League

Nieuwenhoorn Sportve
Spectators: 7443 (Terracing: 5583, Seating: 1712, VIP seats: 148) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Hendrik-Jan Collins got the match started through his kick off. Driesum's Rudi Folkers managed to work through Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior's defense and was going for an easy goal, but he hit the shot with his toe and the ball flew outside the goal. Rudi Folkers dejectedly held out his arms as if to ask why the ball hadn't gone in. Nigel van der Vaart fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 14th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Kevin Heeringa having to interfere. After 16 minutes of play, Driesum's Bram Maes made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Wilco Mulders was left in no man's land by his defense there! Nigel van der Vaart fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 22nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Kevin Heeringa having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Hendrik-Jan Collins in the 33rd minute of play forced Driesum's goalkeeper Kevin Heeringa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 35th minute, Hendrik-Jan Collins reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Kevin Heeringa. The goal made the score 1-1. A collision led to Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior getting a freekick after 40 minutes play. Erben Lembeck hit a great ball. After having played for 47 minutes, Bram Maes managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Driesum's supporters crossed their fingers, but Bram Maes was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Bram Maes to make the kick off. In the 54th minute Hendrik-Jan Collins shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Kevin Heeringa saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Ronny de Bruin kicked well hit freekick during the 55th minute of the match. With a little luck, Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior's Wilco Mulders got control of the ball when Rudi Folkers tried to sneak it across the goal line. Wilco Mulders took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Bram Maes, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 61st minute Bram Maes shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Wilco Mulders saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. If Bram Maes had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 62nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Bram Maes received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 69th minute. Wilco Mulders tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Bert Ierlandt's late challenge caught a Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Bert Ierlandt helped the player get up and apologised. Nigel van der Vaart struck a weak shot in the 73rd minute. Kevin Heeringa didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior. After a defensive mix-up in Driesum's zone, Hendrik-Jan Collins stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Kevin Heeringa came out of the goal and Hendrik-Jan Collins tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior's Wilco Mulders proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 89th minute of the match, managed to save Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior from getting a goal against them. In the 93rd minute the ball was on its way in behind Nieuwenhoorn Excelsior's goalkeeper Wilco Mulders, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar.