Mainz 05 II 3-4 MSV Duisburg, 3.liga, att. 2,230
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| Outside Mainz Hbf |
Since they'd gained promotion to 3.liga, I'd been even more determined to go and see Mainz's U23 team, if only cos they played at Mainz's 1st team's old ground, Stadion am Bruchweg. But it promised to be one of those strange atmospheres which German football brings on itself by letting under 23/reserve sides enter the footballing pyramid, namely limited passion and numbers on one side against the relative might (for 3.liga) of MSV Duisburg, perennial mainstays of Bundesliga 1 and 2, relegated for financial reasons.
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| Not sure they need this anymore... |
With a ten minute walk from the train station, I made it in good time - about five minutes before kick off. I'd been in my Mainz 'local' (the tapas bar opposite the station) enjoying couple of Schofferhofer Weizen.
Before I entered the Bruchweg, I could hear fans chanting - away fans. I bought my ticket, a very reasonable €9, and took my sausage and beer to the stand. I was pleased to see the steward insist on seeing my ticket (!), given you needed one to actually get through the turnstile and the only sektors open in the home end were P and Q...of which you could happily walk through, say, P's entrance then go stand in sektor Q.
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| Sitting on the terrace, having a beer... |
Naturally, there weren't many home fans (though they;d had a crowd of 3,000 in their opener). Duisburg brought tremendous support for a Wednesday night, easily 2/3 of the attendance. Even their seats were relatively full, presumably cos their terrace space had sold out. Of course, there was probably another 15,000 terrace spaces - if they'd opened more than one small end of a side stand.
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| The teams come out |
MSV looked slick, too. With one point from two games I thought they must be bedding in. Mainz meantime looked like what they were; young, inexperienced and too eager to go forward, leaving giant holes behind. MSV were two up inside 5 minutes. The first came from the striker being played through wide right before hitting it across the keeper high into the net. The second...I don't remember. Problies a blinder.
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| Packed terrace over there...room for a few little uns over here |
More and more I became aware of the time. Through every fault of my own, I'd have to miss a considerable amount of the second half. I had to catch a train to Koln to make an overnight train to Decin in the Czech Republic. Still, I was unlikely to miss much, Mainz hadn't a hope.
As I left, I'm sure I heard the cheers of a 3rd goal for MSV (turns out I had). On checking the score later, I was surprised to find the final score 3-4. Had I missed a cracker? Dunno. 0-3,1-3, 1-4, 2-4, 3-4. Oh well - I made my trains.
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| The away fans and their chaperones |
The Damage:
€9 ent
€??? sausage and beer. Can't remember.
The tunes:
Mezzanine (Massive Attack)
Radiolina (Manu Chau)
La Revancha Del Tango (Gotan Project)
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| Main Stand |
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| Pre-match (non) action |
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| Scoreboard corner |
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| Those away fans again |
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| Time to leave. Shouldn't be any more goals... |
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| To tie your dog onto? |
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| Away fans salute a goal |
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| Gotta stop folk watching Mainz reserves for free... |
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