The Borussia Dortmund women's footballers have won the Kreispokal for the third time in a row. The reigning holders sealed the "three-peat" courtesy of a 1-0 (0-0) win against Westfalenliga outfit SpVg Berghofen at Sportplatz Schiffhorst in Brechten. Merle Greulich scored the only goal of the game in the 49th minute.

BVB's cup triumph represents something of a changing of the guard. When Borussia Dortmund announced the foundation of a women's section in  the autumn of 2020, second-division SpVg Berghofen were Dortmund's shining light in women's football. Four years later, with Berghofen almost certainly set to be relegated to the Landesliga, Westfalenliga-bound BVB will take over as Dortmund's flagship club in the women's game.

The Kreispokal final reflected the shift in the balance of power except for one small thing. The Black & Yellows might have been dominant in all respects in their first-ever meeting with SpVg Berghofen, but they struggled to convert their sporting superiority into something tangible during the first half. The best chance, which fell to Mia Macarena Bedarf a good 10 metres out, was saved by keeper Sabine Reinhold (10). "We were not satisfied at all with the first period. We made far too little of our dominance," commented coach Thomas Sulewski.

The half-time team talk appeared to paid dividends for the Black & Yellows, who took the lead within only four minutes of the restart. Bedarf beautifully teed up Merle Greulich, who poked the ball over the line on the follow-up (49). The Landesliga outfit continued to apply pressure and hardly allowed Berghofen to build any momentum. But the goal to seal the victory would not come. Marjana Naceva (61) and Hannah Geldschläger (79) were denied by the woodwork, while Marie Grothe (61) and Mandy Reinhardt (86) were kept out by keeper Reinhold. "We spurned our chances carelessly today. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. We wanted to win the cup again and we're very happy that we did," Sulewski said.

The BVB women won their eighth title in the space of three years – without conceding a goal in their entire cup run – and again qualified for the Westfalenpokal next season.          

BVB women: Schröer – Tayeh, Haslsteiner, Glänzer, Geldschläger – Grothe – Greulich, Tan (Becker, 82), Bedarf (Reinhardt, 67), Kuhl (Gomulka, 52) – Naceva

Goals: 0-1 Greulich (49)

(df)