by After I had kicked off my 2nd Handball Bundesliga season two weeks before (TuS Ferndorf vs. TV Emsdetten), 18th September 2026 featured a very interesting regional battle. TSV Bayer Dormagen hosted TUSEM Essen on the 4th matchday of the 2026/27 season. Both teams had a rather poor start of the season, so that both had to get away from the relegation spots of the league table in this match with a victory. Here is my report.
This posting comes with a section of 361 major size pictures in the sports galleries.
TSV Bayer Dormagen – TuSEM Essen – Match Report
From the very beginning, both teams felt highly motivated to win this regional derby. Thus, the match already started rather physical. Dormagen’s Florian Boehnert went a bit too far, hitting his opponent in the face, so that after just three minutes, he had been sent off the match. However, Essen just lead once in the entire match, due to the very first goal by Alexander Schoss. The match stayed close, though. For example Max Neuhaus tied the score in the 11th minute, 5-5.
However, the hosts felt to have the momentum now and managed to control the match with a three goal lead during the next minutes. Essen was always close to them. When Valentin Willner decreased Bayer’s lead to just one goal in the 23rd minute, the away fans felt to be in control of the building. When Essen even tied the score three minutes later (12-12, Felix Göttler), you could feel the burden on Dormagen’s side. However, the hosts acted more clever until the intermission. A straight 4-0 score in the last 4:30 minutes of the first half gave them a rather comfortable four goal lead, 16-12.
Another Red Card for Dormagen
At the beginning of the second half, Bayer Dormagen felt to be able to manage a three to four goal lead. One key player for that was Christian Ole Simonsen. Bayer’s goalkeeper had some really nice saves, especially in the second half, in deciding moments. However, neither of the teams managed to play constantly. When Dormagen struggled, Willner closed up to one goal (18-17) in the 37th minute. Again, it felt being the story of this match that TuSEM just did not take the next step.
Even though the match was close, Dormagen felt to play more variable and more convincingly. With roughly ten minutes left on the clock, Maximilian Schmidt scored a goal leading to an intermediate 25-20 lead. Until the final buzzer, Dormagen just scored thrice. On top of that, they lost Luca Krist in the 56th minute due to his third 2 minute penalty. However, their buffer was too big. TuSEM tried to push, even played man-to-man marking in the last minutes. However, they could not get closer than two goals, finally losing 26-28 abroad.
TSV Bayer Dormagen – TuSEM Essen – My View of the Match
Even though the score was close finally and throughout major parts of the match, Dormagen just felt invincible on that evening at their own TSV Bayer Sportcenter. It has been a thrilling match in front of a pushing, but maybe slightly limited audience of 1,496 spectators. Whenever Essen gave them a challenge, the hosts had the right answer.
Growing up with 1980’s handball and two big teams around my home at that time, VfL Gummersbach and TuSEM Essen, it felt heartbreaking to me that the that traditional Ruhrgebiet team might run into serious trouble during this 2nd Handball Bundesliga season. For Dormagen, this first victory of the season was definitely a crucial and important one.
TSV Bayer Dormagen – TuSEM Essen – Lineups
TSV Bayer Dormagen: 11 Maximilian Conzen, 20 Christian Ole Simonsen – 2 Luca Krist, 3 Jakob-Jannis Leun, 5 Patrick Hüter, 6 Timo Doepner, 7 Krischa Leis, 9 Florian Boehnert, 13 Kaj Kriescher, 14 Moritz Köster, 17 Felix Elias Böckenholt, 24 Peter Strosack, 34 Maximilian Schmidt, 47 Paul Scholl, 49 Linus Leitz, 66 Julius Hein
TuSEM Essen: 12 Finn Knaack, 16 Lukas Diedrich – 3 Felix Mart, 4 Felix Göttler, 5 Valentin Willner, 8 Adin Faljic, 15 Nils Hornscheid, 21 Felix Eißing, 22 Nicholas Schley, 26 Tom Wolf, 37 Max Neuhaus, 55 Oskar Kostuj, 64 Maximilian Hejny, 68 Tim Mast, 73 Finley Weschkull, 91 Alexander Schoss
TSV Bayer Dormagen – TuSEM Essen – Gallery
In the sports gallery, there is a designated major size picture gallery with 361 pictures of this match at
