Final at Papendal.
Out against Vitesse is a tough story again this year. We know what we have to do. Only winning counts in this period. The focus is there. We want to make the difference in the first half. But things are not going the way we would like them to, or rather the way they should. The venom has not yet been activated. The choices are not as expected. And then it is Vitesse that puts the ball back into play from a throw-in and then their number 7 in front of goal is attentive and we are down 1-0. That is not easy. We pick up the thread. But in the first half the best chances were not for our forwards. Sam and Matthias could not find the net. All in all, it is not good for the tea break. Then at halftime we close the door and dot the i's.
After all, we just have to win if we want to stay in the race for the bowl.
Still, it takes a long time before we can make a real fist. After just over an hour, Joey came on. We put more pressure on their rearguard. About five minutes after he came on, Joey started a solo on the right and went all the way into the sixteen. And then he scores so very sneaky in the short corner. A burden falls from everyone. The bench jumps up. Everything is still possible but it has to happen. We now get the upper hand a bit more but Vitesse also remains dangerous.
With five minutes left on the clock we get a free kick a few meters outside the sixteen. Dante lays the ball down and measures his passes.
Then follows a real "schwiba" (according to the Dutch on the bench, that's how it's written) and the goalkeeper can only stop the ball and then "The King" is more than happy to rifle the rebounding ball into the net. 1-2. Shortly thereafter he also had the third goal on his sleeve but the defender managed to clear the ball just before the line. Five more minutes of injury time (the coach had asked for that, after all) and the result is there. The win is in. The battle is not over yet and will continue into next week. Then at home against the also always unpredictable Fc Utrecht. Also here only the three points count and then the week after that we will see what the possibilities are the last game. That can be a nice conclusion against AZ in Alkmaar. Now we go for the highest.
Men congratulations. We are still playing and counting. For now have a nice weekend and see you next week.
Bye.

van Osch, Abels, Kardes (46th Rommens), Carolina, Bannani (82nd Scheepers), Rigo, Hattu (65th Konings), Duarte, Lammers, Verreth, Daneels (71st van der Moot).