This is how important Matla and Burg are to Den Bosch

Of the 499 official goals Den Bosch have scored so far under Dijkstra, no fewer than 254 (!) came in the name of Frédérique Matla and Joosje Burg. That is 50.9 per cent of the total production. More than half, in other words. In a team in which a total of 27 different players scored, Matla and Burg are by far the most decisive names in the Bossche goal-scoring machine.

Matla is by far the top scorer of the Dijkstra era. The striker has already scored 178 official goals for Den Bosch since the 2021-2022 season: 126 in the Hoofdklasse, 13 in the play-offs, 18 in the cup competition and 21 in Europe. Burg follows with 76 goals, spread over 54 goals in the Hoofdklasse, nine in the play-offs, 12 in the cup and one in the Euro Hockey League.

Together, this makes them the backbone of the Bossche attack. Behind Matla and Burg follows Maartje Krekelaar with 48 goals. Next come Sanne Koolen with 26 and Teuntje de Wit with 23, so the gap between the first two and the rest of the league table is considerable. Or, to put it more sharply: without Matla and Burg, Den Bosch is still a strong team, but with them it will be a team that carries a goal guarantee almost every game.

The numbers under Dijkstra
Under Dijkstra, Den Bosch has played 158 official matches so far. In those, the team won 122 times, drew 23 times and lost only thirteen. The goal figures are impressive: 499 for and 146 against, good for an average of over three Bosch goals per match. In 36 matches with Dijkstra as coach, Den Bosch scored five goals or more.

Most of the goal tally came in the Hoofdklasse. Of the 499 goals, 348 fell in the regular league. In addition, Den Bosch scored 35 goals in the play-offs, 79 in the cup and 37 in Europe. It is also striking that the team under Dijkstra was more productive away from home than at Oosterplas: 270 goals on foreign soil compared to 229 at home.

The biggest win under Dijkstra was the 10-1 against Huizen on 4 May 2025. The heaviest defeat came this season: 0-4 against SCHC on 22 March 2026. But defeats remained scarce. Of the 13 losses under Dijkstra, seven were against SCHC. Amsterdam, the opponent in the final, managed to beat Den Bosch three times in that period.

Goals are badly needed
Against Amsterdam, Den Bosch under Dijkstra scored 33 goals in seventeen official encounters. The balance is in Bossch's favour, but not overwhelming: nine wins, five draws and three defeats. This is precisely why the approaching milestone is interesting. There is a good chance that the five hundredth goal will fall in a match in which Den Bosch will again desperately need its two regular goal suppliers.

Because behind the round number of five hundred, there is above all a clear conclusion: Marieke Dijkstra's Den Bosch is wide, successful and often dominant, but in rounding it rests largely on the shoulders of Frédérique Matla and Joosje Burg.