A tough series at eye level

Pure excitement in the Bayernliga playdowns.

Dorfen - As suspected, a tight struggle is already apparent after two games in the fight for relegation between the ESC Dorfen and the EA Schongau. After the 5: 3 home win of the ice pirates in the first of five possible meetings, the Pfaffenwinkler won on Sunday after an open exchange of blows in the extension 8: 7. In the playdown mode "Best-of-five" it is 1: 1. The Dorfeners must now do everything possible to make the next home game on Friday (8 p.m.) successful again before they go back to the mammoth cave on Sunday (5 p.m.).

EAS trainer Andreas Leschinger had announced a “very, very close series” at the press conference after his team's defeat on Friday. "The ice pirates decided the game in Dorfen because they used the better chances cleverly," emphasized the guest coach and added: "We will tackle the matter even harder on Sunday", which prompted Dorfen fans to make emotional calls: "Still When asked about the overly tough attack by Jonas Lautenbacher against Mario Sorsak at the end of the first third - the striker was able to get away with 2 plus 10 minutes, which could have resulted in a penalty, - the guest coach emphasized that he had himself complained because he saw no intention behind it, especially since his player is two heads taller than Sorsak, who was injured with the bat on the head.

"A big praise" was given by ESC coach Randy Neal for his team, who had to get by with just three trained defenders, "whereby the strikers around captain Andreas Attenberger also played a strong backchecking". Special praise was given to Ernst Findeis, who once again played a good defensive role. That included his goalkeeper Simon von Fraunhofer.

"We put pressure on at the right time, but then we received too many penalties after the 5-1 win," criticized Neal. Thomas Hingel was the second goalkeeper after a long injury break after Andreas Tanzer had said goodbye to the long-planned vacation.

In Schongau, ESC trainer Neal finally confirmed a deserved victory for the mammoths, even though they scored seven goals and, with a little luck, might still have made it through a penalty decision.

Schongau's coach was generally satisfied with the appearance of his team, even if you brought the opponent back into the game in the second third. It was important to him that his team kept staging itself and ultimately won the game, Leschinger summed up.

Georg Brennauer