Havelze edge past Waldhof in gritty third-round clash
Havelze secured a 3:2 victory over Waldhof Mannheim at the Eilenriedestadion in the third round of the 3. Liga. The hosts, who had lost both previous matches without scoring a point in the table, found themselves pushed but refused to go away. Waldhof, sitting ninth after a win and a draw, fancy their chances of a top-half finish but came for a cross he never reached in the end.
The opening exchanges set a frantic tone. Gregorio gave Havelze the lead in the twenty-first minute, and to be fair, the visitors responded almost immediately. Thill equalised two minutes later before Guiddir put Waldhof ahead just before the break. That twenty-minute spell from kickoff defined the rhythm — three goals, and here's the thing, none of them felt like they would decide the game.
By then, Havelze had lost their composure enough to miss a penalty through Berger in the forty-fourth. The hosts made a change at the break, bringing on Asallari. Waldhof picked up two bookings in five minutes as Kammerknecht and Tugbenyo went into the book, and the match began to straighten out. Wriedt would later miss a spot-kick himself before converting one of his own in the fifty-seventh minute to restore parity.
The second half saw both sides trade blows and substitutions. Gregorio added another yellow card for Havelze before the visitors turned to Thill, who had been instrumental at the start. Bierschenk came on for the hosts, and Wriedt was withdrawn after his dramatic double act. Voufack arrived for Waldhof in the seventy-eighth, and Sommer-Deiss would soon provide the decisive moment, slotting home in the eighty-fourth. The visitors had hit a wall, but they refused to go away.
Havelze had more attacks — 73 to 98 — but Waldhof were more accurate with 67 per cent of their shots on target compared to 57 per cent. Both sides registered four shots on target, and the difference came down to who took their chances. Possession sat at 46 per cent for the hosts against 54 for the visitors, but possession alone does not win matches.
The result leaves Havelze rooted to the bottom of the table with zero points from two games, a position that tells you nothing about what comes next. Waldhof move to four points and remain in the upper half, though the gap between them and the leaders is still small. This was a match decided by three or four moments, and the rest was just noise.
