FC St. Pauli

In pleasant temperatures around the 20 degree mark, it was the Boys in Brown who started the better and Simon Makienok was presented with two opportunities to open the scoring within 30 seconds of each other. The striker was first denied by Odense-keeper Oliver Christensen after capitalising on a mistake by Alexander Juul Andersen and then hit the side netting when played in by Daniel-Kofi Kyereh. Odense posed a constant threat, however, and went within a whisker of taking the lead on 12 minutes when Max Johannes Fenger headed against the inside of the post from Mads Frøkjær-Jensen's cross.

The tempo remained high and the next few chances all fell to the Schultz XI. Kyereh fired just wide following a neat first-time lay-off by Finn Ole Becker before a neat passing move involving several players led to Rico Benatelli directing a looping header on top of the goal. Maximilian Dittgen then burst into the box from the left and teed up Kyereh, whose shot may well have hit the back of the net had Andersen not got in the way of it. Moments later, Kyereh played a one-two with Makienok before chipping well over from the edge of the area. Dittgen also missed the target by some distance with a shot from 14 metres.

Kyereh went closer with a long-range effort before Nikola Vasilj was called into action to defuse another attempt from distance at the other end by Aron Elis Thrandarson. Sixty seconds later, Dittgen really should have given his side the lead when set up by Becker but miscued his effort so and the ball hit Makienok instead of going in. Finally, the goal came following an excellent attacking move by the Boys in Brown. Luca Zander drove down the right and slipped the ball to Becker, who picked out Dittgen in the box, and his ball to the back post was met by the outstretched leg of Makienok for a long overdue lead.

Timo Schultz made six changes for the second half and his rejigged side were on the front foot right away. Dittgen saw a smartly hit shot from 20 metres tipped over the bar by Christensen. But the Boys in Brown were stopped in their tracks when the visitors levelled the scores from a corner, Thrandarson heading in. Guido Burgstaller then fired over from a tight angle, but Odense's Bashmin Kadrii was bang on target at the other end, his effort from a good 25 metres out flying past Nikola Vasilj's despairing dive into the top-right corner. The Boys in Brown kept plugging away, however, and ten minutes after going behind Lukas Daschner arrowed a low drive into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to make it 2-2.

A string of substitutions by both sides, with Odense coach Andreas Alm replacing everyone bar the keeper, saw the tempo drop a little but it remained a high-intensity affair. Both teams fought for every ball and the tackles got a little tastier. Nevertheless, there were no meaningful chances until the 83^rd minute when an off-balance Burgstaller placed a shot wide. There was to be no further scoring and after 90 hard-fought minutes it ended in a 2-2 draw.

"All in all, it was a decent test," said Timo Schultz after the game. "We dominated the first half and created a lot of chances against deep-lying opposition. It looked really good. In the second half we lacked a bit of composure on the ball. We tried to get it up to the strikers too quickly, which led to us losing possession on occasions. Odense scored two nice goals, but apart from that we gave little away. We didn't have so many chances after that, though."

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Zander (Ziereis 46'), Dźwigała, Medić (Teixeira 72'), Paqarada (Ritzka 46') - Aremu (Smith 46'), Becker, Benatelli (Buchtmann 46'), Kyereh (Daschner 46') - Dittgen (Brandt 72'), Makienok (Burgstaller 46')

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Odense BK (starting lineup)

Christensen - Andersen, Laursen, Larsen, Lieder, Kadrii, Thomasen, Fenger, Skjelvik, Thrandarson, Frøkjær-Jensen

Head coach: Andreas Alm

Goals: 1-0 Makienok (41'), 1-1 Thrandarson (49'), 1-2 Kadrii (59'), 2-2 Daschner (69')

Yellow cards: Ziereis, Smith – Lieder

Referee: Simon Rott (Bremen)

Attendance: 600

Photos: Witters