League Play-Off

Weverwijk Stadion
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Weverwijk's Albert de Bruin started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. In the 3rd minute, Daan de Jong left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Weverwijk fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-0. If Daan de Jong had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 8th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The audience thought a goal was coming when Daan de Jong got free with Henry van Zaanen in the 10th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Henry van Zaanen made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Albert de Bruin in the 11th minute of play. Folker Spijker's late challenge caught a Lichtmis Excelsior's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Folker Spijker helped the player get up and apologised. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 15th minute of the game. One of Weverwijk:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Lichtmis Excelsior:s goal. The referee gave Lichtmis Excelsior a penalty, 17 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Cees Roodenburg, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Weverwijk's Carlo Zevenhuizen. 1-1. The audience was convinced that Albert de Bruin's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Henry van Zaanen was relentless in the 23rd minute of the game. 24 minutes into the match, Patrick Verhoeven had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Carlo Zevenhuizen. Weverwijk's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Patrick Verhoeven was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-2. Patrick Verhoeven received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 30th minute. Carlo Zevenhuizen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 34 minutes into the match, Weverwijk's goal looked a bit too open when Dimitrie Blank came free, but Carlo Zevenhuizen reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Dimitrie Blank received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 47th minute. Carlo Zevenhuizen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

The audience thought a goal was coming when Dimitrie Blank got free with Carlo Zevenhuizen in the 52nd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Carlo Zevenhuizen was a little too slow when Patrick Verhoeven got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 54th minute. The score was now 2-3. If Dimitrie Blank had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 58th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. If Martin Denneboom had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 61st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After a defensive mix-up in Lichtmis Excelsior's zone, Daan de Jong stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Henry van Zaanen came out of the goal and Daan de Jong tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Henry van Zaanen showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Albert de Bruin, who was totally free with the ball in the 65th minute. Patrick Verhoeven sent away a hard shot on goal in the 73rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Henry van Zaanen took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Daan de Jong, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. An unexpectedly hard shot by Patrick Verhoeven in the 89th minute of play forced Weverwijk's goalkeeper Carlo Zevenhuizen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a little luck, Weverwijk's Carlo Zevenhuizen got control of the ball when Dimitrie Blank tried to sneak it across the goal line. Lichtmis Excelsior's Henry van Zaanen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Daan de Jong in the 94th minute of play. The Lichtmis Excelsior supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing Lichtmis Excelsior would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.