  VfL Bochum II	  	17    7   3   7    19:18  +1 	  24
10  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	17    7   2   8    28:34  -6 	  23
11  SSVg Velbert (N)	  	18    6   4   8    18:27  -9 	  22
12  1. FC Köln II	  	17    5   6   6    30:30   0 	  21 
13 SV Bergisch Gladbach (N)	17    6   2   9    16:27  -11 	  20
14  Bayer Leverkusen II	  	17    5   3   9    23:29  -6 	  18
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15  MSV Duisburg II (N)	  	18    4   6   8    20:27  -7 	  18
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Borussia M'gladbach II	17    5   3   9    16:28  -12 	  18 
17  VfB Hüls (N)	  	18    4   4   10   18:34  -16 	  16 
18  SC Wiedenbrück 2000	  	17    3   5   9    22:33  -11 	  14 
19  FC Kray (N)	  	        17    4   2   11   19:37  -18 	  14 
20  Fortuna Düsseldorf II       17    3   4   10   19:29  -10 	  13



Top club to playoffs. 
Bottom 5 clubs relegated, 15th relegated depending on 3.Liga

Actually, it was a pretty good match. This was interim coach Jörg Jung’s first match, and at least WSV showed some will. Siegen pressured WSV throughout the match, but the Wuppertal defense was well organized. Rashid El-Hammouchi, back in the line-up, especially was a vaccuum-cleaner, sweeping up everything. The Bergisch-Lions also launched some decent counters, and came close to taking the lead on a few locations. It was an intense battle that engaged the fans (including 250 travelling Wuppertalers), but things eventually petered out. After about 70 minutes, both sides were exhausted and just kicked the ball around waiting for the whistle.

Next week is the traditional battle with Rot-Weiss Essen…

Sportfreunde Siegen: 
Koczor – 
Dalman, Binder, Klippel, Weber – 
Zeh, Grebe – 
Jakobs, Schattner, Dej (61. Veselinovic) – 
Michel. 
Trainer: Michael Boris 

WSV: 
Semmler – 
Neppe, Reichert, Wiwerink, El Hammouchi – 
Meier, Moosmayer – 
Landers (26. Abel), Boztepe (80. Wassinger), Cornelius (88. Schumacher) – 
Knappmann. 
Trainer: Jörg Jung 

Yellow cards: Klippel - Meier 

Ref: Cetin Sevinc (Waltrop) 

Attendance: 1,967(Leimbachstadion, Siegen)


REGIONALLIGA WEST
 	
Sportfreunde Lotte	-   Rot-Weiß Oberhausen     4:1 (2:0)     972
VfB Hüls	        -   Bayer Leverkusen II     2:3 (2:2)     230
SV Bergisch Gladbach 	-   FC Kray	            2:0 (0:0)     515
Fortuna Köln	        -   SC Wiedenbrück 2000     2:0 (1:0)     796
Fortuna Düsseldorf II	-   FC Schalke 04 II	    0:1 (0:1)     150
1. FC Köln II	        -   FC Viktoria Köln	    2:2 (0:1)   1,946
Rot-Weiss Essen	        -   VfL Bochum II	    2:1 (1:0)   7,142
SSVg Velbert	        -   Borussia M'gladbach II  2:0 (1:0)     200
Sportfreunde Siegen	-   Wuppertaler SV 	    0:0 (0:0)   1,967
SC Verl	                -   MSV Duisburg II	    1:1 (0:0)     250


 1  FC Viktoria Köln (N)	16    11   3   2    39:16  +23 	  36
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  FC Schalke 04 II	  	17    11   3   3    31:15  +16 	  36 
 3  Fortuna Köln	  	17    11   2   4    32:15  +17 	  35 
 4  Rot-Weiss Essen	  	16    10   4   2    27:16  +11 	  34
 5  Sportfreunde Siegen (N)	17     9   4   4    28:13  +15 	  31 
 6  Sportfreunde Lotte	  	16     9   4   3    29:17  +12 	  31
 7  Wuppertaler SV 	  	17     7   5   5    28:23  +5 	  26 
 8  SC Verl	  	        17     6   6   5    33:24  +9 	  24 
 9  VfL Bochum II	  	16     7   3   6    18:16  +2 	  24 
10  1. FC Köln II	  	16     5   5   6    29:29   0 	  20 
11  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	16     6   2   8    26:33  -7 	  20 
12  SSVg Velbert (N)	  	17     5   4   8    16:26  -10 	  19 
13  SV Bergisch Gladbach 09 (N)	16     6   1   9    15:26  -11 	  19 
14  Bayer Leverkusen II	  	16     5   3   8    22:27  -5 	  18
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15  MSV Duisburg II (N)	  	17     4   5   8    19:26  -7 	  17
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  VfB Hüls (N)	  	17     4   4   9    18:32  -14 	  16 
17  Borussia M'gladbach II	16     4   3   9    12:27  -15 	  15 
18  SC Wiedenbrück 2000	  	16     3   4   9    20:31  -11 	  13 
19  Fortuna Düsseldorf II	16     3   3  10    17:27  -10 	  12 
20  FC Kray (N)	  	        16     3   2  11    17:37  -20 	  11

Top club to playoffs. 
Bottom 5 clubs relegated, 15th relegated depending on 3.Liga

In a somewhat surprising move, Wuppertaler SV fired head coach Hans-Günter Bruns today. He’ll be replaced assistant Jörg Jung. Bruns had taken over in September 2011, and the performance has been largely mediocre. So it that sense, I suppose it’s not a bad move, since the team has pretty much continued to suck. On other hand, the board has shown almost decades of incompetence, so it’s hard to believe that things are going to get any better.

The good news is that WSV sucked on Friday night, so at least folks can enjoy their weekend.
The team pretty much stunk from the start, hardly creating any chances. Coach Bruns basically said they were crap and that he couldn’t blame the fans going home pissed off. (Or at least “pissed” in the British sense). Anyway, the less said about this, the better.

Wuppertaler SV 	  -   Sportfreunde Lotte	 	0:1 (0:0)

 0:1  Dalibor Gataric (47.) 

Attendance: 1,015, Stadion Am Zoo 	

WUPPERTAL:
Semmler - 
Neppe    , Haas , Wiwerink , Moosmayer - 
Reichert , Fleßers    , Landers , Boztepe    - 
Wassinger , Knappmann
Subs:
Cornelius (60., Boztepe)
Abel (83., Neppe)
Trainer: Bruns

LOTTE:
Buchholz - 
Hohnstedt , Willers , G. Nauber , Dan. Gataric - 
Dal. Gataric     , Chahed , Loose    , Wingerter - 
Shapourzadeh       , Prokoph
Subs:
D. Schmidt (75., Shapourzadeh)
Tietz (90., Loose)
Trainer: Walpurgis

WSV got back on track in a somewhat fortunate win in a matchup of two ex-Bundesliga squads. Oberhausen was by no means the worse team, so Wuppertal can thank the heavens that they keep all the points. Some ex-WSV men, Ken Asaeda, Peter Nettekoven and Mike Terranova showed up in RWO colors…

Thinsg started out brightly enough, with Robert Flessers taking a ball in midfield, advancing and then blasting a long ball into the net. However RWO began to dominate and it took saves by Semmler to keep the lead. When the equalizer finally came, it was well deserved. The match was a bit more equal, but the guests still had the better chances. So a draw at half-time favored WSV..
In the second half, Wuppertal looked a bit better. It almost started with a bang, but a brilliant save 11 seconds into the half from Semmler off Sindi saved WSV’s ass. Then a few minutes later, the usual counterattack, Landers crosses, there’s Knappmann…ball int he net. Oberhausen reacted with furious attacks, hitting the post. But again fortune was with WSV. A freekick from about 40 meters was floated in by Landers. The Oberhausen keeper (the ex-WSV man) seemingly misjudged it as a cross and it flew over his head for a goal. This proved to be the decider. Oberhausen continued to attack, but in desperation. This opened up several opportunities for WSV, which they managed to disgracefully blow. But in the end it was a Wuppertal victory, desperately needed after the many crap results.

With the win, WSV remains 7th with 25 points in the Regionalliga West after 15 matches, 7 points off the pace of leaders FC Viktoria Köln. Oberhausen remains 10th with 19 points.

Wuppertaler SV 	 - 	Rot-Weiß Oberhausen	 3:1 (1:1)

1:0 Fleßers (4.) 	 
1:1 Sindi (29.) 
2:1 Knappmann (48.) 	  
3:1 Landers (56.) 

Attendance: 1,441 Stadion-Am-Zoo (Wuppertal)

WUPPERTAL:
Semmler - 
Neppe, Haas, Reichert, Herzenbruch - 
Fleßers, Abel, Moosmayer       - 
Landers, Knappmann, Cornelius  
Subs:
Boztepe (32., Abel)
Wassinger (73., Cornelius)
Meier (77., Moosmayer)	  
Trainer: Bruns

OBERHAUSEN:
Nettekoven - 
Tyler, Hötte, Nowak, Sturm - 
Sindi, Grumann, Asaeda, R. Schneider - 
Talarski, Mützel
Subs:	
Terranova (79., Sindi)	 
Trainer: Kunkel