Staff misery never ends

Created: 11/08/2022, 1:00 p.m

By: Helmut Findelsberger

Were not to be envied at the weekend: the Dorfen goalkeepers Kilian Ober (left) and Maxi Englbrecht.

© dfi

ESC Dorfen, with its very thin squad, looks back on a zero round last weekend.

Dorfen – It didn't look so bad for a long time on Friday evening in the 2:6 against ESV Buchloe.

Buchloe's trainer Christopher Lerchner spoke at the press conference of a "balanced first third".

However, he had the exclusive rights for this view, because Dorfen easily had three times as many scoring opportunities.

From the second third, his team recovered, "played solidly defensively and scored the goals at the right time in the last third".

The people of Dorfen were able to agree with this point of view.

All in all, the Buchloer's victory was deserved, even if it was perhaps a little too clear at 6:2.

"My players gave everything, but it's difficult when you can't set up the squad the way you want."

Understandably, Ice Pirates trainer Franz Steer cannot avoid addressing the current unfortunate personnel situation at any press conference.

There were 16 field players, "but then there are returnees who have hardly trained".

He cited 21-year-old Raphael Steiger as a prime example.

"He was gone for six weeks and has now been able to train twice."

Another 21-year-old, namely Andreas Marek in goal, made his first game of the season and "his performance was okay," said his coach.

"Well, it wasn't our plan," was the superfluous answer to the even more superfluous question about the four-goal deficit after seven minutes after the 7-3 defeat at VfE Ulm/Neu-Ulm Steers.

The ESC trainer attested the Devils a "maximum chance evaluation" and so he had to "take out goalkeeper Max Englbrecht early on, also to protect him, because he was innocent and was criminally let down by the people in front".

His boys would then have caught themselves.

"You still can't give up a game like this for loss," growled Steer and admitted, "after the goal to make it 3: 5, I had already planned to take the goalkeeper out in favor of another field player, but then we hit the opponent straight away hung up".

There were only twelve seconds between the two goals.

There is a saying that the pastor only preaches once.

That's impossible for Steer in terms of staff – and it was the case this time.

"No team can put up with so many absentees as we have, and many could no longer play at all," he stated.

"How true," his colleague Martin Jainz in Ulm, who is content with himself, must have thought to himself next to him.

The Devils squad only has 18 field players, 15 were in action.

At Dorfen there were 15 – out of a squad of 28. The 40-year-old Jainz, who was still active on the ice as a defender last season, confirmed “that it is of course an advantage for us that the leading players are almost all operational and therefore the boys can lead".

His colleague Steer can only dream of that at the moment.