Schultz XI determined to pull out all the stops to reclaim derby bragging rights
Thursday, 13. October 2022, 16:00 Uhr
It's derby time! Crosstown rivals HSV are the visitors on Friday evening (18.30 CET). The last two derby home games were either played behind closed doors (March 2021) or in front of just 10,003 fans (August 2021) due to the pandemic, but this time the Millerntor will be packed to the rafters. There is only one objective going into the game and that is to take back the bragging rights with a fourth consecutive home win in the derby.
With one suffering a gut-wrenching last-minute defeat and the other collecting a draw that felt more like a defeat, last weekend did not go according to plan for either team. Despite taking the lead, the Boys in Brown lost 2-1 at Braunschweig after conceding at the death to extend their winless run to seven games. HSV, on the other hand, were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Kaiserslautern after Sonny Kittel squandered an opportunity to kill off the game from the penalty spot just before the visitors notched the equaliser.
On paper, our crosstown rivals go into the ninth second-division derby as clear favourites. The former Bundesliga ever-presents top the table with 25 points from 11 games, their best-ever start at this level. Last season, the Schultz XI had the same number of points after eleven matches, but things haven’t gone as well as expected this term. A decent start was followed by seven games without a win to leave the Boys in Brown with just eleven points to date. The gap between the local rivals has never been bigger going into a derby. But while the favourites tag is with the visitors, no one has ever won a derby on paper.
When the game kicks off on Friday evening, the 90 minutes are all that count. The current standings and past derby victories count for nothing. "I'm looking forward to a good game and a St. Pauli team who leave their hearts on the pitch, play with courage and approach the game with an aggressive, determined and fun mindset," was how Timo Schultz described his expectations in the run-up.
As well as giving their all for the cause, his players will need to move the ball around well if they are to leave the Millerntor pitch victorious. And the Boys in Brown have more than looked the part in the last three Millerntor derbies, fighting with passion, running their socks off and playing some decent football to secure a deserved victory on each occasion (2-0 in August 2019, 1-0 in March 2021 and 3-2 in August 2021). Not only that, the team remained undefeated in six against their crosstown rivals, including a 2-0 win at the Volkspark, until HSV took the honours there for the first time since March 2018 back in January of this year.
For the Schultz XI to reclaim the derby bragging rights on Friday evening, then, they will have to push themselves to the limit and beyond against the league leaders, who have won their last 10 away games. The fans will play a part in this, with the Millerntor sold out for the first time in a derby since August 2019. "The fans are obviously a factor and I hope they'll push us forward from the off and drag us back into it when the going gets tough," said Schultz at the pre-match news conference.
The rallying cry is simple. It’s a home game. Against our local rivals. All together now for the derby bragging rights! Forza FCSP!
Photos: Witters
