Rarely has a win felt this good. On the seventh matchday of last season, Union hosted RasenBallsport Leipzig with a win needed to settle some of those early-season nerves that had been bubbling up amidst an injury crisis and a tricky start to their first ever year in the Bundesliga. Union won back then, superbly, 5-0, their confidence suddenly blossoming in front of a home crowd and against a particularly disliked opponent. And for Eileen Campbell it seemed particularly significant. She was superb that day, getting her first goal of the season and two assists to boot. But that was nothing compared to how today would pan out for the Austrian international. For 5-0, read 3-2. For Campbell - who would have been forgiven for thinking at one point that the ball would just not be going in again, and certainly not tonight - the dizzying, wonderful winner. 

And how Union needed a little of that, on a Sunday evening where the previous four losses on the bounce were casting a pall over this corner of south-east Berlin.

And it couldn’t have got off to a better start. Union were already on the front foot, with Campbell having launched a first foray into the box with only a minute played. Elvira Herzog, in the Leipzig goal went to clear, but suddenly chaos broke out as the ball rebounded into the path of Lia Kamber. All she had to do was shin it home on the volley to give Union the lead. It was as if you could see the weight fall from their shoulders right there and then.

The cheering rang out, but quickly it was stilled again as the 15-minute protest, standard in these parts whenever Leipzig come to town, regained its hold on the 5,504-strong crowd. But Union looked sharp, and it was hard for them not to show their enthusiasm.

If Samantha Steuerwald showed the home side’s bite, winning an early tackle against the dangerous Delice Boboy, Naika Reissner showed their pace, sliding a perfectly weighted ball into the path of the breaking Jill Janssens. Lina Hausicke pushed and pressed high in midfield, while next to her, Kamber glided, forcing the next save from Herzog from a tight angle on the right. Reissner met a waist high pass on the halfway line with a gorgeous side-footed pass, cushioning the ball inside towards Heiseler.

And when Therese Simonsson got in behind Tomke Schneider, Nadine Böhi was quick to spot the danger and slide out to meet it, just as she was out to punch Alieke Tuin’s speculative cross shortly afterwards. The excellent starting-debutant, Judith Pujols, was pulled up for a foul on Boboy, but one could assume she was only tugging on her so persistently, so as to get the chance to put her boot back on properly, having slipped out of it in her previous tackle on Charlotte Hulst.

Kamber was the start of the show in the middle though, her drag-back to send Emilia Asgeirsdottir into the next constituency was a thing of insouciant beauty - she couldn’t have looked more like Zidane as she shifted her balance, making it look like the easiest thing in the world - and she immediately found Janssens on the right, advancing at pace, a move that culminated in Steuerwald’s header flying an inch over the bar. The way the young Swiss international spun around Schashing on the half way line was a pure delight

Union continued to dominate as the half went on, though they still wouldn’t extend their lead. Campbell put over when she met Heiseler’s free kick, having found herself alone. She chastised herself; she only had to get the header on target. Heiseler, herself, then had her face in her hands having seen her volley at the back post squirm somehow wide. Reissner did so, too, having seen Herzog drop to hold onto her stabbed shot from six yards with 25 minutes gone. 

Reissner was increasingly influential, both when she dropped deep to cover, as when she attacked, turning Schashing inside out. But she dropped to the floor when Kamber’s shot rebounded away and caught her full in the face. She had to wait an age to be allowed back onto the pitch, patiently bouncing on her toes all the while between the dugouts as the fans’ boos rung out around the Alte Försterei.

Union would have more chances, such as when Janssens let rip from 25 yards, but with so many bodies packed into the Leipzig box it was hard to see even a hint of a gap through which to aim the ball. Crosses came in from the left - via Schneider and Reissner - before the half was up, but neither found its intended target. They went down the tunnel positive. Remarkably, this was the first time this season they had the lead in a game. It wouldn't last. 

None of Marie-Louise Eta’s unchanged side could could believe that they hadn’t doubled their lead almost immediately after the break. It seemed impossible. First, Heiseler, striding onto a long ball over the top, deftly played in Janssens. But despite rounding Herzog, the ball flashed wide by the smallest of margins. Union threw themselves at Leipzig, and within a minute Kamber struck the bar from the edge of the box.

They would rue the missed opportunities. Not as Asgeirsdottir put her shot wide, with Böhi already moving the other way and the goal suddenly opening up, but as Tuin equalised on 53 minutes, having been found in space, inside left, 25 yards out. She met her first-time shot perfectly, floating it over Böhi and into the net with her left foot.

Union needed to rediscover their spark, and Reissner was the first to try, chasing hell for leather to catch Tuin, tackling her and bursting forwards in one move. Campbell then took on Jasmien Mathys at pace, her pull-back cleared at the near post.

Eta made her first changes after an hour, bringing on Leela Egli and Sophie Weidauer for Heiseler and Reissner. Egli was almost on the end of Janssens’ clever cross two minutes after coming on, while Herzog saved for Weidauer after three. And when Campbell rose in the box to head Kamber’s corner, the whole stadium was certain it was going in. God only knows how it didn’t, passing the back post as soon as it left her forehead.

But Leipzig had been buoyed by their goal, and Böhi saved well from Tuin at her near post, getting down quickly to palm it away, then from the same player again, flinging herself to her right to tip her long range shot out for a corner. They would take the lead after 70 minutes when Boboy was suddenly away after a rare piece of mis-control by Kamber. The Leipzig player still had plenty to do, especially with the flying Janssens gaining ground with every step, but she finished under Böhi coolly.

Union reacted quickly, sending more an more players forwards, with Campbell and Egli both vying for position with the ball at their feet in the box, but neither able to get a final shot away. Nor could Weidauer as the massed ranks of Leipzig players closed around her like a vice. Herzog got down to her right to stop Steuerwald’s shot after a Pujols corner; this time she stayed down, needing treatment on her hand.

Nele Bauereisen was next to join the fray, in place of Pujols as Union continued to push forwards. Campbell saw her shot saved at the near post, then Amber Tysiak, usually so composed, lost, and then won the ball back to spring Bauereisen away. Steuerwald shot, but again, somehow, it flew wide of the back post. Janssens let fly from the right, but that, too, went high and wide.

With every chance gone, with every shot that flew wide, the feeling grew that again it wouldn’t be their night. Maybe it was destiny, maybe Union were never going to win again. But they hadn’t counted on the will of their brilliant vice-captain.

Steuerwald held herself upright as the ball fell to her, way outside the Leipzig box, and even as she shaped to volley, few could see the gap she had seen. She caught the ball beautifully, half crashing it and half guiding it in an arc, over Herzog and inside the top corner. In terms of technique, it was the finest goal you’ll see in a while. In terms of timing... well, it was flawless.

Now with just under five minutes to go Leipzig were on the ropes and Campbell’s moment was beckoning. Andrea Norheim just about got in the way of Weidauer’s shot and squeezed it out for a corner. Weidauer took it from the right, bending and drifting away from goal towards Campbell. This chance was tougher than before, but this time, it went in. To bedlam.

It took ten minutes for the players to finish their celebrations in front of the teeming, delirious, Gegengerade. That it had been against Leipzig was fitting in so many ways. They would all remember this one for a long time.

“There is an incredible sense of relief after the final whistle. It was a great battle today and I am incredibly proud that we gave everything until the last minute. I am glad that we were finally able to reward ourselves today. The victory is extremely important.” 

"We started very well into the game and were able to reward ourselves directly with the opening goal. Actually, we should have added to our lead in the first half as well. After the two unfortunate goals against us, we didn't give up, but continued to show good football and in the end won completely deservedly. We simply believed in ourselves until the end. I hope the dam has burst now." 

“We are very happy that we won the game. We started well in the first half, created many chances and allowed very little. Afterwards, we missed the opportunity to score the second goal and went through a passive phase in which Leipzig turned the game around. After that, we invested everything and believed that we could still turn the game. The third goal felt very good and I am glad that we were able to reward ourselves.”