FC St. Pauli

Timo Schultz was able to field all the new signings on his coaching debut. In contrast, Daniel Buballa (knee), Henk Veerman (toe), Borys Tashchy (thigh), Christopher Buchtmann and Ryo Miyaichi (both rehab) were all sidelined. Despite a high-intensity first two weeks of pre-season, the Boys in Brown were full of running from the off. The same could be said of Kiel, however, and the match developed into an evenly balanced and intense encounter.

Schultz's side created the first chance, with new signing Lukas Daschner firing just over from the edge of the box following a corner on 7. That was followed ten minutes later by an excellent attacking move involving three new signings. Daschner played the ball out to the left to Maximilian Dittgen, who found Kyereh with a pinpoint cross. The striker escaped the attention of Marco Komenda and finished into the far corner to open the scoring. The Boys in Brown continued to threaten and the next chance saw a shot from Roderigo Zalazar saved by Kiel custodian Ioannis Gelios.

Kiel looked to seize the initiative but the brown-and-white rearguard held firm, with first-half skipper Philipp Ziereis taking the ball off Janni Serra just as he was about to shoot. The Storks had one or two set pieces but were unable to pose a serious threat on goal. Both teams had chances just before half-time. First, Gelios saved a Zalazar effort and then, at the other end, Ahmet Arslan dispatched a free-kick well over the target.

Kiel coach Ole Werner fielded a completely different team for the second half, while Timo Schultz made 'just' nine changes. The opposition had the first big chance four minutes in when Girth headed against the crossbar and Reese hit the rebound wide. The action continued to flow. Luis Coordes unleashed a shot from the inside-left position but Kiel keeper Thomas Dähne made the save at the near post. Then, former St. Pauli man Fin Bartels crossed to Lion Lauberbach, and his header was just kept out by Dennis Smarsch, who turned the ball away from the bottom-right corner.

After Dähne pulled off a reflex save to deny Christian Viet on 58, the ball ended up in the net at the other end. Central defender Hauke Wahl played a long ball to Girth to put him through in a one-on-one with Smarsch, and the striker levelled with a low shot to the left corner. Kiel had the upper hand in the second half and took the lead ten minutes later. Daniel Hanslik crossed into the middle and Reese made it 2-1 with a flying header.

Kiel continued to press and Christopher Avevor just managed to prevent Niklas Hauptmann shooting with a sliding tackle (78'). In the closing stages, Smarsch and Marvin Knoll were involved in a collision but both players were able to continue after treatment. Shortly after, Girth headed narrowly over for Kiel. The Boys in Brown continued to push forward but were unable to find the equaliser and the game ended in a 2-1 defeat.

Holstein Kiel

First half: Gelios - Lee, Arslan, Komenda, Atanga, Sander, Baku, Serra, Meffert, Neumann, Lorenz

Second-half: Dähne - Ignjovski, Hauptmann, Reese, Lauberbach, Porath, Bartels, Girth, Wahl, Hanslik, Fleckstein

Head coach: Ole Werner

FC St. Pauli

First half: Brodersen - Ohlsson, Ziereis, Senger - Wieckhoff, Zehir, Zalazar, Dittgen - Daschner - Kyereh, Lankford

Second half: Smarsch - Zander, Avevor, Knoll, Paqarada - Zehir - Franzke, Viet, Benatelli, Coordes - Lankford

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 0-1 Kyereh (17’), 1-1 Girth (59’), 2-1 Reese (68’)

Yellow cards: Senger

Referee: Patrick Schwengers (Travemünde)

Photos: Witters