Rotterdam gives Oranje-Rood a severe beating
Rotterdam gave Oranje-Rood a severe beating on Saturday in the restart of the Tulp Hoofdklasse Men. In a goal-rich match, the home team won 4-3. KZ recorded a win at Hurley (0-2).
ROTTERDAM - ORANGE-ROOD 4-3
Both teams clearly needed some time to settle in, after months without league hockey. A lot went wrong on both sides. That was not surprising for Oranje-Rood, as the Belgian and Spanish internationals only rejoined the selection at the end of the week after having flown out for matches in the FIH Pro League with their countries.
Rotterdam, with mainly Dutch players in the squad, suffered less from this and took advantage of the unaccustomedness in the Eindhoven squad. Pepijn van der Heijden, the revelation with Oranje during the winter break in Australia, showed that he has retained his corn form. After 12 minutes, he scored the 1-0 for Rotterdam from the head of the circle. In the second quarter, Lucas van Teteringen doubled Rotterdam's lead: 2-0.
Rake penalty stroke
Thijs Bams narrowed the gap for Oranje-Rood just after half-time, but good old Jeroen Hertzberger restored the lead within a minute from a penalty stroke for the home team, who were supported by well-filled stands in Rotterdam. With a comfortable 3-1 margin, coach Erik van Driel's team started the fourth quarter.
When Jelle Galema scored the 3-2 in it, things looked to be tense for a while. But it was Hertzbergen again who soon quelled the Brabant drive by leaving Eindhoven goalie Nieki Verbeek defenceless with a subtle stick move. OR did not give in after the 4-2 either. After Galema again scored the 4-3, the guests had an ultimate chance for a point from the head of the circle in the closing seconds. But the corner, which had not been going well all game, did not go in even on the last attempt from the stick of Tijmen Reyenga. Derk Meijer saved skilfully to secure the three points for Rotterdam.
HURLEY - KLEIN ZWITSERLAND 0-2
Klein Zwitserland did good business to look up in the second half of the season. The Hague formation won 0-2 in Amsterdam. There was not much to fault on that victory. In the field Hurley was not even that much worse than the guests, but KZ was sharper and cooler in the finishing touch.
Pepijn Jones scored his first goal of the season in the first half after a good move in Hurley's circle. The 0-2 was scored by American penalty corner specialist Aki Käppeler. Who, after the stopper laid the ball wide, dragged it in hard in the short corner.
Hurley continued to press after that second goal and had some chances. But the Amsterdam attacking spirit did not lead to goals. As a result, the home team remains in the danger zone. KZ does not have to worry about that.
