Finally the time had come: the cracker PSV B2 - Cortgene/JOVZ B1 was on the program. And Hitchcock could not have written it better: on the penultimate league round, on Queen's Day, here at De Herdgang, the championship could possibly be decided. Because PSV would become unreachable for the same Zeeland team with a victory over rival Cortgene/JOVZ.
The crowd had come in large numbers to watch this topper live. And they saw a strong starting Cortgene/JOVZ. Right from the kickoff, they took the initiative. This resulted in a shot that went wide in the 2nd minute. In the 8th minute they did score and put PSV behind. After a combination through the middle, the Zeeland striker got free in front of goal and coolly scored the 0-1. Knowing that Cortgene/JOVZ was able to take the 1-0 lead in the first match, it was important to score the equalizer as soon as possible. Slowly but surely, PSV took control. After Moussa Sanoh hit the side-netting with his left, PSV also had a few chances. In the final phase, however, it was too inaccurate to really hurt Cortgene/JOVZ. Moussa and Mohammed Rayhi regularly got through on the flanks, but the continuation was inadequate, or there was just another Zeeland defender between them. In the 22nd minute, the same Mohammed was very close to an equalizer. From the left he cut inside, and directed the ball into the top right corner. With a beautiful gliding dive, the Zeeland goalkeeper was just able to tap the ball under the crossbar. Moments later, the ball was on target. Rai Vloet received the ball from Mohammed, played himself free and got a free shooting opportunity from about 16 meters. And Rai knew what to do with it! With a hard shot he passed the goalkeeper and got the equalizer on the board. After this goal, PSV remained on top. Without creating any really big chances. After the referee showed Rai the yellow card for remarks, PSV was very close to the lead. Zakaria Bakkali received the ball after a long ball from Rai and cut free in the 16 meters. However, his shot splattered on the crossbar.
In the 2nd half, PSV started well. Moussa was close to the 2nd Eindhoven goal when he put the keeper under pressure and the keeper lost the ball. Unfortunately, the goalkeeper was able to recover his mistake. However, it turned out to be a stay of execution as in the 6th minute, PSV took the lead for the 1st time in the duel with Cortgene/JOVZ. A long cross ball from Sven van de Kerkhof ended up with Mohammed Rayhi, who at the right moment served the through ball to Zakaria in space. The latter easily bypassed the goalkeeper, and seemed to create some suspense by keeping the ball with him for a long time. But in the end, he calmly shot the ball in. 2-1 for PSV!!!! Not much later, Zakaria headed alone at the goalkeeper, but he was (wrongly) whistled back for offside. Cortgene/JOVZ had to take risks and switched to a 3-4-3 system. This gave PSV space up front. But this was handled sloppily so that it remained exciting. As long as PSV did not pull the trigger, it could go either way. After all, as they say in rugby jargon, "the ball is round". Goalkeeper Jesse Bertrams, however, had a relatively quiet afternoon. Despite Cortgene/JOVZ's good intentions, they got no real clear-cut chances. PSV did to score the "safe" 3-1 in the closing stages. Andreas Hoelgebaum Perreira fired a flaming shot that was just parried by the goalkeeper. With a few minutes left to play, Cortgene/JOVZ tried to force the equalizer. But they too had lost their edge after this titanic match. It was just before time that PSV sloppily played out a 3-on-1 overtime situation so that the match remained exciting until the final whistle. Left back Sander Heesakkers thought it was not exciting enough yet by heading a ball back to the outrun Jesse in the final minute, just past his own goal. It would just happen to you.....At last the referee blew the whistle and PSV B2 could celebrate the championship.
A deserved championship in which, with only 1 round to go, only one loss was made. The match at Cortgene/JOVZ was lost 1-0. The goal difference of 133 for and 10 against speaks volumes. Compliments and congratulations to the players, trainers Jefta and Tim, physios Mylene and Bart, and team leaders Jack and Björn.
And who says PSV has no supporters outside of Eindhoven........today the flag was flying everywhere in the Netherlands in honor of PSV B2's championship!!!!!