1. FC Union Berlin reduced the gap to the top of the 2. Bundesliga to a single point again with a hard-fought 1-0 win over SV 67 Weinberg on Sunday afternoon. On a terrible pitch, captain, Lisa Heiseler, made the difference with her 63^rd minute winner.

1. FC Union Berlin: Bösl – Weiß, Markou, Niesler, Steinert – Frank (60. Halverkamps), Janez, Moraitou – D. Orschmann (73. Bauereisen), Heiseler (87. Rurack), Reissner (87. Blaschka) 

SV 67 Weinberg: Glaser (17. Steinert) – Haberäcker, A. Grimm, Horwath, M. Grimm – Schlitter, Wiesinger, Klärle (82. Arnold), Kömm (82. Wachal) – Wich (61. Istrefaj), Riess (61. Ganßer) 

The starting XI

Ailien Poese made two changes from the side that had performed so superbly, back before the international break, at home against Nürnberg. Cara Bösl was in goal, behind a back four with Judith Steinert on the left, Charleen Niesler (in for Tomke Schneider) and Eleni Markou in the middle and Anna Weiß, making her hundredth 2. Liga appearance on the right.

Celine Frank shuffled back into holding midfield in place of the injured Leonie Köster, allowing Athanasia Moraitou and Korina Janez to come in, ahead of her, flanked by Naika Reissner and Dina Orschmann. Captain, Lisa Heiseler, lead the line up front.

Attendance: 412

Goal: 0:1 Heiseler (63.)

Heiseler hits the post, as Union make all the running.

Surrounded by greenery, small houses and a church spire on fringes of the Erlbachweg ground nearby, Zita Rurack, making her return to the first team squad for the first time since her substitute appearance before Christmas against Gütersloh, tried the bounce test. She dropped the ball from head height (and hers is higher than most). It plopped simply on the brown, scruffy turf. It didn’t bounce. Dina and Katja Orschmann played tennis with it instead, already understanding that they would have to negate the conditions today.

Indeed, when Dina tried to play an early ball out wide for Anna Weiß to run onto, it just stopped sullenly, like a recalcitrant child in the supermarket. This was going to be a slog.

But the guests would have a big early chance when Celine Frank found Naika Reissner charging in from the left, but she put her shot too close to Weinberg stopper, Franziska Glazer. Weinberg would counter after ten minutes, but Cara Bösl was aware enough to take advantage of a poor touch from the lone Weinberg striker.

Glaser, however, wouldn’t make it through the half, after colliding with Orschmann after only quarter of an hour, and her replacement, Celia Steinert, had the toughest of starts as she had to try and judge a through-ball on that impossible pitch, coming towards her with Orschmann barrelling in towards the ball and goal.

Union were making the best of the conditions, though it was heavy work against Weinberg’s deep sitting team, and she then saved well from her own defender’s block under pressure from Heiseler, down to her left, after Reissner had beaten her marker and crossed in low from the byline.

She would have a header saved by Steinert after 30 minutes when she rose to meet Weiß’s towering cross from the right but couldn’t get enough power or direction on the ball.

 Union’s pressure was telling, however, and Charleen Niesler went close next, after another of a series of corners found her to the right of the box. Her first time shot sailed over. Then it was Athanasia Moraitou’s turn, but she, too, saw her header drift wide as Union packed the Weinberg box with red-clad shirts; they were pouring forwards, determined to break the deadlock as the half wore on.

Weinberg were simply holding on for dear life as Union won corner after corner, and Heiseler was certain she’d scored after 40 minutes, but the ball cannoned back off the back post. Though their efforts were unending, however, the opener would evade them, and the players went off with the game still goalless.

Heiseler finally breaks the deadlock, Union hold on for the win

Ailien Poese sent her side out unchanged for the second half, and it started much as the first had ended, with keeper, Steinert clutching the ball, having held onto Weiß’s header almost straight from the off. She then did well to stop Reissner, played in by Judith Steinert after a lovely one-two up the middle, sticking a leg out to close down the angle to her near post, and then from Weiß as she looked to shoot from short-range on the other side of her goal., and it took Union kept on at the task at hand, Steinert, Janez and Reissner linking up elegantly, sweeping the ball between them, but Weinberg were dogged in their defence, with everyone back, all hands on deck.

God only knows how Heiseler didn’t score when she cracked another shot on target, but somehow, again, Steinert managed to parry. She wouldn’t miss her next opportunity, you could see that in her eyes.

But, with Antonia Halverkamps on for Frank, finally the pressure told when Heiseler rounder her marker, and finished with power across goal and inside the back post. She was flocked by her team-mates as they ran to a corner. It had been more than deserved, and it was with a sense of fait accompli that it would be the captain at the heart of it.

Still Steinert was holding back the tied though, and she made another fine stop from Reissner soon after the goal, before orschmann was replaced by Nele Bauereisen, making her debut for Union, at the club she once represented, herself. Reissner, when played through by Moraitou with utter precision, was called offside when through on goal. It was by the finest of margins.

Reissner would have no further chances, coming off for Anouk Blaschka, alongside Rurack for Heiseler, with just a couple of minutes to play. Poese was battening down the shutters, happy with her three points, meaning that there was just the one still to Nürnberg at the top of the league.

If the pitch had been poor, they had mastered it. If their opponents had been resolute, they had beaten them. Their season goes form good to better.

The views on the game

‘It's really cool that I was able to make my competitive debut for Union here in my home country. It's definitely a little goosebump moment because my family and friends are all there. It has to be said about the game that the pitch was very soft. You never blame it on the pitch, of course, but both teams did miss a few balls today. That's why we found it a bit difficult to get our game going today,’ said a delighted Nele Bauereisen on her first Bundesliga 2 appearance for 1. FC Union Berlin. 

Anna Weiß had this to say about her 100th second division match: ‘The pitch conditions weren't ideal, of course, and we realised that in the warm-up. We knew that it would be difficult. Nevertheless, we had plenty of chances that we simply had to capitalise on. In the end, it's the win that counts. We finally managed to somehow push the ball over the line in the second half and cleared everything up defensively in the final phase. So we can now be very satisfied.’

‘What we achieved today in really difficult conditions with regard to the pitch deserves great respect. The pitch was incredibly difficult to play on and yet we tried to solve it in footballing terms. We created a lot of chances and fought our way into the game, which is why I'm very proud of our performance. It was really very difficult today,’ summarised head coach Ailien Poese.