It was a good game, better than I expected from St. Pauli and a bit disappointing from Hannover, who were treating it as a dress rehearsal for their opening game against the other H$V; only 3 substitutions, all in the 2nd half, etc.

Unfortunately, the organisation at the ground was crap. There were only 2 gates open on the Gegengerade, which meant about 1000 of the 6430 who turned up were still waiting outside when the teams came on, and so missed Ian Joy's farewell.

We eventually got onto the Gegengerade with 9 minutes gone, just in time to see Takyi pass across the goal at the South end to Schnitzler, who had no trouble chipping it past national keeper candidate Enke to open the scoring. That was his 6th goal in the last 5 test games. Now all he needs to do is keep his scoring rate up in games that actually matter...

In spite of the lack of Meggle, Boll and Eger, St. Pauli had the most of the first half, and should have made it 2 or 3-0 before half-time. Schnitzler managed to shoot past an open goal after 18 minutes and there were a few other chances, but the team stuck rigorously to its 1 in 4 policy from the first half of the season.

Reus in the St. Pauli goal was his usual, insecure self. Hannover had the ball over the line at one point, after he'd decided to juggle with it rather than box it clear, but fortunately there had been a foul on a St. Pauli player just before, so it didn't count.

1-0 at half-time, and St. Pauli made 5 substitutions, with Reus, Gunesch, Bruns, Takyi and Ludwig going off, replaced by Borger, Kalla, Sako, Sismanoglu and Prokoph. Four minutes later, Petersen (a U23 player who looked quite promising) came off and Abdou Sall came on for his first ever 1st team game. He's been injured so long he must be due for his pension soon, but he still got a good cheer from the crowd.

About 20 minutes into the 2nd half I suddenly noticed that the guy standing in front of me was an ex-flatmate from about 12 years ago. So I said hi. He doesn't live in Hamburg any more, so this was a rare opportunity to see the team, and he could have picked a worse game.

Hannover equalised in the 62nd minute with a shot from one of the puke-coloured boots of Huszti, but the real highlights came just after that. Sako, in the centre circle, managed to fend off about 4 tackles from different Hannover players before sending an accurate pass forward and then in the 69th minute, Prokoph took the ball off Enke after a risky backpass, and played the ball back from the left side of the area to Sismanoglu, who sent a lob towards goal from about 30 yards out. It seemed to be in the air for about 10 seconds before bouncing into the net.

Hannover equalised 3 minutes later through national player Mike Hanke, and Prokoph failed to get the winner after a 1-on-1 situation with Enke shortly afterwards, but it was a moral victory, as they say.

Днес от 19 ч. започваме втория полусезон като гости на Кьолн. Надявам се да спечелим точки от този мач . Междувременно освен Иън Джой и Джереми Опоку-Карикари напусна тима, за да играе за втория отбор на Щутгарт. На тяхно място в последния момент бяха привлечени Андреас Бирман (27-годишен, с 29 мача и 2 гола за Унион Берлин през миналия сезон, в началото на този сезон е играл за Тенис Борусия Берлин) и Павло Йанчук (21-годишен, юноша на Динамо Киев, за последно е играл в Арджеш Питещи, отбор от румънската първа дивизия).

Един от титулярите в тима, полузащитникът Томас Мегле, е контузен и вероятно ще отсъства няколко месеца от терена. Поради това сме подписали 2-годишен договор с полузащитника на Падерборн Marc Gouiffe á Goufan (24-годишен, с 2 мача за националния тим на Камерун, 29 мача в Регионалната лига и 77 мача във Втора Бундеслига). Той ще се присъедини към отбора със свободен трансфер, освен ако Падерборн не се спаси от изпадане, което е почти невъзможно.

Договорът на Павло Йанчук, който пристигна на "Милернтор" през зимата от румънския Арджеш Питещ, няма да бъде продължен и той ще напусне тима през лятото.

Днес стана ясно, че още един играч ще напусне тима - договорът на защитника Абду Сал, който изтича на 30 юни, няма да бъде подновен.