Donar, who rose from the ashes, immediately surprised the audience in the first competition match. In a frenzied Martiniplaza, Den Bosch was defeated 74-63.
The big question was where Donar would stand compared to the title candidate from Brabant. After all the bankruptcy troubles of last summer, the Groningen team was put together with a smaller budget than before. Due to the long-term uncertainty, it was also a very rushed job. After an ultra-short preparation, the last foreign players were only eligible to play since Friday, after the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) had issued a work permit.
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Cheer up
It tempered expectations in advance. Staying in the footsteps of the Brabant arch-rival would be a boost, as was argued during the presentation of the book. Donar 50 years. The first copies of the thick book were presented to sports councilor Inge Jongman and former Donar player Jan Loorbach prior to the match.
Subsequently, from Groningen’s perspective, it turned out not to be necessary at all to be modest about Donar’s sporting ambitions. The new, young team looked fresh and showed an enormous work ethic, which was finally achieved by the Den Bosch men of coach Erik Braal. Players on both sides were missing due to injuries. Donar could not rely on Jordy Kuiper and Sam van Oostrum, coach Braal only had a rotation of seven full-fledged players at his disposal.
Long shots
Donar got off to a good start with David Gabrovsek at the helm, who immediately scored six points in the opening phase. With, among other things, a three-pointer from the new American Theo John, the home club finished 19-11. Sander Hollanders was also on a roll with his long shots. Partly thanks to his artillery, Donar was already ahead 27-14 after the first quarter.
The lead was never relinquished. Den Bosch came back into the match a few times, but the indomitability of the reborn Donar was ultimately decisive. The best example of the strong mentality of the Groningers came to the fore with Karolis Babusis’ three-pointer, who made it 35-27 in the second quarter after Gabrovsek managed to keep the ball within the lines with an utmost effort.
Thunderous applause
It earned the team a thunderous applause from the 2,750 spectators and afterwards there was a toast in Martiniplaza to the survival of the club and the potential of the new team, which could well surprise this season.