Sercan Sararer set-up Sebastian Freis' goal and scored the winner for Greuther Fürth to secure a 2-1 victory over VfL Bochum; they had levelled through Selim Gündüz.
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Stefan Ruthenbeck had been under huge pressure to turn around a really rotten run of form. In a bid to freshen things up, Sararer and Damjan Djokovic came in, perhaps surprisingly for Robert Zulj and Niko Gießelmann after defeat to 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Following a first win in three against 1. FC Heidenheim, Gertjan Verbeek's men would have been looking forward to continuing that form. He was forced into one change as Pawel Dawidowicz was not fit enough to make the trip. Instead, Dominik Wydra earned a starting berth and moved into the right-back spot.
Drab and dreary first half
The Shamrocks certainly didn't look like a side who had lost their last four games and an early Peniel Mlapa shot aside, they were very comfortable. Khaled Narey and Veton Berisha both had good chances to open the scoring inside the first 15 minutes but were stifled by some defiant goalkeeper from Manuel Riemann.
Berisha had another opportunity to make the breakthrough though his header was routinely saved by Riemann. Finally Bochum began to threaten and it was Mlapa who was looking lively as ever, wriggling his way past Marcel Franke before toe-poking just wide of Balazs Megyeri's goal on the angle.
Unfortunately neither side would open the scoring before the break as the struggle for dominance continued. Fürth did look set to grab the opener close to half-time when they managed to work a very favourable five-on-two breakaway, only for Russell Canouse to make a cynical - but crucial - tactical foul to kill the chance dead.
Second period is end-to-end from start to finish
The second half started at a real pace and it wasn't long before the deadlock was finally broken. After Tim Hoogland had a shot cleared off the line, the clearance managed to find Sercan Sararer on the left who darted past several players. He played the ball inside to Benedikt Kirsch and a nudge to Freis saw the forward poke past Riemann.
Bochum almost hit back immediately on three occasions but the final finish was lacking. First, Mlapa did well to work some space to shoot though slipped at the crucial moment. Görkem Saglam fired wide and Hoogland failed to make a chance pay from a corner, in what was an all-out assault from the visitors.
Johannes Wurtz passed up the best opening of all when Mlapa turned the ball round the corner and put him through on goal, though the former Furth forward was denied by Megyeri. The tide had most definitely turned the way of the visitors, and it was becoming a case of when and not if.
The leveller finally arrived when substitute, Gündüz rounded off Bochum's own clinical counter-attack. The winger hadn't featured since April 2015 due to a serious injury, yet showed no signs of sluggishness as he started and finished the move; placing the ball beyond Megyeri at his near post after Wurtz's cutback on the edge of the box.
Things slowed up after that and the next real chance was converted by Fürth. Some promising play around the box saw the ball shifted wide to Narey. The wing-back managed to cross low for Sararer and he turned the ball goalwards, with Riemann's lone hand not enough to turn it past the post.
Despite another big push Bochum couldn't grab a second equaliser and their inconsistencies continued. It was a much-needed win for the hosts, who go two points behind the visitors with a two-week break giving both teams plenty of time to disect the result.