Kult & Punk: St Pauli draw with 1860 Munich

The boys were in Munich, somewhere! When in Munich it would be just wrong to ignore all that Bavarian brew. Thank you to our friend Andy James for providing the match report. The boys will be back next week, we have fixed a tracker to them.

1860 Munich 1 FC St. Pauli 1

Munich - A late finish from Kevin Volland ensured 1860 Munich rescued a deserved point in a 1-1 draw with fellow promotion hopefuls FC St. Pauli in Monday evening's top Bundesliga 2 match.

Florian Bruns had given the visitors a first-half lead against the run of play from the spot, but Reiner Maurer's charges continued to set the tone and were eventually rewarded in the closing stages as Volland slotted in the equaliser. The Bavarians thus prevent their rivals from pulling further in front as both remain well-placed to launch a late assault on the promotion places.

Hosts in form

Having taken 22 points from a possible 24 of late, 1860 were already confident heading into the game and were boosted further still by their biggest crowd of the season so far. The Lions duly ruled the roost early on, going agonisingly close on 14 minutes when right-back Anton Rukavina hammered against the upright with a sweet half-volley from all of 25 yards.

With St. Pauli struggling to make inroads at the other end, 1860 continued to pressure and ought to have gone in front on 22 minute when Kai Bülow's cross was helped on its way by Djordje Rakic, but Volland was unable to connect at close range in the centre.

Bruns from the spot

With the scoreline still level there was always a danger that the hosts would be caught, and the unthinkable happened for the 30,000 or so home fans on 33 minutes when Bülow took down Petar Sliskovic with a clumsy challenge in the box. Bruns stepped up to do the honours from the spot, even if 1860 keeper Gabor Kiraly came mighty close to keeping the midfielder's spot-kick out.

Rocked by the sudden deficit, 1860 briefly lost their composure as the visitors enjoyed their best spell, but a disallowed goal by Stefan Aigner restored belief and they finished the half strongly. Bülow almost redeemed himself for his earlier misdemeanour with a cross-cum-shot which nearly dipped under the bar, but Benedikt Pliquett recovered to tip away in the St. Pauli goal.

Pressure pays off

Andre Schubert's Kiezkicker began the second half with promise as Max Kruse tested Kiraly with a distance strike, but soon normal service resumed with 1860 dictating the play but again failing to make the most of their numerous deliveries.

Bruns tried his luck from range as St. Pauli again began to wrestle some authority entering the latter stages, but just as it looked like 1860 were about to let their heads drop, a mistake in the away defence allowed substitute Collin Benjamin to pounce and tee up Volland to level the scores with just two minutes remaining.


Andy James