Round 1, July 24-26
The 2015/16 Dritte Liga season started on Friday with an enticing eastern derby as newly promoted Magdeburg renewed their rivalry with Erfurt. A nice crowd showed up and the home side deservedly won the hard fought battle with a strong second half, although it was with only a minute left that they got the winner. Both sides are hoping to play a role in the promotion battle, and figure to have better than average fan support.
Relegated Aue expects to challenge, and faced a stern test in Osnabrück , hoping to improve on last season’s disappointment. Erzgebirge pressed hard, but the visitors defended well and got a point.
The stunner was in Kiel, as Holstein was totally ripped by Mainz-II. Last season Kiel only failed in the promotion playoffs, and Mainz barely survived. This match was a total reversal from what was expected. It’s only the start, but already questions have to be raised on Kiel’s favorite role if they don’t immediately answer in the next few matches.
Dresden expects to challenge, and they started impressively by stomping Stuttgart-II. A strong performance all the way around as Dynamo draws the big crowd as usual. Actually, all the eastern clubs can draw nice crowds, especially if they are doing well. Their numbers are needed to help prop up worthless sides such as the Bundesliga B sides that nobody cares about.
Rostock started off with another downer, as they managed to lose at home to Bremen-II. Expect riots soon unless Hansa gets back on track quickly.
Cottbus started off well with a win against Halle, who had beaten them twice last season. Energie is hoping to contend, given their Bundesliga pedigree.
Total attendance 107,602 (avg 10,760).
This is quite high for 3.Liga, last season the average was around 6,700. Of course, this was Opening Day and none of the Bundesliga-B sides were hosts.
1. FC Magdeburg - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:1 (0:1) 21,079 Erzgebirge Aue - VfL Osnabrück 0:0 (0:0) 8,800 Preußen Münster - SG Son-hof Großaspach 1:1 (0:0) 6,623 Dynamo Dresden - VfB Stuttgart II 4:1 (2:0) 25,300 SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Würzburger Kickers 0:0 (0:0) 4,500 Holstein Kiel - 1. FSV Mainz 05 II 0:4 (0:3) 5,397 Hansa Rostock - Werder Bremen II 1:2 (1:0) 15,600 VfR Aalen - Chemnitzer FC 0:0 (0:0) 6,022 Stuttgarter Kickers - Fortuna Köln 2:1 (1:0) 4,975 Energie Cottbus - Hallescher FC 2:1 (1:0) 9,306 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 II 1 1 0 0 4:0 +4 3 2 Dynamo Dresden 1 1 0 0 4:1 +3 3 ----------------------------------------------------------- 3 Energie Cottbus 1 1 0 0 2:0 +2 3 4 Werder Bremen II (N) 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 ----------------------------------------------------------- 5 1. FC Magdeburg (N) 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 6 Stuttgarter Kickers 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 7 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach 1 0 1 0 1:1 0 1 8 Preußen Münster 1 0 1 0 1:1 0 1 9 VfR Aalen (A) 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1 10 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1 11 Chemnitzer FC 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1 12 VfL Osnabrück 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1 13 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1 14 Würzburger Kickers (N) 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1 15 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 16 Fortuna Köln 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 17 Hansa Rostock 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 ----------------------------------------------------------- 18 Hallescher FC 1 0 0 1 0:2 -2 0 19 VfB Stuttgart II 1 0 0 1 1:4 -3 0 20 Holstein Kiel 1 0 0 1 0:4 -4 0 A = Absteiger just relegated N = Neuling just promoted 1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga 2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place 3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga