FC Emmen is on the right track after a lousy start when it visits Jong Ajax, but is not making much progress with results

While the match between FC Emmen and Jong Ajax two seasons ago was ravaged by a downpour, which also damaged the camera equipment of ESPN partly broke down, many spectators walked into the evening sun on Friday evening in a T-shirt.

Wonderful conditions for the match between the two low-flyers, of which FC Emmen seemed to have the best credentials in advance. The pupils from Amsterdam were at the bottom with four defeats and zero points. But what at first did not seem like an impossible task soon became extremely difficult.

Changed starting lineup

Fred Grim started the match, largely out of necessity, with a changed starting line-up. The suspended Maikel Kieftenbeld, who was present as a spectator at De Toekomst sports park, was replaced by Jorrit Smeets.

A starting place was also reserved for Joey Konings. The attacker replaced Ahmed El Messaoudi, who was killed by Grim. And Patrick Brouwer was preferred at the right back. A pure right winger who had to do defensive work due to the injuries of Lorenzo Burnet and Robin Schouten out of sheer poverty.

The Drenthe people started the match quite well. The first chance came from the foot of Konings, served by a careful header from teammate Piotr Parzyszek, but the right winger’s effort found the feet of Jong Ajax goalie Charlie Setford.

FC Emmen’s positive flow did not last long. It was Young Ajax that soon took control and created the necessary danger both in the middle and on the flanks. It became clear that Grim’s team, partly due to the various changes, was not exactly a well-oiled machine.

Long shots are too powerful for Hoekstra

After just fifteen minutes of play, the team from Amsterdam scored. Star Gabriel Misehouy got the ball, played Heylen and Brouwer with childish ease and served David Kalokoh. The striker aimed a shot into the right corner, just out of reach of Jan Hoekstra.

Not an unstoppable ball for the goalkeeper, it seemed. Barely 10 minutes later Jong Ajax scored again. This time it was Mika Godts who simply fooled FC Emmen’s defense and aimed the ball unhindered into the corner from a distance. And once again the stakes did not seem untenable.

Order in order

In the remaining minutes of the first half, the team from Drenthe continued to have difficulty with Jong Ajax. Time to put things in order, Grim must have thought in the quiet. Jorrit Smeets, who had a lousy starting debut to say the least, was taken off early. With Lucas Bernadou, the trainer tried to bring more football into the team. It worked. With the technically gifted Frenchman in midfield, FC Emmen was able to play more football and move more easily between enemy lines. Not without results.

After Konings had already come close to scoring twice, it seemed to work the third time. However, his shot was blocked. Fortunately from FC Emmen, there was Desley Ubbink who pushed the ball against the ropes. The goal seemed to give the Drents renewed energy. Young Ajax, who exchanged happily, was pushed further and further back. The visitors knew what to do with that. Fifteen minutes before the end, FC Emmen scored the equalizer. Patrick Brouwer dribbled across the back line, crossed and found Ben Scholte. The young attacker did not hesitate.

Still ahead

For a moment it seemed as if FC Emmen would still take the full spoils. Just before the end, Scholte scored again: 2-3. The title ‘Man of the match’ almost seemed unavoidable for the young Ter Apeler, but it was Young Ajax that forced a draw in injury time. Kristian Hlynsson luckily got the ball at his feet and took an effective shot. A draw that doesn’t help FC Emmen much. Instead of joining the middle bracket, Grim’s team will remain stuck in the lower regions of the first division for the time being.