JAnnis Jäschke from the SG Nieder-Roden usually whistles football matches in the Hessen Oberliga. He was last seen on Friday in the game between leaders Eintracht Frankfurt II and 1. FC Erlensee (2-0), Jäschke showed three yellow cards. On Saturday, the young man actually just wanted to watch how SV Wehen Wiesbaden (SVWW) performed in the third division and whether he could back up his promotion ambitions against bottom-placed SV Meppen.
But then came the 21st minute of the game. Assistant referee Timon Schulz unhappily twisted his ankle when he tried to dodge the ball. The 26-year-old suffered an ankle injury and, after a break in treatment, had to be carried out of the stadium on a stretcher to applause from the crowd.
Since there is no fourth official in the referee team in the third division who could have replaced the injured assistant, both teams were initially sent to the dressing room. A brief consultation followed, and finally the inquiry via stadium loudspeakers as to whether by any chance a referee with the necessary license was present among the 5,000 spectators.
Meppen wins in Wiesbaden
Jannis Jäschke didn’t hesitate, got in touch and took over the role of assistant on the line. If no one had been found – and if no referee had been able to travel at short notice – the game would have been abandoned. But that’s how it went after an interruption of just 25 minutes and the score was 1-0 after a goal by Ivan Prtajin (14th minute) for SVWW.
For the 21-year-old Jäschke, the spontaneous assignment could bring a further boost to his career. He had already started refereeing at the age of twelve, and by the time he was 15 he was already allowed to referee games in the district league. At 18 he made his debut in the league. And now we are already in the third league – albeit by chance and initially on the sidelines.
Jäschke’s stepping in brought no luck to the host team. As soon as the game continued, Marvin Pourie (25th) scored the equalizer for the bottom of the table. And shortly before the end, Willi Evseev (84th) even sealed the defeat of the supposed top team from the Hessian state capital.
Wehen Wiesbaden was lucky that the competition didn’t show their best this Saturday: Table leaders SV Elversberg (67 points) lost 0:2 at Borussia Dortmund II. And Dynamo Dresden (60), who were relegated to the second division, only managed a 1-1 draw at SC Freiburg II (64), who were not eligible for promotion. The SVWW (63) slipped down to third place, but remains in a good starting position before the top game against Dresden next weekend. And Jannis Jäschke will probably whistle again in the association or Hessen league.
