Bottom club Huizen wants to avoid negative records

Compliments on their play were plentiful for the Huizen women in the first thirteen games, but in the end, at the highest level, it's all about the points. And that is precisely where last season's champion in the Promotieklasse falls short.

First, let's get the numbers straight. In the first half of the competition, Huizen only took one point in the home game against Oranje-Rood (2-2). All twelve other matches were lost. Five defeats had a maximum margin of two goals, but there were also heavy blows. Huizen lost 8-2 to SCHC, 6-0 to Amsterdam and 5-0 to HGC (twice) and Hurley.

Huizen's pain point lies in its lack of scoring ability. The team remained without a goal in 11 of its first 13 matches. A rare statistic, because in over forty years of Hoofdklasse history, only Zwolle in the 1995-1996 season scored in two of the first thirteen matches from the league start.

'That is the difference between the Promotieklasse and the Hoofdklasse,' Huizen coach Donald Drost said after the last game before the winter break (the 0-5 against HGC). 'At this level you have to score the goals when you need to, and we are not doing that. In terms of field play, chances and getting penalty corners, we are often equal to the opponent. But we don't score enough goals. And without goals you're never going to get points.'

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Eight matches in a row no goals scored

Huizen only managed four goals in 13 matches, scored by four different players. Anne Verbeek was the last to score on behalf of the team on 5 October, in the home game against Oranje-Rood (2-2). After that, Huizen remained without a goal for eight matches in a row, a rare streak in Hoofdklasse history.

Currently, Huizen's goal scoring average stands at 0.31 goals per match. In the Hoofdklasse, only two teams fared worse in terms of average: Laren registered just three goals in 22 matches in the 1984-1985 season (0.14 average) and Zwolle reached five goals in 22 matches in 1995-1996 (0.23). These are figures that Huizen are only too happy to relinquish in the second half of the league.

Practising against Spanish clubs

Drost: 'We are going to Barcelona in preparation for the second half of the season to play against some top Spanish clubs. I think matches against other type of teams will help us further. Our goal for after the winter break is to keep Oranje-Rood in our sights. If that succeeds, at least we still have the feeling that there is something to gain. We are going to do everything to avoid finishing last.'

Despite the lack of a positive result, the Huizen players are keeping up their spirits. 'We try to stay positive and keep the training sessions as fun as possible. That's not always easy, but we help each other where we can,' Sam Luttmer said after the defeat at Amsterdam.

'We notice that we play better every week,' Daphne Koolhaas added. 'We keep playing our own attacking game. We are not a team to shut down and stick to our own circle. I'm convinced we can win games in the second half of the season.'