A lame result for Wuppertal in the local derby with Velbert. WSV dominated from start to finish, got the dream start, but basically dicked around and instead of finishing off the Velberters, got kicked in the nuts and lost two points. What a disgrace!

Even though Velbert is less than 10 miles away from Wuppertal (I remember going there to play with ASV Wuppertal, and I think it took me less than it took to go to the Zoo Stadion…), only some 800 WSV fans made the trip. And of course you would think that the “locals” would be overflowing to see the mighty WSV. No dice, although who knows, perhaps a decent crowd by Velbert standards.

This was actually what you might call a “make-down” (as opposed to make up). Supposedly the two sides were to meet in Round 18, but the match was moved up since there was the “open” weekend.

Things started reasonably enough. New signing Mehmet Boztepe punted a long ball that Christian Knappmann ran under and cooly slotted past GK Manuel Lenz. 0-1 for WSV and it looked like the route was on. In the 13th minute Boztepe had a hard shot saved brilliantly by Lenz, who certainly rose to the occasion on a busy afternoon. WSV continued to press for the second, but a combination of Lenz, poor marksmanship and non-calls on penalty suspect fouls kept the score even.

In the 2nd half, it was more of the same, but WSV continued to waste chances. So the punishment was soon to come. A Velbert counterattack, Jeffrey Tumanan crossed to Onucka, and his header gave Semmler no chance. WSV reacted with furious assaults against the Velbert goal, but got nothing.
The Wuppertalers left the field with hanging heads, as they didn’t get a point, they lost two. WSV remains in 5th place, but could have closed the gap against a side that is still looking for their first win.

SSVg Velbert   -   Wuppertaler SV	1:1 (0:1)
	
  	      0:1 Knappmann (2.) 
              1:1 Onucka (68.) 

Attendance: 1,632  Christopeit-Sport-Arena (Velbert)

VELBERT:
Lenz - 
Nachtigall, Schweer , Pappas    , Mondello - 
Kneifel    , Zent    - 
Ferati , Tumanan    , Mikolajczak    - 
Onucka  
  
Subs:
Janas (20., Zent)
D. Yilmaz (46., Kneifel)
Mühlhause (80., Mikolajczak)
	
Trainer: Leese

WUPPERTAL:
Semmler - 
Schumacher, Reichert, Wiwerink, Moosmayer - 
Fleßers, El Hammouchi - 
Quotschalla, Boztepe, Landers - 
Knappmann 
   
Subs:
Schlieter (33., Reichert) 
Wassinger (64., Boztepe) 
Cornelius (80., Quotschalla)

Trainer: Bruns

Actually, the most important news is that 30 goal man Christian Knappmann did not move in the transfer window. 3.Liga side Borussia Dortmund II supposedly offered some 100,000 euros for the WSV goalgetter, but Knappmann stays with WSV for the moment. (Of course, despite being reported by several media sources, it doesn’t make sense. Dortmund II sucks and needs goal scoring, but why would they sign a 31 year old, when they could just dump some bench warmer from the A squad? Of course, for WSV, it’s huge, since Knappmann’s presence is huge.) Of course, watching the bald headed striker run out was a relief for the WSV fans, and Knappmann probably was the best player of the match.

As for the match, it was a tricky one, as it always is playing the Bundesliga B squads. Wuppertal was dominant in the 1st half, then fell asleep in the second. However, after the Junior Aspirins equalized, WSV got back on top as Wiwerwink headed in a corner from Moosmayer.

Overall, not very impressive, but a “workman-like” win, grinding out the points, which should keep Wuppertal in 4th place in the Regionalliga West and within striking distance of the pace setters.

Wuppertaler SV 	 -   Bayer Leverkusen II  2:1 (1:0)

Attendance: 1,531 (Stadion-Am-Zoo)

1:0 Knappmann (31., penalty) 	  
1:1 Kohr (50.) 
2:1 Wiwerink (53.) 


Semmler - 
Schumacher, Reichert, Wiwerink, Moosmayer - 
Fleßers    - 
Landers, Abel, Wassinger    - 
Quotschalla, Knappmann       

Subs:
Boztepe  (46., Wassinger)
Meier (69., Abel)
Cornelius (74., Quotschalla)
		
Trainer: Bruns


LEVERKUSEN II:
Lomb - 
Casper, Mandt, Haitz, Riedel - 
Zenga, Kohr        - 
Aydin, Pusch    - 
Steffen, Siefkes      

Subs:
Hirsch(46., Aydin)
Dürholtz (46., Pusch)
Al Ghaddioui (79., Siefkes)

Trainer: Minge

Wuppertal continued their revival in the Regionalliga West, as they came away with a ruthless 3-0 away win at VfB Hüls. It wasn’t easy, but it was just the type of match a non-focused club would have lost last season. Interestingly enough, coach Bruns left 30 goal scorer Christian Knappmann out of the starting 11, not sure about that decision.

The hosts started decently, but WSV’s defense was prepared. WSV started getting stronger, and after 20 minutes, they seized the lead. Moosmayer floated in a freekick, and Andre Wiwerink out-jumped everyone to head home. The hosts reacted with new vigor, and WSV hardly created any more chances in the half. Instead, GK Christian Semmler had several excellent saves tp preserve the lead.

In the 2nd half, Hüls continued to attack furiously. The equalizer seemed inevitable. Moosmayer cleared off the line, Semmler pushed a wicked shot off the crossbar, and Mutluer managed to miss an open net from 2 yards. Luck seemed to hold, and then on a breakout, Marcel Landers (celebrating his birthday) blasted a rocket home to up the WSV lead. This was the setup that led to the knockout a few minutes later. Landers corner, Moosmayer heads on, and Knappman nods it in. Game-set-match.

Not a great performance, as certainly the hosts might have gotten something out of this. But a cold-blooded, solid performance by WSV to bring home the bacon. They needed the win, since leaders Viktoria Köln continued their perfect start, 5 for 5. The Regionalliga is the only thing happening for WSV, as the squad was eliminated in the regional Cup against FC Remscheid on Tuesday (0-1), and therefore can’t qualify for the DFB Cup next season.

VfB Hüls   - 	Wuppertaler SV    0:3 (0:1)
	
 	0:1 Wiwerink (20.)
  	0:2 Landers (63.)
  	0:3 Knappmann (74.)
 
Attendance: 700, Badeweiherstadion

VfB Hüls:

Rantzow - 
Jasmund, Schlüter, Weßendorf, Schurig - 
D. Piorunek, Köse    - 
Vennemann, Mutluer, Okumak - 
Erwig

Subs:
Diericks (55., Weßendorf)
Pavlovic (55., Köse)
Kyei (71., Vennemann)

Trainer: Schmidt

WUPPERTAL:

Semmler - 
El Hammouchi, Reichert, Wiwerink, Moosmayer - 
Fleßers, Meier    - 
Landers, Abel, Wassinger    - 
Quotschalla      

Subs:
Knappmann (46., Quotschalla)
Cornelius (66., Wassinger)
Wolf (82., Abel)

Trainer: Bruns

Another season for Germany’s most important club, Wuppertaler SV. It’s been a pretty disappointing last, er, 40 years, but that’s what football is all about, suffering for your team as they continue to suck.

Four matches have now been played in the new Regionalliga West, and after another slow start, WSV has at least got back on track with some solid victories. Of course, they’ll need a few more thumping wins before they can legitimately be considered fully recovered. With only the champion getting promoted, it’s a tough challenge. And you have to be careful not to suck too much. Five clubs get relegated this season, and if too many 3.Liga clubs drop, it will be six. Eventually, the Regionalliga West will have the German standard of 18 clubs.

On paper, WSV have a fairly decent club, and are certainly capable of challenging for the title. However, their pattern has to been to suck ridiculously at the beginning of the season and get in a hopeless position. Then when they finally start playing to potential, they’re a million points behind. We can only hope that they’ll wake up earlier this campaign.

1. FC Köln II	 -   WUPPERTALER SV       1:1 (0:1)    1,200

  	                0:1 Mainka (18.) 
                        1:1 R. Schmidt (78.) 

WUPPERTALER SV 	         -   Fortuna Köln         1:2 (1:1)   2,712

            	        0:1 Pagano (41.) 
                        1:1 Schumacher (45.) 	 
            	        1:2 T. Kraus (78.) 

Fortuna Düsseldorf II	 -   WUPPERTALER SV       2:5 (2:2)    936

	       	        0:1 Quotschalla (7.) 
                        1:1 Golley (13.) 	  
  	                1:2 Moosmayer (19.) 
                        2:2 Rodriguez Diaz (32.) 	  
  	                2:3 Knappmann (48.) 
  	                2:4 Abel (58.) 
  	                2:5 Wassinger (75.)

WUPPERTALER SV 	         -   SV Bergisch Gladbach 09     3:0 (1:0) 	1,609

	                1:0 Landers (22.) 	  
                        2:0 Knappmann (57., penalty) 	  
                        3:0 Landers (73.)




Regionalliga West (4 rounds)


 1  FC Viktoria Köln (N)	4    4 	0  0 	12:3 	+9 	  12
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Fortuna Köln	  	4    3 	0  1 	 6:3 	+3 	  9 
 3  FC Schalke 04 II	  	4    3 	0  1 	 8:6 	+2 	  9 
 4  Borussia M'gladbach II	4    2 	2  0 	 5:2 	+3 	  8 
 5  WUPPERTALER SV 	  	4    2 	1  1 	10:5 	+5 	  7 
 6  Sportfreunde Siegen (N)	4    2 	1  1 	 5:1 	+4 	  7 
 7  SC Verl	  	        4    2 	1  1 	 8:5 	+3 	  7 
 8  Sportfreunde Lotte	  	4    2 	1  1 	 6:5 	+1 	  7 
 9  Rot-Weiss Essen	  	2    2 	0  0 	 7:4 	+3 	  6 
10  VfL Bochum II	  	4    2 	0  2 	 5:4 	+1 	  6 
11  FC Kray (N)	  	        4    2 	0  2 	 5:6 	-1 	  6 
12  SV Bergisch Gladbach (N)	4    2 	0  2 	 3:4 	-1 	  6 
13  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	4    2 	0  2 	 7:9 	-2 	  6 
14  MSV Duisburg II (N)	  	4    1 	1  2 	 3:5 	-2 	  4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
15  Bayer Leverkusen II	  	4    1 	1  2 	 7:10 	-3 	  4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SSVg Velbert (N)	  	3    0 	1  2 	 0:4 	-4 	  1 
17  VfB Hüls (N)	  	4    0 	1  3 	 1:6 	-5 	  1 
18  Fortuna Düsseldorf II	4    0 	1  3 	 4:10 	-6 	  1 
19  1. FC Köln II	  	3    0 	1  2 	 1:7 	-6 	  1 
20  SC Wiedenbrück 2000	  	4    0 	0  4 	 8:12 	-4 	  0

The WSV squad that finished 5th in the Regionalliga West. Best players were Moosmayer as defensive midfielder, Zieba attacking midifielder and of course Knappmann, who led all 4th division scorers with 30 goals.

No                       (Age) Country GM/St  YEL-RED  GOALS   

GOALKEEPERS

1   Sascha Samulewicz     (26)   GER 	7-7 	0-0    	0    
12  Bastian Sube          (20)   GER	3-3 	0-0 	0   	 	
24  Christoph Semmler     (32)   GER 	23-23  	1-0 	0     	
32  Martin Klafflsberger  (28)   AUT	3-3	0-0 	0      		

 DEFENDERS 

4   Robert Fleßers 	 (25)   GER 	28-27   6-1 	4
5   Stefan Lorenz        (30)   GER 	5-3  	0-0 	0
14  Daniel Flottmann 	 (27) 	GER	33-33 	8-1 	3
16  Thomas Schlieter 	 (31)   GER	33-32 	3-0 	3     
19  Lukas van den Bergh  (23)   GER	6 -2  	1-0 	0
21  Jörn Zimmermann 	 (20)   GER 	19-4  	1-0 	0
22  Felix Herzenbruch 	 (19) 	GER 	24-22  	4-0 	1     
31  Felix Haas 	         (24)	GER	13-11  	2-1 	0     

MIDFIELD

2   Björn Weikl 	 (35) 	GER 	0-0 	0-0 	0
3   Benjamin Baltes 	 (28) 	GER 	25-10   3-0 	0
6   Dennis Brinkmann 	 (33) 	GER 	2-2  	1-0 	0
7   Raschid El Hammouchi (30) 	MOR	31-30  	2-0 	0   
8   Tom Moosmayer 	 (32)	BEL	33-33  	5-0 	4    
15  Marcel Landers       (27) 	GER 	35-32  	4-0 	2     
17  Ben Abelski 	 (29) 	GER 	21-9 	1-0 	1
18  Ken Asaeda 		 (28) 	JPN 	16-8  	2-0 	1
20  Jan-Steffen Meier    (20) 	GER 	27-16  	1-0 	0      
23  Nico Matern 	 (19) 	GER 	1-1  	0-0 	0
25  Maciej Zieba 	 (25) 	POL 	31-29 	3-0 	9

FORWARDS

9   Christian Knappmann  (31) 	GER 	36-34 	4-0 	30   
10  Bekim Kastrati 	 (33) 	ALB 	10-2 	3-0 	1
11  Marco Quotschalla 	 (23) 	GER 	16-12  	3-0 	5    

WSV was unable to knockoff Dortmund’s B squad, who thereby win the Regionalliga West/Südwest a point ahead of Sportfreunde Lotte. This crowns a fine season for the Neon-B, whose coach is David Wagner, who’s main claim to fame is a couple of matches for the US National team.

It was a very entertaining match, with both sides going for the win. Dortmund was more fortunate, and jumped out a bit faster. WSV looked beaten but charged back into the match. Things looked ready to fall apart when Robert Flessers got his ass tossed for insulting the referee after Dortmund’s 4th goal. But Christian Knappmann nailed his 30th goal of the season (which is tops in all four levels) and WSV had chances to tie until the end. (A tie would have sent Lotte into the 3.Liga). All-in-all, a decent performance against a motivated opponent, but overall it’s been a crap season, despite the good run in the final third.

In player news, Danny Cornelius of VfB Lübeck has signed a contract with WSV for next season. Cornelius had previously played for coach Hans-Günter Bruns, and is considered one of the fastest players in the Regionalliga.

Wuppertaler SV 	 - 	Borussia Dortmund II	 3:5 (1:3)

Attendance: 7,048 in Stadion Am Zoo

0:1 Vrancic (8.)
0:2 Boyd (16.) 
1:2 Flottmann (34.) 	 
1:3 J. Hofmann (40.)
2:3 Quotschalla (46.) 	 
2:4 J. Hofmann (56.) 
3:4 Knappmann (59., penalty) 	  
3:5 Vrancic (90. + 2) 

Klafflsberger - 
El Hammouchi, Flottmann, Schlieter, Herzenbruch    - 
Fleßers, Moosmayer - 
Landers, Zieba    - 
Knappmann, Quotschalla       

Subs:
van den Bergh (63., Herzenbruch)	
Baltes (75., Landers)
B. Abelski (77., Quotschalla)

Trainer: Bruns

DORTMUND II:
Focher    - 
Fring, Terzic, Paurevic, M. Halstenberg - 
Benatelli, Bakalorz    - 
Baykan, Vrancic, J. Hofmann  - 
Boyd       

Subs:
Ducksch (59., Boyd)
Treude (70., J. Hofmann)
Soltanpour (82., Baykan)

Trainer: Wagner

Wuppertal escaped from Wanne-Eickel with a somewhat fortunate win against Schalke’s B squad. The first half seemed to give WSV an edge, as they had more ball possesion, but they really didn’t create any chances. The main opponent seemed to be the terrible condition of the pitch, which had consequences for both sides. Jörn Zimmerman had to be subbed early, as he wrenched his foot on the uneven turf. With WSV controlling the match, it seemed not much would happen, but Schalke created a goal from nothing. A perfect cross from Pascal Schmidt and a header from Alex Langlitz, and the Royal Blues were up 1-0. Schalke now gained the upper hand, and had a couple of promising chances that they blew.

In the 2nd half, WSV came out organized a bit better, and began to press harder. Both sides wasted opportunities, and it was ex-Schalke Marco Quotschalla who squared things with a perfect volley off a cross from Zieba. In the goal celebration, he ran towards the Schalke bench and pointed a finger at his ex-coach Bernard Trares. A somewhat wanker move by Marco, although he denied any intent in a post game interview. Both teams now pressed for the win, but the turf seemed to have more success. Schalke’s Schmidt missed an open net, and in the end, it was Christian Knappmann who decided the match on an assist from Marcel Landers. The Knapper’s 29th of the season, continuing his lead of all Regionalligen. The team and some 250 travelling WSV fans then had a nice party on the train returning to Wuppertal…

FC Schalke 04 II	 - 	Wuppertaler SV 	 	1:2 (1:0)

Attendance: 404 (Mondpalast-Arena, Wanne-Eickel)

1:0 Langlitz (39.) 	  
1:1 Quotschalla (69.) 
1:2 Knappmann (87.) 

SCHALKE II:

Himmelmann - 
Langlitz, Fahrenhorst, Sabah, Weber - 
Volkmer, Muhovic    - 
Ernst, P. Schmidt, Torres - 
Loheider   

Subs:
Thiele (46., Loheider)
Erwig-Drüppel (83., Ernst)
	
Trainer: Trares

WUPPERTAL:

Klafflsberger - 
van den Bergh    , Schlieter , Flottmann , Herzenbruch - 
Zimmermann, Fleßers , Asaeda, Zieba       - 
Knappmann, Quotschalla    

Subs:
Landers (41., Zimmermann) 
B. Abelski (64., Asaeda)	
Baltes (77., Zieba)

Trainer: Bruns

WSV basically kicked Idar-Oberstein’s ass.

Things started right off the bat. Lukas Van den Bergh, getting a chance for a start in place of the ill Thomas Schlieter, put in a perfect cross and the Regionalliga’s leading scorer Christian Knappmann banged home (no. 28). A few minutes later, Knappmann turned provider and his cutting pass sent Marcel Landers down the flank, and Landers found Maciej Zieba, who volleyed into the net. WSV was totally dominating the match, doing whatever they pleased. SCI didn’t even have a shot until over half an hour had passed. Flessers scored off another assist from Knappmann, and Zieba put the final touches on a great 1st half, as dribbled around SCI GK Kornetzky and tapped into the empty net.

In eth second half, WSV slowed down things a bit, although they were still dominating. Idar-Oberstein made it worse on themselves as Gündüz, who had only come on at half, got his ass red carded after 62 minutes. WSV must have thought “what the hell?!” and banged in a couple of more to complete the rout.

Wuppertaler SV   - SC Idar-Oberstein    6:0 (4:0)

Attendance: 750 (Stadion Am Zoo)
	
1:0 Knappmann (5.) 	  
2:0 Zieba (13.) 	  
3:0 Fleßers (27.) 	 
4:0 Zieba (43.) 	 
5:0 Quotschalla (65.) 	  
6:0 Herzenbruch (87.) 

WUPPERTAL:

Semmler - 
van den Bergh    , F. Haas , Flottmann , Herzenbruch     - 
Landers , Fleßers     , Moosmayer    - 
Zieba         - 
Knappmann     , Quotschalla

Subs:
Baltes (73., Quotschalla)
B. Abelski  (77., Moosmayer)
El Hammouchi (83., van den Bergh)
	       
Trainer: Bruns


Idar-Oberstein:

Kornetzky - 
Lawnik , Schunck , Maurer , Garlinski - 
K. Schug , M. Lehmann    - 
Cordier , Sawin    - 
Mertinitz , Stumpf
   
Subs:

Gündüz  (46., Sawin)
Vetter  (59., M. Lehmann)

Trainer: Hildmann

You’ve got to put the ball into the net! WSV came out strong and pressing, and created lots of chances. The hosts were pressed back into the defensive, and barely crossed the midfield. Despite the high temperatures, WSV was working hard and bombarding the Wiedenbrück goal. It seemed only a matter of time, but there was no score at half.

The second half was a bit more even, as Wiedenbrück did manage some chances, but GK Christoph Semmler was sharp. WSV continue to pile up opportunities, but things were not going in. Particularily goal-getter Christian Knappmann was unlucky, as his headers just missed the mark by centimeters. So things progressed, and then potential disaster: In the 81st minute, Thomas Schlieter tripped Mainka. Penalty! However Semmler became the hero as he smothered Jansen’s penalty to preserve the draw. WSV actually had a couple of more chances to win the match, but Wiedenbrück’s GK Marcel Hölscher, the best player on the field, stopped Zieba’s point-blank shot from 7 meters, and Baltes had an injury time winner turned away as well.

After the match, WSV coach Hans-Günter Bruns mentioned that the 0-0 result was “a joke”, given all the chances WSV had. But overall, he was satisfied with the effort given on a hot day…

SC Wiedenbrück 2000 - Wuppertaler SV 0:0 (0:0)

Attendance: 550 (Jahnstadion) 

Wiedenbrück:

Hölscher - 
John, Leeneman, Kniat, Rogowski - 
Strickmann, Krause    - 
Studtrucker, Mainka, Dayangan - 
D. Jansen   

Subs:
Tietz (35., Studtrucker)
B. Halstenberg (73., Strickmann)
Rodriguez Diaz (77., Krause)

Trainer: Stratos

WUPPERTAL:

Semmler - 
El Hammouchi, Schlieter, Flottmann, Herzenbruch    - 
Fleßers, Moosmayer - 
Landers, Quotschalla, Zieba    - 
Knappmann

Subs:
Baltes (61., Quotschalla)
Zimmermann (77., Landers)

Trainer: Bruns

Why didn’t you play like this earlier? Trier came in with a five match winning streak, and hopes for promotion. They were outplayed by WSV and go home losers. If WSV had been playing all season like they have the last few weeks, we’d be getting promoted. Instead, another drab season, although at least some hope for the future (maybe).

Anyway, Wuppertal started string and pressured Trier into the defensive. A few decent chances, but Trier’s GK Poggenborg was sharp. However, after 28 minutes, it was Knappmann who gave WSV the lead. Zieba flipped the ball into the box, Knappmann shielded the ball from the defenders, whirled around and left the keeper no chance. WSV in the deserved lead and Trier now forced to open up. The first chance for the vistors only came after 33 minutes, a volley shot from 20 meters by Pagenburg (no, not a mispelling of their GK)

The second half saw more WSV pressure, and this time it was the reverse of the opening goal. A nice pass from Knappmann, and Zieba had an open net to poke home. At this point it seemed all over, but to Trier’s credit, they threw everything forward, and eventually brought WSV into distress. With some luck, Eintracht could have got an equalizer, but overall WSV deserved the win.

Wuppertaler SV - Eintracht Trier 2:1 (1:0)

Attendance: 1,086 (Stadion Am Zoo)

1:0 Knappmann (26.) 	 
2:0 Zieba (62.) 	 
2:1 Kulabas (67.)

WUPPERTAL:
Semmler    - 
El Hammouchi , Flottmann , Schlieter , Herzenbruch - 
Landers , Fleßers , Moosmayer    - 
Zieba  - 
Knappmann, Quotschalla   

Subs:

Meier (75., Quotschalla)
Baltes (83., Moosmayer)
B. Abelski  (89., Knappmann)	 

Trainer: Bruns

TRIER:
Poggenborg - 
Cozza , Stang , Zittlau    , Drescher - 
Hollmann - 
Kraus , A. Abelski , Kuduzovic    - 
Kulabas, Pagenburg

Subs:
Pintol (46., Kuduzovic)

Trainer: Seitz