What an amazing year 2013 has been for Hertha and their fans! Firstly promotion from the Zweiteliga in fine style and the this seasons Hinrunde . . well what can I say? It's been better than any of my wildest dreams from back in the summer! 👏 👏

Back then ( and still now tbh) staying up was the key goal - anywhere above the relegation zone would be just fine thank you very much. But to find ourselves in sixth place over the winter break? Wow, a finer Christmas present it's hard to imagine 🎄🎅😀

Luck, for the moment, is running our way. Even down to, when Thomas Kraft is injured we have a new 18 year old keeper who plays a blinder against Dortmund if all people! For now at least the footballing gods are smiling on us and long may it continue - Ha Ho He!

To Hertha fans wherever you are - Happy Christmas / Frohe Weihnachten and let's hope 2014 will be as great as 2013 🙏

This was my first visit to Handball Bundesliga match in Berlin and I'm so glad I went. We went to see Füchse Berlin play MT Mesungen in a league match. The atmosphere at the Max Schmeling-Halle was very family friendly and there were loads of "stalls" selling food and drink of all descriptions - quite cheaply as well.

The match was very much end to end stuff - like all the handball matches I have ever seen. But to be fair, that's not very many! They gave away bright orange card clappers that were torn up by the people above us and thrown into the air when the Füchse scored - orange rain! Luckily that happened quite a bit as the Füchse went on to win 24:22 - Heimsieg!!

The game if handball is a great one to watch, exciting and you can easily follow the ball. It is very fast though and reasons for a some of decisions were difficult to spot for a handball newbie but we went with a local expert who could explain things - thanks Maria!

Unfortunately the Füchse Berlin matches are mostly on when we are not around or clash with Hertha games but we'll go to see them again when we can. I'd heartily recommend handball as a sport to check out if you get a chance.

For me, I'll be back at the Olympiastadion in February to see Hertha play Nürnberg - Ha Ho He!

Following the last home match it appears Sebastian Langkamp has had an MRI scan which confirmed a hamstring injury that will put him out until the new year. On the positive note Jay Brooks May be back and he'll be most welcome. Better to be on the pitch rather than just signing autographs outside the stadium like he was on Saturday. Other possible options might be Peter Niemeyer (as happened on Saturday), Maik Franz or Christoph Janker.  There is even talk in some of the less trashy press about moving Hajime Hosogai to the back four. I can't help feeling that would be a massive mistake and can't believe Jos Luhukay would do that but we'll see.

This glosses over the small problem we appear to have scoring goals at the moment.  The last time I said something like that we won 6:1 - I hope that trend continues!

After the match

Victory is ours! A superb 2:0 win away in Braunschweig thanks to two goals from Ronny and, in the 80th minute Tolga Cigerci.

Both goals were made by Ronny who was outstanding in this match. The first goal from Adrian Ramos was a great diving header from a corner from Ronny to clear the defenders and take the ball low past the keeper. The second, late in the game came from a break as Ronny ran down the length of the pitch passing to Tolga running down the right flank who finished it off without needing the support from Ronny who was following through down the middle.

These three vital points take Hertha back into 7th place in the table and with 22 points with two matches to go before the winter break. Not bad for a newly promoted team, not bad at all.

The match

The match ended in a 0:0 draw. Again Hertha controlled much of the game, holding much of the posesion (58.32%) and wining more that their share on 1 on 1 encounters (54.5%). Augsburg were forced into 22 fouls in the match with Hertha's total only reaching 16. IMO this difference could gave been greater still with some Augsburg transgressions going unnoticed and unpunished.  Having said all of this, we also had nine shots to Ausburg's two but, when it came to finishing, sadly we didn't have the teeth for it.

The apparent inability to convert chances and capitalise on the domination of possession is becoming a little worrying.  I am hoping Jos Luhukay can come up with a solution.

As Sebastian Langkamp tore a muscle in his thigh the manager has defensive worries as well, until the new year at least. It sounds like Sebastian will be out for the remaining three matches of the Hinrunde.

A few of the stills taken with my trusty old iPhone 4S before the match!