SCHC's stunt: 'This gives a huge boost'

For historic it was, the 3-4 win by the team from Bilthoven, the bottom club in the Hoofdklasse. Never before had SCHC managed to win an away match at mighty Bloemendaal. The 29 attempts until Sunday resulted in six draws and no fewer than 23 defeats.

Moreover, SCHC is the first team to manage to overcome Bloemendaal this season. Coach Michel van den Heuvel's team was the only one of the 12 teams not to have lost yet.

Max, congratulations on the win. Did you have any idea that you had delivered a unique performance?
'No, I didn't know at all that we had never won at 't Kopje before. It's a nice statistic, but also no more than that. Suppose we don't manage to stay in the Hoofdklasse at the end of the season... then the win at Bloemendaal was worth very little.'

It must be a wonderful feeling to get a win like that straight away on the restart.
'Absolutely. That we can beat the leaders, and deservedly so, gives us an enormous boost. We didn't expect that. In the first half of the league we were also close to winning against top teams like Pinoké and Oranje-Rood, but we couldn't get it done.'

Why were you able to succeed against Bloemendaal on Sunday?
'We had made a clear plan before the match and everyone stuck to it. We knew that Bloemendaal has more qualities than us in one-on-one situations, so we made sure we were very strong in the zone.'

SCHC was also particularly efficient in exploiting chances. 
'True, we played our counters really superbly and made good choices in the circle. We were sharp in front of goal, something we have been training a lot on in recent weeks. The win is even sweeter when you realise we had to miss four base players. Jelmer Uildriks, Conor Empey, Casper Hafkamp and Floris Steenman all had the flu.'

Do these three points feel like a kind of bonus for you?
'Yes, this is a very nice bonus. And very important, after the administrative error with a non-eligible player in the game against Kampong that cost us three penalty points. We have now polished off that penalty with these points. But we don't count ourselves rich, we have to keep fighting for every point. The next two games we play Den Bosch and Amsterdam, the numbers two and three of the league table. They will be extra wary of us now.'

You scored your first goal of the season against Bloemendaal. Are you back to full fitness after your ankle injury?
'Yes, I am fully fit again. Already in preseason I suffered a tear in the ligaments of my left ankle. As a result, I was unable to play almost the entire first half of the competition. Only in the last two games I could play again. I am happy to have scored my first goal now. I will do everything to help the team with more goals in the rest of the season.'