Whew! What a finish that was! Pauli hold on to pick up their first three points on what was an incredible afternoon of drama at the Millerntor. Jackson Irvine, Leart Paqarada and Lukas Daschner were all on target for the hosts in the first half. Nuremberg hit back through Kwadwo Duah at the start of the second half while a late Enrico Valentini strike meant for a nervy ending for the Kiezkicker!

The board shows there will be four extra minutes to play.

Hartel with an ambitious effort from the left which whizzes off target. Pauli are taking this one home, it seems. Nuremberg's early second-half fight appears to have fallen away.

Chances at both ends: Daferner just fails to connect with a ball over the top for Nuremberg. Pauli come back with Smith's shot deflected off target.

Nuremberg get us underway for the second half. Visiting coach Robert Klauß makes a change, with Wekesser entering the scene.

And breathe! What a half of football that was! The majority of fans inside the Millerntor-Stadion are on their feet and applauding. Pauli are almost out of sight here having given Nuremberg a lesson in finishing in that opening 45 minutes. Can the visitors produce an early second-half response?

The incredible thing is that Nuremberg have not played that badly. Simply put, Pauli have been clinical in front of goal and have been relieved to see the visitors fail to take advantage of plenty of uncertainty at the back.

Game on at the Millerntor-Stadion.

It's a beautiful, bright afternoon here in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, The teams are out, the captains going through their pre-game formalities. Ladies and gentlemen, we are good to go.

The teams are completing their respective warm-ups out on the pitch in front of a packed Millerntor. We're all set for a spectacular atmosphere as these two promotion hopefuls kick start their 2022/23 challenge.

Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj sustained a fractured finger in pre-season and thus misses out today. Dennis Smarsch comes in between the posts for the hosts. Recent signing, Betim Fazliji, takes a place on the bench.

Nuremberg report that Johannes Geis is a late withdrawal from today's encounter at the Millerntor, the midfielder suffering with an illness. The 24-year-old Taylan Duman steps in to fill the void.

Klaus, Fofana, Valentini, Wekesser, Castrop, Jahn, Shuranov, Wintzheimer

Mathenia - Gyamerah, Schindler, Sorensen, Handwerker - Tempelmann, Nürnberger, Duman, Möller Daehli - Duah, Daferner

Peitzmeier, Fazliji, Ritzka, Zander, Aremu, Boukhalfa, Jessen, Metcalfe, Otto

Smarsch - Saliakas, Dzwigala, Medic, Paqarada - Irvine, Smith, Hartel, Daschner - Eggestein, Matanovic

Here's what home coach Timo Schultz had to say about Pauli's big kick off today. "...we're well set for the opening game, even though we need and want to improve over the course of the season. We go into the Nuremberg game having prepared well and are happy to start at home against decent opposition."

While Pauli are embarking on a 12th successive season in Bundesliga 2, Nuremberg are playing in the second tier for the fourth year in a row. Something of a yo-yo team, Der Club have been relegated as many times (nine) as they've been promoted. They finished eighth last season, after surviving via the play-offs in 2019/20 and ending the following campaign in 11th.

After going so close last season, St. Pauli begin the promotion trail anew against Nuremberg - another team with designs on the big time. Stay tuned for live build-up and match coverage from the Millerntor!