All of it appeared so rosy Sunday for Schaerweijde. With 1 / 4 to go, the house staff comfortably led 2-0 within the topper towards Tilburg. However after the tying purpose ten minutes earlier than time, issues went fallacious within the final second of the sport. A nook shot flew in behind Jan de Wijkerslooth, who was a superb keeper. The last word probability to move Tilburg on the promotion league rating went up in smoke for the lads from Zeist due to the 2-2 draw.
Whereas Tilburg celebrated the equalizer as if that they had simply turn into champions, the whole lot Schaerweijde-red collapsed in disappointment. First out runner Thur Stadelmaier stayed down on the head of the circle. Ironman Rashid Mehmood slapped his fingers in his face. Pepijn Leenhouts walked to the dugout shaking his head. All knew: this might be a really costly draw.
Anybody who follows the Promotion League somewhat is aware of how thrilling it’s within the higher reaches of the rankings. Laren, Tilburg, Schaerweijde and of their wake additionally Victoria and Voordaan are all preventing for a spot within the high three or – even higher – the championship. With 4 rounds of play to go, Laren and Tilburg at the moment are each on 38 factors. Schaerweijde follows with 36 factors. So each level is value its weight in gold, particularly when taking part in an in depth competitor.
Simply not
‘We really did the whole lot proper to get it right here,’ sighed Schaerweijde captain Jur van der Have on the pitch from which his teammates walked off one after the other with a glum face. ‘We dealt with our possibilities effectively. Defended strongly. And our goalkeeper had some world-class saves. All we needed to do ultimately was end the sport. Then a purpose within the final minute may be very disappointing.
Tilburg took a degree towards Schaerweijde within the final second of the match. Picture: Rob Römer
The frustration was all of the extra comprehensible as Schaerweijde had the last word probability for 3-1 within the closing minutes. With no goalie and with an additional man within the area, the house staff broke out with an empty purpose in sight. With all his would possibly, Tilburg defender Hessel de Leeuw sprinted again to efficiently throw himself in entrance of striker Daan Troost with out making any errors. The counterattack ultimately produced the all-decisive nook for Tilburg.
‘It’s a balancing act at such a second. Do you go for the purpose or do you win time by pinging within the nook. On this case he simply didn’t make it and it was hit on the counter. That makes it further painful. Not as a result of I believed we had been convincingly higher than Tilburg. However as a result of we had been so shut.
For now, Schaerweijde is operating a tremendous second half of the season. Solely the primary recreation of the season, early March towards Laren, was misplaced (0-1). Since then, Albert Kees Maneschijn’s staff is undefeated. ‘We’re snug these weeks,’ Van der Have agreed. ‘After all we knew this was one of the essential video games of the season. We had been further sharp and intentionally took it simple yesterday with King’s Day. It wasn’t due to that. Neither is all of it immediately misplaced now. We’re nonetheless taking part in for one thing.’
It began so effectively towards Tilburg for the Schaerweijde of purpose scorer and captain Jur van der Have. Picture: Rob Römer
Monetary troubles
It was lately introduced that each skills Lucas Corstens (Amsterdam) and Thies Bakker (Kampong) will go away Schaerweijde after this season. The identical goes for coach Maneschijn (Hurley), though the latter has primarily a monetary purpose. Much less revenue means much less finances for high area hockey, so the skilled coach’s contract is not going to be renewed.
Van der Have, in his ninth season with Schaerweijde: ‘We knew this a bit earlier, so within the winter break we had a superb discuss this. This type of information is all the time annoying, however we grabbed one another and didn’t make a problem of it. I feel it has introduced us nearer collectively somewhat than making us undergo. That Lucas and Thies are leaving is unlucky, but additionally comprehensible from their perspective, particularly given the scenario we’re in as a membership. And happily we nonetheless have a whole lot of expertise left.’
Van der Have’s starvation for promotion isn’t any much less. ‘Final season within the massive league was robust. We had been lacking our central defenders and midfielders with Mats Marree, Hidde Phijffer , Floris Molenaar and Pepijn Luijkx. With a younger staff you don’t get time to get used to one another within the massive league. This season is appropriate for that. We’re changeable at occasions, however we even have a whole lot of expertise and play actually good area hockey. Changing into primary can be a present, but when we make it to the play-offs, that may already be nice. Though promotion stays the dream situation for me and for us.
