Bundesliga Weekend: Rot-Weiss Köln Hit Five, Mannheim Bounce Back, and UHC Edge a Hamburg Derby
Rot-Weiss Köln made the loudest noise in Germany last weekend, and they did it the way good teams do, by scoring early, scoring often, and never letting the game breathe. Köln beat Uhlenhorst Mülheim 5-1 on Friday 23 October. That’s a statement scoreline against a Mülheim side that had won 2-1 at DSD Düsseldorf the previous weekend. Köln had already shown their teeth a week earlier, winning 5-4 at Crefelder HTC, so this wasn’t a one-off. Two wins, ten goals, and a side that looks like it enjoys playing front-foot hockey.
The rest of the weekend kept the goals coming. On Saturday 24 October, Mannheimer HC won 3-0 away at Münchner SC, which was exactly the response they needed after losing 2-1 at home to Hamburger Polo Club the week before. Berliner HC won 3-2 at TSV Mannheim, Crefelder HTC edged DSD Düsseldorf 1-0, and Hamburger Polo Club won 2-1 at Club an der Alster. A day earlier, on Thursday 22 October, UHC Hamburg had beaten Harvestehuder THC 3-2 in the Hamburg derby, a tight one, and the kind of win that keeps a season ticking over.
Put the two weekends together and a few things stand out. Köln have won their last two and scored ten. Mannheim have answered a home defeat with a clean sheet on the road. UHC, who lost 3-1 at home to Köln at the start of October, have now beaten Berliner HC 7-1 and Harvestehuder 3-2 in the fixtures either side of that defeat, which tells you the Köln result was about Köln, not about UHC falling apart. And at the other end, Münchner SC have now lost 5-0 to Harvestehuder and 3-0 to Mannheim in successive home games, which is a rough fortnight by any measure.
Mannheim v Köln is the one to circle. The next round brings the fixture this weekend deserves. Mannheimer HC host Rot-Weiss Köln on Saturday 31 October. It’s the form team against the team that just bounced back, and it’s the game that will tell us whether Köln’s ten goals in two games is the start of something or just a good week. For our money, Köln go in as slight favourites on form, but Mannheim at home, after a 3-0 away win, won’t be short of belief either.
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