Borussia's U19s geared themselves up for their upcoming matches in the inaugural NRW-Pokal by thrashing North Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli 9-3 in a friendly.

The goals were scored by Samuel Bamba (4), Vasco Walz (2), Bekir El-Zein, Michel Ludwig and Bradley Fink. "For long periods, we played some really good football," praised coach Mike Tullberg. BVB will kick off the group stages in the NRW-Pokal against Preußen Münster on Saturday (12:00 CET, NLZ Brackel).

Having previously beaten Wehen Wiesbaden (4-0) and Karlsruher SC (3-1), the U17s suffered their first defeat of pre-season. The new-look Black & Yellows were slightly unlucky to lose 2-1 to TSG Hoffenheim, one of the top teams in the Bundesliga South/South West. Coach Sebastian Geppert was pleased with the performance his team produced. Mats Brune scored the goal to equalise at 1-1. The U17s will start the NRW-Pokal against SV Lippstadt 08 on Sunday (11:00 CET, NLZ Brackel). (wiwi)

Detailed reports on the youth webpages