Kult & Punk: St Pauli win first home game of 2012

The bands were cancelled, the darts match postponed, not a good week. Then, the boys won at home to get the promotion push back on track. So not all doom and gloom. The bands will be back and arrows will again be chucked - oh happy days.

FC St. Pauli 2-1 VfL Bochum

FC St. Pauli scored a narrow but vital home win over Bochum to move up to fourth place, ahead Paderborn and behind Eintracht Frankfurt on goal difference with all three sides on 42 points. Frankfurt however have yet to travel to second-place Düsseldorf for the division's game of the week on Monday evening. Bochum remain mid-table on 27 points.

After a tentative opening from both sides, the men from Hamburg looked to be gradually seizing the initiative, but with their very first attempt on goal, Bochum took the lead in the 18th minute. Mimoun Azaouagh picked up a ball from the left and cut past several defender St. Pauli defenders, moving away from goal, before planting a delightful reverse lob into the far corner. The home side wasted no time getting back up the pitch in search of the equaliser and midway through the half they got it. Andreas Luthe made a fine save from Kevin Schindler, but the VfL keeper could do nothing to prevent Sebastian Schachten heading home the resultant corner at the near post.

Schachten at the double

From then on, the game settled into a pattern of St. Pauli doing the bulk of the pressing but generally making little headway against a disciplined guest outfit. With just over quarter of an hour remaining that discipline slipped somewhat however as Slawo Freier was sent after picking up a second yellow card. The hosts took full advantage of their numerical superiority in the 81st minute when left back Schachten got on the end of Markus Thorandt's knock-on of a Max Kruse free kick to earn St. Pauli the points with his own second of the day.