Much had been made of Union’s squad and the ravages that it had taken over the last weeks. Indeed, Ailien Poese could only field five players on the bench on Sunday evening, and one of those was the 15-year-old Mariann Noack. Superb prospect she may be, but Union had been given a lesson by Freiburg in the difficulties inherent in top flight survival, and when both Cara Bösl and then Eileen Campbell went down hurt in the first half alone against Köln, there were plenty of reasons to worry. 

Fortunately, both recovered  (and Noack was  faultless in a ten-minute cameo at the end) but it showed the binds Poese was working under, and emphasised that on a night like this, she would need her more experienced heads to prevail. Following a nervy start from both sides, that’s exactly what happened after eight minutes when Katja Orschmann waved that wand of a right foot, cutting out that remodelled midfield, and landing the ball on a sixpence, right at Sophie Weidauer’s toe. Weidauer didn’t even have to break stride.

She waited, letting the ball bounce quickly, before hitting it down into the ground with her studs past debutant, Irina Fuchs, in the Köln goal. It was a superb, instinctive, striker’s finish.

After a tough start, they were off and running. The returning Athanasia Moraitou then almost set Eileen Campbell away with  a gorgeous long ball, but found the striker half an inch offside, before hitting a 30 yard free kick the same distance wide, having lifted it over the wall with power and pace.

Köln, whose lowly position in the table had as much to do with their disastrous start, and their lack of games played as anything, stepped up, roused by the goal. At the back, Orschmann’s partner, Samantha Steuerwald made a fine, if slightly desperate challenge on Sandra Jessen in the box after quarter of an hour before Anna Weiß came across to belt one out play, and almost out of the low roofed stadium entirely.  Anna Gerhardt had a fine shot headed away by Orschmann soon after that.

Köln would equalise before the half hour was up. A free kick was lofted in from the left across the box from where Marina Hegering headed it precisely back across goal. The routine looked well-honed, and it worked like a dream. Laura Vogt broke free and arrived at the exact moment to stab it over the line. Cara Bösl was already long taken out of play by the cross.

Hegering went close with a falling header just three minutes later, but Jessen wouldn’t be so profligate, taking the ball on the halfway line, putting it through Steuerwald’s  legs, and beating Bösl for 2-1before Union’s keeper had a chance to even set herself.

Finally, with Köln continuing to press, Schneider caught Gerhardt as they chased into the box and came together. Union’s defender would argue that the chance was long gone, the ball already off in the other direction, but referee, Franziska Wildfeuer, pointed straight to the spot.

There was a final twist, however, as Anna-Lena Stolze opted for power over precision, and crashed the ball off the bar, it bouncing down and away, ultimately claimed again in the air by Bösl. It had been a big let-off. The break couldn’t come soon enough for Union.

If the second half started with palpable tension for players and fans alike, for the fairweather fan it would have been a difficult watch. This was attritional stuff, no quarter given, every millimetre battled for. When Schneider and Jessen tussled at a corner with an hour played, Heiseler, about to hit the set-piece, winced in irritation. She couldn’t get going. 

None of them really could. It was tough going for both sides; tactically identical, they effectively cancelled each other out.

Poese had made no changes at the break, though Steuerwald was quick to make an impact, catching Adriana Achinska, getting a yellow card to join Schneider in the book for her trouble. Köln, passing quickly, tackling smartly, looked keen to make up for the missed opportunity, and Bösl did well to hold Laura Donhauser shot at her near post, if it was on cracked on goal from the tightest of angles.

Dina Orschmann popped up at left-back, helping out, Weidauer then did so in the middle, and when they attacked, Sara Agrez got in the way of Weiß’s cross from the right, taking the ball on the midriff, happier to see it out for a corner than into the box. Weidauer was certain her volley from Dina Orschmann’s cross took a final touch off Laura Feiersinger before it went out, but to no avail.

Katja Orschmann and Weiß managed to get across in time to snuff out the next chance from the hosts when Jessen brought down a cross but took a touch too many. But, frankly, her chance was now an outlier at this point, as the game stuttered and stammered like an old car on a winter’s morning. Play was frequently interrupted. Heiseler was off with an hour gone, alongside Dina Orschmann, with Ida Heikkinen and Antonia Halverkamps replacing them. Hegeler was forced into the long trudge around the pitch to the bench, hurt. Moraitou was hooked for Korina Janež a minute later.

Katja Orschmann’s searching long passes were Union’s most dangerous outlet, and Schmidtz did well, springing to her left, to grab hold of Hipp’s shot after Janež had flicked the steepling ball along in the box.

Steuerwald than did superbly to shepherd Pauline Bremer away from danger, when Bösl under-hit her short pass out, and landed it straight at the feet of the substitute striker.

Still Union looked to find the spark that would set them off, and Hipp came close again when her looping header dropped just over the bar, but it was almost her last touch of the ball, as she was replaced with ten minutes to go by Celine Frank

One of Union’s longest serving players, Frank was making her Bundesliga debut, but her appearance, was overshadowed by that of Anna Weiß being replaced by the 15-year-old Noack at the same time. She wasn’t the youngest player in women’s Bundesliga history – that honour still belongs to Dzsenifer Maroszan – but she was pretty close.

When Halverkamps couldn’t bring a crossfield ball under control, and it squirmed away, off her boot, and out for a throw, it was right in front of Poese. She cheered her winger on, clapping her hands together, ignoring the ball entirely. There were still six minutes of time added onto play, and nothing was over yet.

But the scene had served as a neat little metaphor for the game as Union’s time finally ran out. Poese seemed to remind her players as they came  together for a huddle after the final whistle had blown away their last hopes, that this was what they had signed up for. It had been difficult, but they  had hardly been blown away or outclassed.

It was just one of those nights. 

"It's very frustrating right now. We gave it our all again and stuck together on the pitch, but unfortunately there were a few moments when we weren't fully focused and that's when we conceded the two goals. Nevertheless, we're looking ahead, carrying on and will give our best again in the next game."

 "I felt that we got off to a good start. Unfortunately, we became very hectic as the game progressed and after conceding the two goals, we lost our rhythm. In the second half, we tried to throw everything forward again, but today we were just missing the little things." 

"Basically, we brought a lot of energy to the pitch. We got off to a great start with the goal, but then we lost our way a bit and conceded two goals. We gave it our all in the second half, the team left their hearts on the pitch, but unfortunately we weren't able to get a point."