Preussen Münster 1-1 MSV Duisburg, att. 9,544 (3.liga)
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| Welcome to .... |
Munster
has an awful lot of beggars in the streets, as well as a busker on every street
corner. Wonder why? Are the people of Munster renowned for their
generosity?
Certainly, they weren’t generous in positioning the stadium. It’s miles away from the city centre, but
walkable if you’ve plenty of time and are an idiot. The walk was simple enough…just head down Konigstrasse
from the centre, cross the roundabout and carry on down Hammerstrasse until you
reach the stadium on your right. The
fact you even cross over a motorway tells you something about the length of
the walk.
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| The cyclists had the right idea. |
At
least you arrive at the right end, next to the ticket booths. Unusually, each
sold tickets just for one area. I
figured I’d go for a standing ticket by the touchline (Block K), an
inadvertently clever decision as that part had a roof and it intermittently
chucked it down. Blocks
L and K, instead of being one continuous stand, are split in two by a camera
gantry. So nobody gets the prize
position of standing on the halfway line.
Looking at the metallic structure of both stands, this is relatively
new. And cheap, propped as the roof is
with enough beams to block one’s view of the goal (see later).
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| The Duisburg fans |
The main stand, opposite, is a plain one-tier cantilever, the ‘tribune’, which
was sold out today. No seating tickets
for latecomers! Both ends were curved
terraces, around a dirt track. Was/is it
a motorcycle venue too? MSV filled half
of one end, while Preussen had the other.
Stramgely, Preussen had not one, but two ultras’ groups, The smaller ‘Deviants’ or ‘Disaffected Youth’
(great names) dominated one pen, while the main group opened proceedings
covered in a huge banner. Good job
nothing happened in the first 5 minutes.
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| Preussen ultras unfurl their banner. |
This
being close to a derby, MSV brought around 2,000, but the crowd of 9,544 was
still a couple of thousand down on Preussen’s first match of the season. After opening with two consecutive 0-1
defeats, has hope expired already? The
team certainly look low on confidence.
Lots of pretty passing (enough for one fan to bemoan ‘tiki-taka’)
followed by…nothing. They don’t look remotely
likely to score. MSV, on the other hand,
strode forward with purpose, went close several times and finally took the lead
20 mins in with a front post flick on from a corner. I think it went straight in, but given there
was a post between me and the goal, who knows?
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| The teams line up. |
Half-time,
and the sun was out again. I eventually
escaped the bottleneck of the stand and headed for the curve, via a sausage and
beer stall. It was true, I was further
away from the action, but at least I didn’t have a post in my face.
I’d
be tempted to say even less happened in the second half…I can’t remember much
in the way of keeper action..when a looping high ball entered the MSV box, the
defender slipped and the ball hit him smack on the hand. Completely accidental, completely avoidable -
this cross came from miles out. Penalty,
lashed home and you could see the relief, FINALLY a goal…as the players ran
toward the curve, screaming and fistpumping.
MSV had thrown it away and now couldn’t get their momentum back to
retake the lead.
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| Preussen equalise. |
I
didn’t walk back. There was no need – a fleet
of buses awaited us. It was 8:50pm and I
still made a 21:10 train to Dortmund.
You don’t get that in England.
The Damage:
€8.50 ent
€3
beer x3
€3
wurst
€2
badge
=
€22.50
The
Tunes:
The Digging Remedy (Plaid)
Lady’s Bridge (Richard Hawley)
Truelove’s Gutter (Richard Hawley)
Knee Deep In The North Sea (Portico Quartet)
Late Night Tales (Nils Frahm)
Live At The Social Vol. 1 (Chemical Brothers / Various)
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| Preussen Stadion panorama. |
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| Tribune sold out. |
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| Main Stand from the field behind. |
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| Back of the Main Stand. |
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| Badge above the Main Stand entrance. |
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| Queue for tickets pre-match (good job I got in early). |
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| Turnstile entry. |
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| Beyond the away end..empty terracing. |
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| Camera gantry. |
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| All this for a camera gantry. |
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| Another banner is put up at the front. |
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| Preussen ultras. |
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| The dirt track in all its glory. |
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| The Main Stand. |
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| The view from the curve. |
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| Note the split for the camera gantry. |
