WE137I: Groundhopping and Castlehopping on Friday 13th

SV 24 Gölzau 2:5 Askania Bernburg II
Friday, 13th March 2009 - kick-off time 19.00
Landesklasse Staffel 5 (8th level, 4th amateur level)
Result: 2:5 after 92 min. (45/47) - Halftime 1:1
Goals: 1:0 4th Töpfer, 1:1 42nd Vattauer, 1:2 52nd Vattauer, 1:3 66th Pöllmann, 2:3 71st Bergk (penalty), 2:4 83rd Guntsch, 2:5 87th Hölemann
Bookings: Kohler (Gölzau), Förster (Askania)
Sent-offs: none
Ground: Sportanlage an den Ellern (cap. 1,000)
Attendance: 197 (about 10 away fans)
Match quality: 6.5/10 (far above average)

Although the train that took us from Merseburg to Halle had an enormous delay, we arrived in time at our first sightseeing spot, a village north from Halle: Schrenz. That tiny village is part of Zörbig community and you do not need more than an hour by bike from Halle main train station to Schrenz. The only sight there is the church which is in ruins. The interior is closed due to danger of collapse. We met an old man there in front of the church who complained about the fact that the church building falls to pieces due to lack of money - if he wins some million Euros in a lottery, he would spent it on renovating the church - so did he told us.

Next stop: Zörbig. That small town that is municipal seat for 16 other communities - among them as said before: Schrenz - has also an interesting church - but not in ruins - and moreover a small castle. That one is not so spectacular, only the tower that rises up like a needle made of stone, is worth the visit. The museum is closed due to restoration work. Very close to the castle, by the way, are two interesting streets that are named after Egypt and the Red Sea, respectively, and furthermore the football ground of Zörbiger FC. We have been there already, several years ago when Leuna played against them.

After riding on interesting bicycle paths - a former Bundesstraße through woods and meadows parallel to a larger road - we came to Saxony-Anhalt’s smallest town concerning the area. There is not much to see, the church is not too spectacular, the old houses do not have great facades and many houses are neglected. All in all you must find it strange that this is a town and not a village.

But our main destination that day, Weißandt-Gölzau, is not much bigger and even uglier. Lot of industry and the main sight is an average church - only the height is quite impressing - beside the remnants of a castle. Only one building is restored in great parts. Where several other buildings comparable to that unspectacular baroque one stood is fallow land today and at the other side of the fallow land are overgrown walls and a ruined tower. The whole site is closed to the public but just Wayne is interested in it, when someone jumps over the fence and takes a look inside…

Then we went to the football ground which is not really spectacular. OK, that ground is simply boring and the match wasn’t a crazy, riot promising derby full of hatred, but due to the availability of floodlights, there are sometimes matches on Friday evenings in Gölzau. So we took the chance to see that ground one time and 3€, for me even just 2€ (students reduction), were worth the visit.
The match started furiously. Within in the first 15 minutes, Gölzau had five great chances, Bernburg three and Gölzau scored once. After four minutes they scored with a nice shot after a corner kick. Before that, Gölzau had hammered two balls just few centimetres besides the goal and Bernburg even shot a ball at the bar. Several hits at the post and the bar later, Bernburg equalised.
In the second half, Bernburg was the better team right from the beginning. Just seven minutes after the restart, Askania scored for the first time. The third goal for them seemed to be the decision 34 minutes before the end, but a doubted penalty for Gölzau five minutes after the third goal by Askania II made the match more thrilling. Then, after 83 minutes, the final decision was made when Bernburg scored for the fourth time. But that shouldn’t be the last goal, they even scored fifth.
The result was a bit too clean - but due to the second half, that victory of Askania Bernburg II is deserved. Before that match, Gölzau was ranked 4th while Bernburg was 5th, after it it’s the other way around.
There are few things to say about the other things. The referee did not make many dubious decisions, I just have to make a remark on one of the linesmen, well: he just looked like a girl - or like Bill Kaulitz (Tokio Hotel) with shorter hair. The supporters were boring: they did not say a word, maybe because some of them were neither from Gölzau nor from Bernburg, but neutral visitors. Not only from Merseburg, as we two, but beside me there stood five men from Aken (see Friday two weeks ago). The best thing despite the match and the sightseeing was the catering: there was just one kind of food, Bratwurst, but them tasted really great.

After the match we made our way back home. We arrived in Halle after one hour and 15 minutes and after eating a Turkish pizza at my favourite kebab house, we took the train to Merseburg, this time in time.

Statistics:
Ground No. 284 (new ground; this season: 54)
Sporting event No. 765 (this season: 132)
Kilometres that day: 100 (70 bike, 30 train)
Km this season: 18,250; i.e. 9,270 car/ 3,130 bike/ 2,960 plain/ 2,890 train
Number of football matches since the last goalless draw: 4
Number of weeks since the last week without any sporting event (Aug 1st-6th 2006): 137

Links:
History Weißandt castle
My photos of the castles and churches
And the photos of the match