Two goals in five minutes from Tobias Schröck and Junior Diaz's own goal meant that Würzburger Kickers and SpVgg Greuther Fürth shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Team news
Following their late loss to VfL Bochum last weekend, Würzburg and Bernd Hollerbach were bidding to end a three-game losing streak. The head coach made three changes as Clemens Schoppenhauer, Lukas Fröde and Marco Königs all dropped out for Sebastian Neumann, Junior Diaz and Elia Soriano.
As for the Shamrocks, Janos Radoki was celebrating a second win in the three games as his side beat Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-0. He would, however, opt for two alterations as Veton Berisha and Benedikt Kirsch came in to replace Khaled Narey and Patrick Sontheimer.
Hosts have it their way in the first half
It didn't take long for the first chance to arrive and it was an excellent opportunity for the hosts. Peter Kurzweg made a fantastic run down the left and fought off the attentions of Marco Caligiuri to cut the ball back to the near post and Elia Soriano. However, the striker's close-range shot crashed back out off the upright.
While Fürth tried in vain to make their way forward, Würzburg continued to keep the pressure on. A lovely exchange between Rico Benatelli and Sebastian Ernst saw the latter denied by a brave Marcel Franke block. Several attempts to feed Berisha and Serdar Dursun with a long-ball were proving fruitless for Radoki's men.
The final moment of note in the first half came from the hosts as Soriano scrambled forward, beating Niko Gießelmann before going in on goal. However, he was held up just enough by the retreating Caliguri for Gießelmann to recover and make a superb last-ditch tackle to ensure the scores were level at the break.
Goals and spoils shared
While there was nothing between the sides in the first half, and little in the way of penetration, that all changed in the second period. Valdet Rama was introduced at the break and his cross to the back post picked out Kurzweg dashing in. He volleyed the ball back in and Schröck was in the right place at the right time to guide it into an open net.
The visitors would not be kept down for long and responded within five minutes, although it was in rather unusual fashion. Robert Zulj's free-kick from the right was met by Robert Wulnikowski's fists, only for the ball to crash off Junior Diaz's chest. The defender knew nothing of it, and he tried in vain to clear the situation.
After that both sides reverted back to the way the first half had gone, keen to not concede any further goals. Despite the best efforts of the two teams they were unable to find a crucial third goal, it saw plenty of dogged defending and no way through for the forwards. Both Franconian outfits remain locked in mid-table and on 29 points.