The question beforehand was of course whether our boys could maintain the good level of play of the first half of the competition against another BVO. Opponent Ajax is of course a name of stature. With a number of adjusted rules (8 against 8 and 3 times 20 minutes) the kick-off was at half past eleven. The home club did start the match a bit handicapped. Rico was unfortunately too sick to play football. As a result, three players (Joey, Koen and Davy), who already had a game in the legs, were added to the selection. PSV seemed a bit impressed at first by the physically strong Ajax. This diffidence was soon thrown off. For example, in the 2nd minute Joop just got a push in his back, which prevented him from taking full advantage. The next chance was also for our red and white boys. Niels intercepted a good Ajax attack. Flying across the field, he reached Gregory on the left side of the pitch with a well-aimed cross. His cross reached Joey, who immediately took the ball on his slipper. Unfortunately for the home club and fortunately for the visitors, the ball went over. After 8 minutes Ajax became dangerous for the first time. A header, taken from a corner on the right, went wide of Kyan's goal. PSV remained short and fierce. Now it was Joey who got in front of his man and sent Joop deep. Unfortunately his effort went just wide. A few moments later it was the turn of Niels, who took a dropped ball on his shoe in one go. The ball skimmed the top of the crossbar. In the same minute, Benjamin and Arne set up a nice one-two. They cut through the Ajax defense like a knife through butter. Unfortunately, Arne's shot was turned away by the goalkeeper. A header by Gregory, after a cross by Joey again, also failed to hit the target. Just before half-time, Ajax was allowed to take a free kick on the left side of the pitch. With a placed shot into the far corner, the visitors took a 0-1 lead. At the break Kyan made a nice save in the near corner to prevent worse. After a short break the Eindhoveners continued their search for a goal. First it was Arne who tried from distance. This attack did not yield a goal yet, but the next one did. From behind, the ball went from Tijn to Koen, who opened well to Arne. From the corner of his eye he saw that Joop was well exposed and with a tailored ball he put Joop alone in front of the goalkeeper. Eye to eye Joop remained icily calm and slid the ball past the keeper. 1-1. Yet PSV continued to be wary. On a quick counter by the visitors, Pepijn managed to drive the striker well to the outside, making the angle too difficult and keeping the striker from scoring. The goalkeeper at the other end also had to come into action. Davy beat his opponent. Unfortunately his shot was defused by the goalkeeper. Halfway through the second game, the game was interrupted after a defender of Ajax fell. He had to leave the field with a double arm fracture. After this forced delay, Ajax took control of the game. This resulted in three chances. The first chance was shot over, the second was worked over the goal by the defenders after an old-fashioned scrimmage. And in the third Pepijn was able to save. Then Tijn had had enough and crossed the entire field with the ball. Just at the right moment he found Joop. The shot went just wide of the goal. The shots by Benjamin and Davy also failed to hit the target. After changing sides for the second time, Arne was the first to take a shot at the Amsterdam goal. Again the goalkeeper was able to save. He had no answer to Davy's shot two minutes later. Fortunately for him, the ball went wide of the goal. Then it was Ajax's turn again. In two identical situations Pepijn was in the way. Slowly the power went out of PSV's legs. Yet the home club still had a chance to score. A free kick by Niels ended up in the side netting. The match seemed to end on a justified 1-1 score. Ajax thought otherwise and from a corner kick they managed to score the 1-2 with a hard header. In the same minute it even went 1-3. With the last few minutes of the game, the hosts managed to squeeze out an offensive. Unfortunately it did not yield more than two shots by Benjamin. Nevertheless, the team was able to leave the field with their heads held high. In an evenly matched game, Ajax was just a little more effective.

Report courtesy of Kees Raaijmakers