The Borussia Dortmund U23s have ended the first half of the Regionalliga West season in second place after drawing 0-0 at Alemannia Aachen on the final matchday.

The 5,300 spectators at the Tivoli Stadium in Aachen saw an intense match between Alemannia Aachen and the Borussia Dortmund U23s.

Timo Lammert reporting from Aachen

The scenario:
The Black & Yellows went into their clash with Aachen in euphoric mood following their 5-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen in midweek. The home side, meanwhile, picked up a 1-1 draw away to Bonner SC last time out. Coach Fuat Kilic's charges sat seventh in the league table prior to kick-off.

The personnel:
BVB boss Jan Siewert made a number of changes to the starting line-up that faced Essen. Jan Reckert filled in for Eric Oelschlägel, who was among the substitutes for the first team, between the sticks, while Massimo Ornatelli and Kempes Tekiela started in place of Sebastian Rode and Shinji Kagawa. There were no senior players in the squad.

The first half:
The Black & Yellows made a good start to the match and their front three caused a number of problems for the Aachen defence, who were often lacking coordination and allowed space to open up for the visitors. Dortmund created their first very good goalscoring opportunity in the 22nd minute, but Joseph Boyamba's header from 11 metres hit the woodwork following a Dominik Wanner cross. The game was otherwise lacking in chances, in part because BVB looked solid and compact at the back. However, the hosts were the dominant force towards the end of the first half. It was an evenly matched affair in which both teams could have taken the lead but there were no goals before the break.

The second half:
Alemannia Aachen started the second half in the same manner in which they had finished the first, with the hosts full of attacking momentum and restricting BVB to long balls as the match approached the hour mark. But the Black & Yellows emerged unscathed from that period of pressure and looked to get forward themselves, with a shot from Massimo Ornatelli forcing Aachen shot-stopper Zeaiter into a save on the 63-minute mark. Despite the dearth of chances, the spectators witnessed a very entertaining Regionalliga match in which both teams showed a real desire to win. The most clear-cut opportunity of the game fell to Aachen in the 79th minute, but Ibongo managed to fire the ball wide of the target from an unmarked position three metres out. Borussia, it seemed, had that little bit of luck Jan Siewert often talks about on their side. That was again the case on 82 minutes when substitute Vincent Boesen failed to convert a good opportunity to break the deadlock. With two minutes remaining, BVB had the chance to grab what would have been the winner but both Herbert Bockhorn and Dominik Wanner were thwarted by the Aachen custodian.

The reaction from BVB boss Jan Siewert:
"That was an incredibly intense match. What we saw was very high quality. It's not easy to pick up a point here. We've had a lot of intense matches in the past few weeks. Energy levels played a bit of a role towards the end. We consciously played slightly deeper and looked to strike on the counter. We had a good foothold in the game, but in the end it was a deserved draw and one I can certainly live with."

Outlook:
The first half of the Regionalliga West season is over, but the first match of the second half of the season is scheduled for next Saturday. Bonner SC will be the visitors to the Rote Erde Stadion at 14:00 CET.

BVB U23s: Reckert – Hanke, Kilian, Rente, Wanner – Schwermann, Boadu (Hober, 69), Ornatelli (Konate, 85) – Boyamba (Pavlidis, 89), Tekiela, Bockhorn