FC St. Pauli

In temperatures just above freezing point neither side was able to gain the upper hand early on and there were no chances to speak of. The first attempt on goal did not arrive until the 13th minute. Maximilian Beister pulled the trigger from distance but pulled his shot horribly off target. At the other end Mats Møller Dæhli fed Christopher Buchtmann in the KFC box, and he squared it to Dimitrios Diamantakos. The striker unleashed a first-time effort on the turn, only for Dominic Maroh to get a decisive deflection on it. Two minutes later Marvin Knoll knocked a free-kick from the left edge of the area back low to Buchtmann instead of delivering it into the mixer. The midfielder met the ball first time but smashed it well over the top.

With both defences keeping things tight at the back, Robin Himmelmann and his counterpart René Vollath had precious little to do in the ensuing period. Not until the 33rd minute was there any action of note. Knoll threaded the ball through to Buchtmann, who helped it into the path of the advancing Diamantakos. Under challenge from Maroh, the striker was denied by a fine reaction save from  Vollath. At the other end Florian Carstens blocked Connor Krempicki’s drive from a metre outside the box. The rebound fell to Beister, who also tried his luck from a similar distance, and this time it was Daniel Buballa who got in the way.

The Boys in Brown emerged unchanged for the second half, while the visitors elected to make three changes, among them Maurice Litka, who was loaned out to Uerdingen at the start of the season. The opening chance of the half fell to the third-division outfit five minutes in when Beister embarked on a run before letting go from range, but the ball fizzed a good metre wide of the upright. Markus Kauczinski’s side were then awarded a free-kick in a promising central position 25 metres out. Knoll curled the ball over the wall, but Vollath was across in time to make the save.

The game remained a lively, fast-paced affair and St. Pauli fashioned the next opportunity as well, Jeremy Dudziak getting forward to release a low drive just wide of the left-hand upright from just inside the box. Kauczinski then made his first substitutions, sending on Johannes Flum, Waldemar Sobota and Alex Meier for Ryo Miyaichi, Jeremy Dudziak and Christopher Buchtmann. Minutes later the visitors were presented with a great chance to take the lead when the centrally placed Oguzhan Kefkir went for goal close to the penalty spot, only to see Carstens throw himself in the way of the shot to keep it at 0-0.

More substitutions followed in the shape of Jan-Philipp Kalla, Richard Neudecker and Sami Allagui for Buballa, Møller Dæhli and Diamantakos. Himmelmann was then required to intervene for the first time, getting down quickly to gather Patrick Pflücke‘s free-kick. The Boys in Brown entered the closing stages with Yiyoung Park, Marc Hornschuh and Ersin Zehir on for Christopher Avevor, Luca Zander and Marvin Knoll, but almost fell behind on 81. Himmelmann kept out the initial attempt from Dennis Chessa, and then Hornschuh just about managed to block the rebound effort from Ricardo Rodriguez. Three minutes from time Allagui could have won it for the Boys in Brown, but after collecting a pass from Neudecker his touch was too heavy, enabling Vollath to smother.

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann - Zander (Park 80’), Avevor (Hornschuh 80’), Carstens, Buballa (Kalla 70’) - Knoll (Zehir 80’), Dudziak (Flum 61’) - Miyaichi (Sobota 61’), Buchtmann (Meier 61’), Møller Dæhli (Neudecker 70’) - Diamantakos (Allagui 70’)

Head coach: Markus Kauczinski

KFC Uerdingen 05

Vollath - Großkreutz (Holldack 61’), Maroh (Müller 46’), Erb (Schorch 46’), Dorda (Chessa 61’) - Öztürk, Krempicki - Beister (Dörfler 61’), Aigner (Pflücke 61’), Kefkir (Rodriguez 61’) - Osawe (Litka 46’)

Head coach: Stefan Krämer

Photos: Witters