Hoogeveen was better than Harkemase Boys with 11 against 11. With 10 against 11 it was no longer against the title candidate from Friesland. But even as a team, the team continued to fight for a result. In the final phase this was rewarded with the equalizer, 2-2. “I am proud of the team.”
With peace in sight, everything suddenly changed. Alex Blekkink then hung on the shirt of the very fast Jhurrey Margaritha and referee Thom Winkel gave Hoogeveen’s central defender the red card. He felt that it was a matter of taking down a player who had broken through.
Hoogeveen coach Stef Lamberink spoke of ‘a questionable decision’. He pointed out that Blekkink’s violation took place near the sideline and that the Harrekieten attacker still had about fifty meters to reach goalkeeper Stan Meekhof. “The referee could also have sufficed with a yellow card,” Lamberink judged.
Stupid foul
When Blekkink made his stupid foul, because that’s what it was, Hoogeveen led 1-0 through a goal by Emil Bijlsma. The home club’s best player scored after Jeroen Kamphuis headed the ball to him. “I thought the keeper would catch it, but I was just able to tap the ball in.”
Immediately after the Hoogeveen team, which saw captain Tom Heerkes drop out with stomach problems just before the match, had become ten, Harkemase Boys came alongside. A swipe from Thomas Prinsen disappeared untenably into the top corner for Meekhof.
‘With ten men we became vulnerable’
“We were better with eleven men,” Bijlsma noted. “Harkema couldn’t enforce anything in the first half and we still had some chances. With ten men we became vulnerable. In the second half we were a bit lucky that they didn’t finish it then.”
With two changes during the break – Kamphuis had to make way for the Brazilian Pedro Henrique Barbosa Alves and Justin Benjamins for Giorgio Beltau – Lamberink tried to prepare his ten team as best as possible for the uneven battle in the second half.
With one more man, Harkemase Boys logically became the dominant party after the restart, but more than one goal did not provide the upper hand. Stefan Deuling scored halfway through the second act after a sharp cross from Margaritha.
‘From now on we should start with ten men’
The Frisians were unable to create many meaningful opportunities. With Louis Vijfhuizen’s effort against the crossbar behind his own goalkeeper Meekhof, they came closest to another goal. Hoogeveen only sporadically came close to Feike Spoor’s goal, but continued to fight for at least one point. In the final phase, the Drenthe’s perseverance and continued belief in a result yielded success. Although it must also be said that the equalizer came about fortunately. The ball grazed Joris Adams’ head and into his own goal.
It was the second time in a short time that Hoogeveen scored with ten men. The team also recently achieved this against Sparta Nijkerk, resulting in a 2-1 victory. Bijlsma: “We just joked to each other that from now on we should start with ten men.”
“We continued to believe in it and that makes me proud,” Lamberink complimented his team. “We showed character and were rewarded for it.”
Hoogeveen-Harkemase Boys 2-2
Score progression : 24. Bijlsma 1-0, 45. Prinsen 1-1, 66. Deuling 1-2, 82. Adams 2-2 (ed).
Red card : 40. Blekkink (Hoogeveen).
Yellow card : Prinsen (Harkemase Boys).
Referee : Store.
Spectators : 400.
Hoogeveen : Meekhof; Schuurman, Vijfhuizen, Blekkink and Balubun; Klaassens and Menno Heerkes; Veldmaat (86. Leerdam), Bijlsma and Benjamins (46. Beltau); Kamphuis (46. Barbosa Alves, 82. Tomas da Silva).