Dina and Katja Orschmann have spoken many times before  of what it would mean for them to play together in the  Bundesliga. It was a childhood dream come true. But even though both had appeared on the scoresheet last year as they played HSV  in the 2. Liga, this... well, this just seemed impossible.

But this victory wasn't delivered solely by the sisters. Union have defined themselves through their refusal to know when they are beaten, and as they fought til the end, it was clear that Union would be up for this midweek game from the off. As the immense, 300-plus Union fans roared to their echoing drums in this fine football stadium, with Thuringian hills rising behind them, Katja made her first ever touches of the ball in the Bundesliga, hitting a raking, almost trademark long ball towards Eileen Campbell who almost slipped through the Jena defence immediately. 

The hosts were not to be there for the taking though, and central striker Isabell jaron was interrupted twice by the alert Tomke Schneider as she tried to cut into the Union box down the inside left channel, then again after seven minutes as Jaron tried to turn into space by the penalty spot. Orschmann made another vital tackle on her two minutes later, refusing to be passed-by.

Following Halverkamps’ dragged effort wide, Sophie Weidauer had Union’s first real chance when she took the ball off Naika Reissner following a typical burst up the middle, leaving her marker in the dust. Again, the shot flew just wide.

Campbell flashed a shot across goal soon afterwards, this time testing Hannah Etzold in the Jena goal, but swinging it outwards to where Naika Reissner saw her own stabbed shot deflected into the side netting and out for a corner.

Union were  now controlling large  parts of the game, but even so, when Etzold went down having taken a Weidauer cross, the players came together around Ailien Poese and her co-trainer, Sabrina Eckhoff for a moment as one as the coaches recalibrated their players’  systems, looking for a way through a dogged and determined defence  that had just held Bayern to a goalless draw.

Whatever they said, it worked, and Union would find a way through via the flashing boot of Orschmann before half an hour was up. Set up by Antonia Halverkamps, herself making her first start of the season, after a short corner, Orschmann cracked a shot through the crowd in the box.

The dangerous Jaron was stopped in her tracks by a well-timed Pawollek challenge before Felicia Sträßer, the granddaughter of the 50-goal-scoring Union legend Ralf, saw an immediate yellow card for a horrible challenge on Reissner, as Union’s winger flew past her. She slapped palms with a teammate as she jogged back into position, Reissner still lying prone on the ground. There was little time for sentiment here.

Before the half was up Etzold held a volley from Weidauer, though she never really got hold of the dropping ball to cause much of a problem for the Jena keeper. Campbell then cracked a shot into Nelly Juckel’s ribs inside the box, having taken Anna Weiß’s cross on first time.

Weiß, herself returning to her hometown club, one she represented for her entire career before coming to Union, hit a lob that briefly threatened to drop under the bar, but was comfortably held by Etzold in the end.

Union were worth their lead, but there was plenty  more drama to come. 

Katja Orschmann was joined by her twin sister, Dina, as the second half kicked off, replacing Halverkamps, but few could  have predicted the way they wuld  affect the  game at that point. If anything,  things at first all went wrong as they were forced to look on as the hosts almost immediately equalised as Rieke Tietz beat Bösl with a sharp first time shot, with only a minute gone. Jaron set it up, when she blocked the Union keeper’s long ball out, and Jena now had the wind in their sails. It took another neat tackle from Steuerwald to stop Tietz from finding herself in front of goal with only the keeper to beat again. 

Having ridden the waves of pressure, Union started to come back into the game, with Reissner again combining with Campbell, and Pawollek attempting to bend one into the top corner from outside the box. Orschmann tried one from further out with just over an hour played but, though she connected well, hit it straight at Etzold. Dina Orschmann had another crack, well blocked; Heiseler found Weidauer who laid it off for Reissner who won a corner; Pawollek sliced over the bar after Weiß’s deep cross.

With 20 minutes to play, Poese changed things up, bringing on Ida Heikkinen and Nele Bauereisen for Heiseler and Reissner. Anna Aehling, on for Weiß, followed soon after as Union switched to a back four, and continued their pressure with Jena’s players now almost entirely encamped in their own half. Bauereisen skipped past Emily Reske in the box but couldn’t get to the ball in time to reach it before it crossed the byline.

What momentum they had however was too often broken up by the regular stops in play, and it was Bösl who made the next stop, springing suddenly to her left, as Elena Mühlemann almost hit a speculative cross into the top corner. Union refused to wilt, they ploughed on, regardless, but time was running out.

There was to be a final twist, however, as Ida Heikkinen was pulled back by Mühlemann as she tried to get into the Jena box from the left. Though no card was shown, Schneider clipped the free kick perfectly into the box where Dina Orschmann powered in a header having timed her run perfectly. As  they had against HSV last year, the twins had both scored in the league for Union. It couldn’t have been scripted any better.

"I was determined to get the ball over the line. We had a really strong first half and were rewarded with Katja's goal, which made me very happy. After conceding we faltered a bit and needed a moment to recover. It was all the more satisfying that we managed to score the late goal and win in the end." 

"I'm very happy and relieved. We wanted to get off to a good start in this midweek and we managed to do that today – albeit late. Nevertheless, we have to blame ourselves for making such individual mistakes. We need to be more consistent and focused. But we remained mentally fresh, believed in ourselves until the end, and perhaps it was precisely this conviction that led to the goal shortly before the final whistle." 

"We definitely learned today how to overcome adversity and also that it's not enough to play just one good half in this league. Of course, an opponent who is 0-1 down comes out of the dressing room differently after the break, and we mustn't let that surprise us. In the end, however, the relief prevails. We'll discuss the rest in the next few day."