There is a long voiced saying that “it’s not the winning , it’s the taking part hat’s important”. The last two games have not gone completely to plan (and certainly didn’t involve any winning on our part) but I did take part in the end of season fan march to the Olympiastadion. In response to these recent experiences with Hertha that I am trying to convince myself that there is a substantial degree of truth to this old saying.
The last two games of the season started with a trip down the road to visit Hannover ’96 and finished with a fizzy pop franchise coming to Berlin from Leipzig. I was feeling fairly optimistic about playing in Hannover after our win in Frankfurt and a promising comeback against Augsburg. It just going to show a Hertha fan should never let optimism get the better of them.
Pal Dardai started with the traditional 4231 formation with Selke up front and Kalou, Lazaro and Leckie in support. As is often the case, Hertha got of to a promising start by putting together some nice passing and combinations however, the result however was all too familiar as Kalou’s shot lacked both power and accuracy as it drifted past the right post.
The home side were not as wasteful however and in the sixteenth minute the rot started to set in. Darida lost the ball in the middle of the park and the ball was put forward and headed on to an onside Hamik with Hertha’s defence frantically scrambling back. The defence was too late and Jarstein was left stranded by the left footed shot and 1:0 it was.
With only five minutes of the first half to play a free kick from Schwegler found Sané with no Hertha defender hear by and he headed it home for Hannover’s second. The nail in the coffin came just two minutes later from Füllkrug who’s shot blasted in between Jarstein and the post left Hertha everything to do in the second half. It would take quite some team talk from Pal Dardai to bring the Blue and Whites back from this in the remaining forty five minutes.
We had to wait nearly thirty five minutes for the consolation goal when Darida flicked on the ball to Davie Selke who blasted in a shot in a way remarkably similar to that of Füllkrug for Hannover in the first half. There was another late chance for Selke just before the end but it drifted wide. As a result there’ll be no European football for Hertha next year even though that was always going to be a bit of a long shot. That left us one last game against Germany’s favourite team RB Leipzig.
The last two games of the season started with a trip down the road to visit Hannover ’96 and finished with a fizzy pop franchise coming to Berlin from Leipzig. I was feeling fairly optimistic about playing in Hannover after our win in Frankfurt and a promising comeback against Augsburg. It just going to show a Hertha fan should never let optimism get the better of them.
Pal Dardai started with the traditional 4231 formation with Selke up front and Kalou, Lazaro and Leckie in support. As is often the case, Hertha got of to a promising start by putting together some nice passing and combinations however, the result however was all too familiar as Kalou’s shot lacked both power and accuracy as it drifted past the right post.
The home side were not as wasteful however and in the sixteenth minute the rot started to set in. Darida lost the ball in the middle of the park and the ball was put forward and headed on to an onside Hamik with Hertha’s defence frantically scrambling back. The defence was too late and Jarstein was left stranded by the left footed shot and 1:0 it was.
With only five minutes of the first half to play a free kick from Schwegler found Sané with no Hertha defender hear by and he headed it home for Hannover’s second. The nail in the coffin came just two minutes later from Füllkrug who’s shot blasted in between Jarstein and the post left Hertha everything to do in the second half. It would take quite some team talk from Pal Dardai to bring the Blue and Whites back from this in the remaining forty five minutes.
We had to wait nearly thirty five minutes for the consolation goal when Darida flicked on the ball to Davie Selke who blasted in a shot in a way remarkably similar to that of Füllkrug for Hannover in the first half. There was another late chance for Selke just before the end but it drifted wide. As a result there’ll be no European football for Hertha next year even though that was always going to be a bit of a long shot. That left us one last game against Germany’s favourite team RB Leipzig.
Part of the build up to the closing game of the season was a march through the west of the city towards the Olympiastadion. It was intended to demonstrate the tradition of Hertha as opposed to the purchased progression of the days opponent. There were shirts on sale showing the blue and white stripes traditional to the club which really made an impact in the Ostkurve when so many fans were wearing the traditional colours.
The following film was recorded during the march and contains a string of clips put together to give a flavour of the event. Some have criticised the filming of such events but I guess different people celebrate their club in different ways and in my case I prefer to share the passion with those who cannot be there in some cases through no fault of there own. Make of it what you will.
The following film was recorded during the march and contains a string of clips put together to give a flavour of the event. Some have criticised the filming of such events but I guess different people celebrate their club in different ways and in my case I prefer to share the passion with those who cannot be there in some cases through no fault of there own. Make of it what you will.
I really enjoyed the march. For me it was a mixture of: being amongst fellow fans and good friends, celebrating the close of another season, wearing blue and white, singing and being able to share in some way that feeling.
After meeting a few friends we went into the stadium feeling pretty buoyant. The good cheer was helped on in the stadium fan shop where some old stock t-shirts were being sold off for five Euros which was a real bargain if you happened to want those particular shirts. The party feel of the day extended to our going our places in the stadium and for the first few seconds of the match itself. In the second minute a Leipzig corner whipped in from the right into the centre to be greeted by Upamecano jumping a head above Leckie. The ball sailed in (brushing Jarstein’s finger tips) but our hearts only sank. This was going to be a long game we thought but in the fourth minute it was Hertha’s turn to have a corner and the Vedator was there to stroke it in with his head scoring his first goal in open play since November last year.
In the seventh minute Leipzig struck again. This time it was the turn of English winger Ademola Lookman who produced a clinical finish seeking inside Jarstein’s post to make it 1:2. I wasn’t sure my nerves could take ninety minutes of this!
Before half time Lookman was involved again slipping a pass through to Augustin who unleashed a shot which looked like it was being well covered by Jarstein but appearances can, and in this case were deceptive as the ball bounced through his hands and into the net. One of those facepalm moments for us all and into the half time break already two goals down.
The second half optimism was almost as short lived as the first half. This time it was everyone’s favourite Timo Werner who created a clinical finish past the outstretched Jarstein and the ball was in the Hertha net a fourth time. A lesser mortal would have started to get worried when just five minutes later Jarstein’s net bulged again from Augustin’s strike but we Hertha fans are made of stronger stuff than that (we have to be), Augustin ended with a brace and Leipzig a four goal lead but hey we still had thirty five minutes to play right?
A small highpoint was when Julian Schieber was brought on to replace Pekerik for his last run out in blue and white. He received a warm welcome with shouts of SCHIEBER . . . SCHIEBER! As a Hertha fans we have to be grateful for small mercies.
We did have one more thing to celebrate before the end of play as our very own Salomon Kalou picked up a consolation goal by crashing home a close range header from Plattenhardt’s cross. It was all wrapped up in the 82nd minutes as the substitute Bruma produced a wonderful finish curling around over Jarstein and inside is left hand post. This was not Hertha’s finest hour and yet I still left escaping the customary gloom after such a loss.
That little voice may say that “it’s not the winning , it’s the taking part hat’s important” but the occasional win is quite nice. Hey, there is always next season.
Before half time Lookman was involved again slipping a pass through to Augustin who unleashed a shot which looked like it was being well covered by Jarstein but appearances can, and in this case were deceptive as the ball bounced through his hands and into the net. One of those facepalm moments for us all and into the half time break already two goals down.
The second half optimism was almost as short lived as the first half. This time it was everyone’s favourite Timo Werner who created a clinical finish past the outstretched Jarstein and the ball was in the Hertha net a fourth time. A lesser mortal would have started to get worried when just five minutes later Jarstein’s net bulged again from Augustin’s strike but we Hertha fans are made of stronger stuff than that (we have to be), Augustin ended with a brace and Leipzig a four goal lead but hey we still had thirty five minutes to play right?
A small highpoint was when Julian Schieber was brought on to replace Pekerik for his last run out in blue and white. He received a warm welcome with shouts of SCHIEBER . . . SCHIEBER! As a Hertha fans we have to be grateful for small mercies.
We did have one more thing to celebrate before the end of play as our very own Salomon Kalou picked up a consolation goal by crashing home a close range header from Plattenhardt’s cross. It was all wrapped up in the 82nd minutes as the substitute Bruma produced a wonderful finish curling around over Jarstein and inside is left hand post. This was not Hertha’s finest hour and yet I still left escaping the customary gloom after such a loss.
That little voice may say that “it’s not the winning , it’s the taking part hat’s important” but the occasional win is quite nice. Hey, there is always next season.
Until next season
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