I went into match day 15 with my normal blind optimism that says “yeah, we could get something from this” together with a fair degree of apprehension. A less seasoned Hertha fan might be thinking of dizzy heights and European places as Hertha were high in the table. The apprehension however was not totally without foundation as the last time Hertha beat Bayer Leverkusen was back in 2009!
At the start of the match, as it turned out, our team came out of the blocks like it had a firework up its collective hind quarters. Optimism was inspired by the red card issued to Sebastian Boenisch following a studs up lunging tackle in the 17th minute leaving Leverkusen with just ten men! Hertha were all over the visitors like a particularly nasty rash and rewards appeared with an assist from Vedad Ibisevic leading to an early goal from Darida in the 7th minute. Naturally, I jumped out of my seat like a cuckoo on steroids thinking perhaps this could be our day.
At the start of the match, as it turned out, our team came out of the blocks like it had a firework up its collective hind quarters. Optimism was inspired by the red card issued to Sebastian Boenisch following a studs up lunging tackle in the 17th minute leaving Leverkusen with just ten men! Hertha were all over the visitors like a particularly nasty rash and rewards appeared with an assist from Vedad Ibisevic leading to an early goal from Darida in the 7th minute. Naturally, I jumped out of my seat like a cuckoo on steroids thinking perhaps this could be our day.
Then the cuckoo slapped straight back into the clock when Hernandez scored the equalizer in the 29th albeit against the flow of play. The long suffering back of my seat took a pretty big hit as I crashed back into it when that goal went in. It’s amazing how quickly euphoria can dissolve and be replaced with the more traditional pessimism and, for a while, Leverkusen had their tails up and pushed ahead but not for long. In the 60th minute a towering header from Jay Brooks put Hertha 2:1 up and the visitors couldn’t produce anything to pull it back. It could have been more had the penalty been awarded when Ibisevic was cut down in the box or the short range blast from Jay Brooks had not been saved off the line.
A confident and dare I say it, a dominant performance from the old lady leaves her with 26 points two matches before the winter break. There were still a few glitches that made the heart stop but in the run up to match day 16 we find ourselves in a position we couldn’t have justifiably dreamt of this time last year.
Up until this point in the season (and those preceding it come to that) my prime concern has always been safety. Always thinking of those 35 points or so required for safety as each win or draw notches up a few more to add to the total. Each point a step closer to avoiding relegation. I guess if I was honest, I’m still thinking very much like that but this season has seen the old lady playing with confidence and dare I say it, certain panache at times. So much so in fact that it makes you think perhaps this year is the year things will really start to come together in the capital. Perhaps this year it is OK to start to dream.
A confident and dare I say it, a dominant performance from the old lady leaves her with 26 points two matches before the winter break. There were still a few glitches that made the heart stop but in the run up to match day 16 we find ourselves in a position we couldn’t have justifiably dreamt of this time last year.
Up until this point in the season (and those preceding it come to that) my prime concern has always been safety. Always thinking of those 35 points or so required for safety as each win or draw notches up a few more to add to the total. Each point a step closer to avoiding relegation. I guess if I was honest, I’m still thinking very much like that but this season has seen the old lady playing with confidence and dare I say it, certain panache at times. So much so in fact that it makes you think perhaps this year is the year things will really start to come together in the capital. Perhaps this year it is OK to start to dream.
The Ostkurve during the match against Bayer Leverkusen - superb as always!
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