Union v Bochum - Fans protest as Union force win

Another guest blog post from a new Unioner - who goes by the James Bond-esque name of 'R'. His father-in-law is a season ticket holder of 35 years. Who else was this Gooner from North-London going to support? Eisern Union!

Prior to the game I met @UnionBerlinMan at the Union museum run by the Eiserne Botschafter fan club in Kopenick, and had a coffee with a legend known as Michael. I had an all too brief look round the Museum which was lined with artifacts which demonstrated the personal pride of FCU fans. The museum is only open on match days and you can contact them via their website here to arrange a viewing with someone who can tell you about the stories behind the items. A personal favourite of @UnionBerlinMan's was when Union played in Europe and C&A made the club suits. Union had not told C&A that they already had a club badge so C&A designed one - it's awful! I know I will be going back again!



Time escaped us, so we headed to the Alte Försterei. En route through Köpenick Old Town, we were fortunate enough to witness a reenactment of the famous tale of the doppelganger of Kopenick, der Hauptmann von Kopenick or Captain of Kopenick, a man caught impersonating a Prussian military officer and as wikipedia explains, he ends up in  'the kafkaesque situation of not getting work without a residence permit, while not being able to have a residence permit without work.' Above is a clip of the golden oldies occupying themselves with satire and alcohol!

Today was the time of an anti DFB protest I'm sure readers are very familiar with. In short, the DFB are planning to regulate football stadium punters with increased searches and surveillance. (more in this here)

The 12:12 silence felt eerily profound coming from the Alte Försterei. Fans were eager to cheer on at 100 dB but diligently withheld their supporting cry's for the anticipated 12 second countdown. This was, as the FCU match report calls it: 'the calm before the storm!', see video link for the experience (sorry about the shakes!)

Union seemed to loose the possession all too quickly in the midfield in the first half. Mattuschka's first half rest was noticeable. Incidentally, over the last four of my home games, Union have tended to be successors of securing the first goal. Only to find themselves bewildered by this event and then loose their urgency in man to man defensive strategy; players have been allowed to make 10-15 yards in their half without challenge. Management might favor maintaining defensive structure over attacking the ball.

Despite the lack of defensive urgency, Union's secured a free kick in the third minute, which saw Patrick Kohlmann swing the ball in from the right hand side. With the ball allowed to cruise through the pack, Marcus Karl headed it home into the bottom left past a crumpled Bochum keeper. The goal was celebrated in silence with Union fans pumping their fists. A glorious sight.

Unfortunately, come 23 minutes we found ourselves succumbing to pressure. A pass from Christoph Dabrowski released his striker Zlatko Dedic, who grasped the first shot on goal for the visiting side and brought the score to 1 – 1, all level. There was an atmosphere of anxiety within the crowd from then on. In the 28th minute came a wake up call for Eisern as a goal was disallowed by the referee Christian Dietz, due to a foul within the ruck on the edge of the 6 yard box. Uwe Neuhaus who had spent the vast majority of the game stood up seemed to welcome the recuperative noise of the first half whistle.

Uwe must have responded constructively to the players within the 15 minute break as Union began looking composed and aggressive. Come the 52nd minute a corner was won and Kohlmann stepped up to smash it in from the right, to a free Adam Nemec, who freely headed the ball through the pack of blue and white into the left hand corner, pushing Union closer to another three points and potential 7th place. 

Aside from a Terodde shot missing the post by a hairs breadth, Union were happy to see out a 2-1 win and climb to 7th in the table. That's where they finished last year and they will be looking to improve on their home form in particular, in the second half of the season, which begins on Friday evening against Kaiserslautern.

By 'R'

You can follow R on Twitter - @robuchan1