Sunday 3rd June 2012 ko 15.00

Nord-Rhine Westfalia Liga

SC WESTFALIA HERNE 0

SpVgg VELBERT 6 (Janas 4 9 Onucka 18 69 Kaya 54 59)

Att 200 (Official website)

Entry €7

Programme 50c

Badge €5

Coffee €1

From Essen it was just a couple of stops by train to Bochum, then a U-Bahn ride to Herne. It was clear that Lee had planned the weekend around a visit to Westfalia-Stadion Schloss Strünkede, and the further the train headed towards its terminus the more I found myself anticipating our final game of the tour. We walked across the public park that homes the ground, and glimpsed huge swathes of terracing but it wasn’t until we got through the turnstiles that I understood what I was seeing.

As a traveller I reckon you visit places in the hope of having a “Deep Breath” moment, where you just stop in awe, and, yes take a deep breath. The Kinkaju-Ji Temple in Kyoto provided me with one, as did Niagra Falls. I climbed to the top of the terrace here and had another. A huge 32,000 capacity bowl, with a large bench seated stand providing the only cover. Unbelievably this magnficent stadium, if it were in England could not stage FA Vase games as there are no floodlights.

We had a good walk around, and bought our souvenirs, before picking a seat in the stand as it was raining. Lee had let me know that the NRW-Liga is in fact equal in status to the Oberliga, so we were watching the 5th tier of German football. We would also be watching one of the last games in this league as its being abolished as the level 4 Regionaliga expands from 3 to 5 divisons. None of which was relevant to poor Herne, marooned at the bottom with a mere 12 points. However there was something riding on it for Velbert, a win would give them a playoff spot for promotion. It spoke volumes for how they viewed Herne’s threat that they named several U19 players in their line-up.

It was a ruse that worked perfectly, as Velbert raced into a 2 goal lead with Sebastian Janas being on both occasions the beneficiary. The first he simply walked through a static defence, the second a horrendous Tim Reimann backpass gave him the easiest of opportunities. Herne offered nothing by way of resistance so  it came as little surprise when Markus Kaya placed a delightful cross on to the head of former Herne player Marko Onucka to make it three.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Kaya collected a neatly taken brace before putting through Onucka for the sixth. Kaya was then withdrawn, the job was done, and Velbert cruised through the last few minutes for a victory that if more goals had been needed, could have been far more savage.

We walked back to the station, caught a train back to Dormund to collect our bags then made for the airport. An amazing, and varied 4 game programme to celebrate Lee’s impending nuptials. Good luck Lee and Gilly, and thanks to Lee for both organising this, and inviting me along.