Youngsters shine in SV Birkenfeld’s first win – Lengfeld next

District league: Youngsters convince in Birkenfeld’s first win of the season – now Lengfeld should be followed up

06.09.2023 – 16:24

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Despite his young age, Niklas Kafara (left, SV Birkenfeld, here against Ricardo Steglich from Hösbach-Bahnhof) already clarifies many tricky situations with well-considered positional play. Coach Strohmenger praises his discipline and mature style of play. Photo: Julien Christ

Photo: Julien Christ

Pascal Wolfram (right, SV Birkenfeld) gets the ball in front of Tim Zachrau (TuS Frammersbach) in this scene from a club cup game. Photo: Julien Christ

Photo: Julien Christ

SV Birkenfeld had to wait five match days for the first three in the West district football league. With a lot of pressure on their shoulders, the bottom of the table drove to the penultimate ETSV Würzburg last Sunday. This time it was zero, also thanks to two youngsters.

In the end, they weren’t the only ones who lost some of their weight after the confident 2-0 win.

The two SVB homegrown players played confidently: Niklas Kafara, 20, right-back, and Pascal Wolfram, left-back, also only 20 years old. Especially now, when the pressure was on in Birkenfeld, the two youngsters stayed cool and contributed to the recent success with excellent performances. On Sunday, Birkenfeld hosts another potential competitor in the relegation battle, Lengfeld, against whom Kafara and Wolfram are said to be back from the party, Birkenfeld coach Benedikt Strohmenger revealed.

taken the risk

»The win was a great relief for us, because you can’t replace a sense of achievement with good training. That helps to strengthen faith and regain strength for the next game,« SVB coach Benedikt Strohmenger breathes a sigh of relief after the recent 2-0 win against ETSV Würzburg. Strohmenger is also relieved because he took a risk: With Niklas Kafara and Pascal Wolfram, two very young talents from their own ranks formed the Birkenfeld defensive pincers – and that in a phase in which the pressure on the SVB could hardly be higher. But the two youngsters repaid Strohmenger’s trust with good performances, including in Würzburg, where both defended in an extremely disciplined manner and hardly made any mistakes. For Kafara it was the fourth start in the sixth game of the season, for Wolfram it was the third in a row.

Niklas Kafara actually comes from Esselbach, but switched to Birkenfeld when he was a junior. Strohmenger describes the right-back as a very mature player who shines with his reliability. “He is very strong in one-on-one combat, very attentive and makes few mistakes. He is very disciplined and plays very maturely.« Kafara himself is happy about his development and knows where he has to thank: »It was definitely helpful that you had more experienced players around you, and that our coach also tried to give us help after every game on how we can continue to improve,” says Kafara, who works as a tax clerk.

Pascal Wolfram shines with his youthful playing style

Pascal Wolfram is a completely different type of player, explains Strohmenger, since the mechatronics technician is more characterized by his speed and a “younger game type”. The SV trainer means that Wolfram probably has technical advantages and more offensive drive compared to Kafara. The young Birkenfelder could take a lesson from Kafara in terms of risk assessment in the build-up game. “Ideally, they also learn from each other,” Strohmenger encourages his two protégés.

Above all, however, they are proud to have two young talents in their own ranks – who also perform: “It is also our task as a coach and club to develop and introduce young players. It makes me happy to see when they leave the pitch with a grin. With their performances, they have probably earned a starting eleven again,” Strohmenger gives the two talents hope of getting playing time against Lengfeld next Sunday.

»It’s a big name with a big tradition. They’ve had wild results so far and are better than the individual class,« the SVB coach describes the next opponent, TSV Lengfeld, who, in his opinion, can be defeated collectively, Birkenfeld’s greatest strength. In addition to the two young wild ones on the wings, the last missing striker Alexander Roos will probably be there again. Strohmenger’s squad is almost complete, only he himself is still suffering from muscular problems that could prevent him from playing.

Meanwhile, Pascal Wolfram and Niklas Kafara agree that staying up in the league is the big goal of the season – and that you can do it, not least with the help of the two wild youngsters, as Wolfram explains: »Personally, I would like to develop myself further and with consistently good performance will help the team to be successful«.

JULIAN RECHLIN

background

» They’ve had wild results so far and are coming through the individual class. «

Benedikt Strohmenger about TSV Lengfeld

background

» He is very disciplined

and is already playing

very grown up. «

Benedikt Strohmenger on Niklas Kafara

ETSV Wuerzburg – SV Birkenfeld 0:2

Birkenfeld: Konrad – Kafara, Eckert, Henig, Wolfram, – Langer, Müller (77. Schreier), P. Schebler (60. Wolfram), Jankowski (84. Ebert), Hörning (84. Langguth) – Ph. Schebler (77 . Kahns). – Goals: 0: 1 Jankowski (52nd), 0: 2 Hörning (56th). – Spectators: 75 in Würzburg. – Referee: Christian Wolf (Langenleiten).

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