Herzliche Glückwünsche an unsere Freunde Altona ‘93

Cup final beckons for Dulwich Hamlet's German friends from Altona '93

Dulwich Hamlet fans may well be still suffering the hangover of the playoff defeat at East Thurrock United but for our German friends at Altona ’93 it was a hangover of all the more pleasant type they were nursing last week.

Last Thursday afternoon, in glorious sunshine and with over 2300 fans packed into the Adolf-Jäger-Kampfbahn, Altona ’93 booked their place in the final of the ODDSET-Pokal, the regional cup final for member clubs of the Hamburger Fußball-Verband (Hamburg FA). Opponents TSV Buchholz 08 were expected to prove tough adversaries and so it proved with the visitors mounting several threatening attacks after a promising Altona start. However, no goals came from the Buchholz attacks and the game was turned in Altona’s favour in the last five minutes of the first half, five minutes that will surely haunt the visitors’ ‘keeper Henrik Titze for years to come. On 40 minutes a curling cross-cum-shot from Ricardo Balzis 30 yards out wide on the right seemed to deceive Titze as it slipped through his hands and into the net. Things continued to go Titze up for Buchholz when, four minutes, later, the unfortunate custodian was caught in No Man’s Land as he rushed out of his goal only for Kemo Kranich meet Hannes Niemeyer’s delivery and deftly loop a header over the self-exposed Titze.

Just after the hour mark the Cup Final spot was all-but-assured as Chris Pfeifer struck a sweet shot home from the edge of the penalty area through the legs of Titze, meeting a pull back from the by-line courtesy of skipper Benjamin Lipke to make it 3-0. Though Buchholz did find a lifeline with a Jonas Fritz volleyed goal after Altona ‘keeper Joshua du Preez had spilled a free kick in the six-yard box, sparking somewhat of a belated rally from the visitors, the momentum was with Altona. After just a few minutes stoppage time, the final whistle blew and the Adolf-Jäger-Kampfbahn became party central.

The final of the ODDSET-Pokal will take place on Saturday 28th May kicking off at 12.30pm local time. FC Eintracht Norderstedt 03 provide the opposition and the game will be played at the Victoria-Stadion Hoheluft, home of SC Victoria Hamburg. For fans wishing to watch the game but unable to travel, there will be live coverage on German broadcast ARD (Das Erste) which should be available to stream over the internet.

You can watch highlights of Altona's big semi thanks to ELBKICK.TV

Photo courtesy of Hamburger Abendblatt