With their faces trying like thunder, the lads of Oranje-Rood left Saturday evening at ‘t Kopje. The two-1 defeat within the essential recreation towards Bloemendaal visibly took its toll on the at all times bold group from Brabant. Captain Joep de Mol knew all of it too properly afterwards: there isn’t a probability of playoff subject hockey being performed in Eindhoven this season.
It was a tragic sight, within the wonderful spring night solar. Simply after the ultimate whistle within the topper towards Bloemendaal, the OR males went off the sphere. One after the other, one after the opposite, in the direction of the clubhouse. A procession with few phrases and lots of offended appears to be like. With shaking heads and drooping shoulders. The disillusionment of a misplaced season dripped off.
Within the hallway of the clubhouse, Tobias Walter, Saturday’s backup goalkeeper, was already altering. In the course of that altering session he joined his teammates in dressing room 5, which was Oranje-Rood’s personal spot at Bloemendaal on Saturday. There, the door didn’t keep closed for lengthy. Inside two minutes, captain Joep de Mol was already strolling out. He reported neatly for interviews with the press. ‘There wasn’t a lot to say within the dressing room both,’ sighed the defender.
Orange-red beam on the bench after the defeat In opposition to Bloemendaal. Picture: Willem Vernes
The decisive second, which was typical for the season of OR
Who didn’t suppose his group obtained off to a too cautious begin. ‘We didn’t wish to make a working recreation of it. You then go off. We didn’t play a foul recreation in any respect, I don’t suppose. I feel we actually made it very troublesome for Bloemendaal. They didn’t create any ass in any respect. The final quarter they have been with eleven males in their very own 23-meter space. They made it very compact, which made it troublesome to play subject hockey.’
In fact he was extraordinarily upset by Bloemendaal’s 2-1, within the third quarter. The extraordinarily clumsy second when defender Sheldon Schouten handed the ball on the heel of midfielder Thijs Bams. The outcome: ball loss and a free capturing alternative for Bloemendaal, which thus yielded the decisive objective. That flew in so simply, as a result of a silly miscommunication on the again. Did we come up brief once more.’
Then the nail-biting conclusion. ‘It’s typical of this season. Simply barely.’
De Mol in dialogue with the referee. Picture: Willem Vernes
The deluge of targets towards
And what’s in it? ‘If I had recognized that…,’ sounds pensive. After a little bit of thought, De Mol does give you an attention-grabbing evaluation. ‘Defensively we’re not adequate in the meanwhile. We now have fifty targets towards in nineteen video games. Then you may have as many playoff ambitions as you need. However with these numbers you’re not going to attain that.’
He cites the large variety of targets towards himself. ‘These numbers stand out, after all. No group within the prime eight of the Tulip huge league needed to fish as typically as Oranje-Rood. Solely the 4 relegation candidates had extra targets towards. And that whereas the protection incorporates gigantic names. Three defenders of OR – De Mol, Tijmen Reyenga and Belgian Arthur de Sloover – are Olympic champions. ‘Defending is one thing all of us do, after all,’ De Mol countered. ‘That fifty targets towards is way too many. However that’s in all of the traces, all around the subject.’
A small miracle has to occur if Oranje-Rood needs to make the playoffs. The championship for which Bloemendaal certified on Saturday. Amsterdam and Den Bosch presumably accomplish that as properly within the foreseeable future. Stays one spot. And that’s for Kampong (34 factors), Rotterdam (31 factors) or Oranje-Rood (additionally 31). Essential observe: OR has performed another recreation than each its rivals.
Picture: Willem Vernes
‘Let’s hope Kampong drops factors towards Amsterdam tomorrow. Then our distinction with them stays small. Profitable thrice is all we are able to do. If that occurs and Kampong loses some extra factors, then we’ve got an opportunity. The miracles should not over but. However if you happen to’re sincere, we must always have received immediately. We really gave away that probability for the playoffs already. It’s simply going to be a troublesome story for us.’
Blaak’s Massive Sneakers
And that robust story follows final yr’s success story, when OR did end within the top-four after many languishing years. So constructing on that achievement doesn’t appear to be working. ‘In fact, there have been some modifications in our group. We misplaced Pirmin Blaak in objective. These are huge footwear to fill. Nieki Verbeek is doing very properly, however has rather less internationals after all. Moreover, our New Zealanders left, a brand new coach got here in, so it was not the group of final yr. I wasn’t below the phantasm that we wouldn’t lose a recreation.’
‘However I did really feel we have been able to extra. I believed we might make the playoffs. Additionally had absolute confidence that we might win from Bloemendaal. I wasn’t that impressed with them in any respect. They have been catchable. Then I nonetheless suppose now.’
