Kampong keeps competition at bay

Kampong - Pinoké 3-2
Pinoké, which still had a slim chance of making the playoffs, started strongly with goals from Boris Aardenburg and Miles Bukkens. For Bukkens, it marked his 50th goal in the Tulp Hoofdklasse; with his season total of 24, Justin Reid-Ross' club record (26 goals in 2011-2012) comes in sight. 

After half-time, the game tilted. Rik Sprengers brought Kampong back with a fine penalty corner into the crossbar, Finn van Bijnen equalised and in the closing stages Terrance Pieters, after preparatory work by Derck de Vilder, signed for the winning goal. Kampong thus remained unbeaten for the sixth game in a row and recorded its 11th consecutive victory over Pinoké.

HDM - SCHC 2-1
The home team started strongly and took the lead after only three minutes through a penalty corner by Chris Taberima, his fifteenth goal of the season. Mats Dicke doubled the margin for the Hague side after half-time. Although Conor Empey brought SCHC back in the last quarter, there was no equaliser. 

For HDM it meant the first home victory after five home matches without a win. As a result, the team climbs to ninth place and is now three points ahead of SCHC, which is in tenth place.

Rotterdam - Nijmegen 8-4
Rotterdam icon Jeroen Hertzberger stole the show with no fewer than five goals, reaching the magic limit of six hundred career goals. Hertzberger started scoring in the first minute and was then unstoppable with four more goals, three of them from penalty corners. For Nijmegen, David Blom (2x), Tijn Stuve and Cas Leenen scored, but it was not nearly enough to trouble Rotterdam.

The home team recorded a victory after three games in which points were lost. The Rotterdammers remain in sixth place four points off Kampong, the number four. For Nijmegen, which lost its last nine games, the curse continues: the last away win in the Hoofdklasse dates back to 19 October 1975.

Oranje-Rood - Klein Zwitserland 4-1
Oranje-Rood, which has never lost to Klein Zwitserland at home, took the lead through Borja LaCalle. The home team extended the lead before half-time through Sheldon Schouten from a penalty corner. Klein Zwitserland managed to come back into the game through a penalty corner by Aki Käppeler, but immediately afterwards Thibeau Stockbroekx put things right with the 3-1. 

The Belgian striker thus continued his impressive home series: he has scored in nine of the 10 home games this season. Jamie van Aart set the final score at 4-1. Oranje-Rood remains fifth and, with two games to go, is four points behind number four Kampong.

Hurley - Amsterdam 1-8
Amsterdam left no doubt from the start about the balance of power in the Bosderby, running out to 0-2 already in the first quarter through goals by Brent van Bijnen and Sam Steins Bisschop. Before half-time, the score rose further to 0-4. Hurley finally broke the spell after 342 scoreless minutes at home through Indra Aerts, but then saw Amsterdam run out to 1-8.

Mustapha Cassiem completed a hat-trick and Boris Burkhardt scored his 25th goal of the season. Amsterdam is now eight matches unbeaten, while Hurley suffered its sixth defeat in a row. The lead over bottom-placed Nijmegen remains three points.

Bloemendaal - Den Bosch 2-1
At 't Kopje, Den Bosch took the lead through Jaïr van der Horst, but Zach Wallace equalised before half-time. It remained exciting for a long time, until Casper van der Veen shot the home team to victory five minutes before time. 

With this third win in a row, Bloemendaal remains in the lead and is on course for an EHL ticket, which goes to the number one of the regular league. Den Bosch suffered its second defeat in the last three league games.