PSV D3 played an exhibition match against Belgian Sint Truiden on Wednesday evening. Not an unknown opponent, because on April 13 during the (won) tournament in Hoogstraten they also played against this team. Back then it was the semi-finals and Sint Truiden could not impress for a moment; Wednesday in Eindhoven was no different. A regular 5-0 victory, spread over three 20-minute halves, was the end result. Not a match that will stick around for long.
PSV started without the injured Joey Konings and Roel van Linschoten and therefore always had a 'frugal' two reserves on the bench. Reserves first half Mink Peeters and Twan Demin. PSV starts furiously and seems to run out to a monster score already in the first 8 minutes when two goals are scored. The first goal is for Matthias Verreth, who was back on edge on Wednesday. However, the preparation for the goal starts with Ymanuel Hurkmans (unfortunately sidelined again in the second half with complaints on the heel) who pushes through well from the right side and puts Mats Grotenbreg in position. Mats delivered a low cross that Matthias controlled and tapped in: 1-0. Right from the kickoff the second goal falls. Danté Rigo intercepts a pass from Sint Truiden, 'sticks' the ball inside to Matthias who almost in one fluent move shoots the ball high over the goalkeeper: 2-0. PSV continued to play well in the first half, with excellent midfield lines at times. Chances come from Danté (hard shot) and Mats. Sint Truiden did not get a chance at all. Defenders Koen Vos, Ties van den Eijnde, Jeroen Swinkels and the already mentioned Ymanuel control everything; there is not one chance for Sint Truiden (which really only stands out at the back because of the strong number 3). Goalkeeper Aaron van Engelen mainly has to rely on the return balls from his own defenders.
Second half: substitutions Giovanni Nicolaas and Ymanuel Hurkmans, Ieke Scheerhoorn in goal.
There is little to enjoy and this half remains scoreless. Sint Truiden even gets some chances and creates real moments of pressure on Ieke's goal. The first uplifting moment is when Jeroen plays the ball to Mats who then passes to Mink in depth. Mink turns quickly and short and shoots well into the corner where the ball is a prey for the goalkeeper. Shortly after, Twan pegs just over, but that is really all about the second half.
The third half with bench turns for Zohair Labyad and the injured Ymanuel. PSV fortunately manages to convince again with three goals. It is again Matthias who opens the scoring when Jeroen passes well on the left. Ertem Bölükbas receives the ball there and shoots the ball towards goal in which it threatens to disappear directly. However, it is Matthias who gives the final push: 3-0. In the meantime, a nice combination between Mink and Matthias was wrongly blown offside, but then it was Matthias again who scored from a corner by Gio: 4-0. The fifth goal is beautiful. A nice combination between Matthias and Mink resulted in a cross to the departing Mats, who shook off his opponent and lobbed the ball past the goalkeeper: 5-0. Almost 5-1 when a Sint Truiden ball hit the crossbar.
A good weekday football evening in short. Next weekend off, hopefully some more (weekday) matches can appear on the calendar. Because a footballer without matches is like a cabaret performer without a stage. Maybe we can play again against the D2 of SC 't Zandt?