Oranje-Rood takes point against SCHC, Den Bosch to play-offs

ORANJE-ROOD - SCHC 2-2
Six days after winning the European club title, SCHC played equal for the second time in a row in the Tulp Hoofdklasse. After the 2-2 against Kampong at the end of March, the unbeaten frontrunner, who started without Marleen Jochems and Xan de Waard, this time did not get beyond 2-2 against Oranje-Rood. After two scoreless quarters, Pien Dicke put SCHC ahead, but two minutes later Merel Voermans equalised. In the fourth quarter, Oranje-Rood took the lead themselves through a goal by Lynn Vasterink. A penalty corner by Yibbi Jansen prevented SCHC's first league defeat. Despite the points loss, SCHC is already 32 league games unbeaten. On foreign soil, the series is now 25 matches without defeat. Oranje-Rood did good business with the draw. The team moved up from eleventh to tenth place and is only one point behind the safe ninth place, owned by Hurley. The gap with bottom-placed Tilburg remains three points, with four games to go.

Den Bosch - Rotterdam 1-0
With the minute victory over Rotterdam, Den Bosch secured the play-offs. The national champions had their hands full with the Rotterdam team, just like in the outward match that ended 0-0. Frédérique Matla scored the only goal of the match seven minutes after half-time. It was an anniversary goal for the international. Matla scored her 400th official goal in her career from the penalty corner: 284 in service to Den Bosch and 116 for the Oranje. For Rotterdam, the defeat ended a run of three matches without defeat. Moreover, the team suffered its first away loss since 26 October last year, when it lost 2-1 to Kampong.

HDM - Hurley 1-0
In the right-hand row of the league table, HDM did good business by beating Hurley 1-0. Kaat Walhof scored the only goal of the match from a rebound in the third quarter. Walhof seemed to score again in the closing stages, but did so with the convex side of the stick, which caused the goal to be disallowed. It was only HDM's first home win since 28 September last year, when Tilburg had been beaten 3-2. This was followed by a run of six matches in front of their own public in which no wins were recorded. Hurley is now five matches without a win and on foreign soil the team is already three matches without a win. The win lifted HDM to seventh place. The gap with number nine Hurley is four points. Number ten Oranje-Rood is five points behind.

Tilburg - Bloemendaal 1-1
Leading club Tilburg finally got a point again after five home defeats in a row, but it remains to be seen whether this will help the team a lot. The team also saw competitors Oranje-Rood draw, leaving them three points behind. Tilburg did gain a point on HGC, the new number eleven on the league table. That difference is two points. A win would have been better for Tilburg, which took the lead just before half-time through Emmely Bekker. A penalty stroke after the break by Demi Hilterman put Bloemendaal next to Tilburg. In terms of goals, Tilburg stayed with that. Bloemendaal did end a run of three defeats with the draw. The team did drop to eighth place in favour of HDM.

Amsterdam-HGC 3-2
In the last three matches, Amsterdam scored a total of twenty goals against HGC. This time, the scoreboard showed a 3-2 victory for Amsterdam. Two of Amsterdam's three goals were scored by Katerina Langedijk, after Trijntje Beljaars had opened the scoring with her twelfth goal of the season. It was Amsterdam's fifth win in a row in the Tulp Hoofdklasse. HGC, for whom Mariona Serrahima and Carlijn van Geest scored, suffered their fifth defeat in the last six league matches. As a result, the team dropped from tenth to eleventh place. The gap with bottom-placed Tilburg is only two points.