Alcides is officially relegated after the 5-1 defeat against top team Purmersteijn. Wilko Niemer showed himself to be a realistic trainer in his analysis of the football season after the game.
Prior to the game against Purmersteijn, Alcides still had a small chance to avoid direct relegation. It had to win against Purmersteijn itself and competitor RKVV Velsen, which was four points behind the Meppelers with two games to go, had to drop points. Both teams competed against two teams that are involved in a completely different battle, as the North Holland team played against leader Hoogeveen. And Purmersteijn is the closest attacker of the Drents.
Good goal
A tough game on paper for Alcides and it turned out to be, because after half a minute the team from Meppel were already 1-0 behind. The home side took a 3-0 lead after the break. In the final phase, club top scorer Milan Ronkes did something back, but Purmersteijn also made two more. “I could still enjoy that goal from Milan, a really good goal,” said trainer Wilko Niemer afterwards. “We showed a few good things, but I also have to be honest: this team and a number of others, such as Hoogeveen, stand out in this class. We simply lack quality. So I’m really not going to say that we could have finished in the middle bracket, but a playoff spot could have been possible. We failed in a few matches against direct competitors such as VKW, Heino and Velsen. The start of the season was still good, but when we had to deal with injuries, we couldn’t fix that. Alcides does not have a second team, and JO-19-1 and the Saturday team also have their own interests. The selection was too narrow.”
Alcides can try to close the season with a victory at home next week against Alphense Boys.