Viktoria Herxheim has started in the Oberliga

Bounce-back qualities required: Viktoria Herxheim is currently last in the Oberliga.
IMAGO/Jan Huebner

Viktoria Herxheim experienced last week how close joy and sorrow can sometimes be in football: While the top division team from near Landau/Pfalz had to cope with the cup exit (1:2) against FG Mutterstadt, who play two leagues lower, after picking up zero points from their first four matches on Wednesday, the world looked different again three days later. Thanks to their first win of the season – a 2:1 against SV Auersmacher – the promoted team picked up their first point. It’s no wonder that Ralf Schmitt classifies the success as “extremely important”.

“Arriving in the league is a process. We still have to adapt certain things and must not forget where we come from,” emphasises the Viktoria coach. Schmitt, who as a player played for Karlsruher SC and Sportfreunde Siegen in the 2nd Bundesliga, among others, and made a brief appearance for Eintracht Frankfurt in the first division, succeeded Jens Bodemer in the summer. Even under the direction of the former Herxheim coach, the then association league runner-up’s promotion was hard to top in terms of drama. Match successful: In the decisive relegation match, Viktoria needed a win by at least four goals against SG 2000 Mülheim-Kärlich – but had to settle for a 1:1 draw until the 92nd minute. The “miracle of the coronation bush” ultimately scored four goals in stoppage time. Among them was a brace from Raphael Gehrlein. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” emphasises the captain about three months after the spectacular 5-1 victory. “I’ve probably watched the video 20 to 30 times now.”

Nine goals conceded against Kaiserslautern II

The start in the new league was all the rougher: the opening defeats against Wormatia Worms (3:4) and FK Pirmasens (1:3) were followed by a hefty 0:9 thrashing at 1. FC Kaiserslautern II and a 0:2 defeat against FV Engers. “The preparation was good, as was the atmosphere. But we quickly noticed that things were different now,” explains Schmitt. The program was thankless for his inexperienced team. Only Alexander Schultz and new signing Elias Burkert (FV Dudenhofen) have Oberliga experience; before the season, Herxheim also had to cope with the departure of the experienced offensive players Yasin Özcelik (FC Bienwald Kandel) and Kevin Baltrusch (retirement).

On the other hand, the club has good youth work: five players from its own U19 team were promoted. “We have now been promoted twice in a row and the core of the team is still together,” reports Gehrlein. The team spirit is accordingly great. “I think the club is on a good path. That’s why I decided to do it,” explains Schmitt. The goal of staying in the league is a “challenge,” says the coach, who previously worked at TuS Mechtersheim and VfR Mannheim, among others. Matches against two teams relegated from the regional league now complete the complicated start: on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) Viktoria will host TuS Koblenz, and on Saturday they will be guests at TSV Schott Mainz (2 p.m.).

Faith is back

The bottom team’s hopes are also resting on the fact that the list of absentees will soon be shortened. So far, Schmitt has not been able to call on the entire squad for various reasons. “It will take some time before we have a stable personnel situation,” says the 47-year-old, who, like captain Gehrlein (“We’ll take the upswing from the Auersmacher game with us”), is optimistic about the next task: “The belief that we can win is back. With the exception of Kaiserslautern, we were not clearly inferior to any team.