Finalist Donar can leave the mustache for a while. Resounding home victory over arch-rival Heroes Den Bosch

While FC Groningen’s football supporters were in the news negatively on Sunday, Donar’s fans showed their good side in Martiniplaza on Tuesday evening. Following the example of Donar’s players, several supporters of Groningen’s basketball pride wore sticky mustaches on their faces. Men with a brush moustache, women with an imposing handlebar and children with an artful Dali mustache made for a funny sight in the stands. The party shops in Groningen will have been working overtime.

Initiator of the mustache action is Sander Hollanders. The Groningen shooting guard called on his teammates to leave the hair on their upper lip after the regular season until the team was eliminated in the playoffs. In the quarterfinals against Yoast United, the first cautious mustaches were visible, against Heroes Den Bosch there were even more beautiful ones.

Den Bosch seemed unapproachable

The players can leave their mustaches for a while, because Heroes Den Bosch was defeated 3-1 in the semi-finals of the play-offs. Where Donar was a pile of misery in the first months of this season, the team of the birthday coach Erik Braal (ex-Donar) turned out to be unapproachable. The Groningers grew during the season, turned the tide and were clearly a class better against the Bosschenaren.

Donar’s victory did not come easily on Tuesday evening in a swirling Martiniplaza. Heroes Den Bosch was committed to not letting the Groningen people make a free passage to the final. The intentions of the people from Brabant were already visible before the game; due to a monstrous dunk in the warm-up, the basket was shifted in such a way that several men had to be involved to put the colossus back in its original position. As a result, the game started ten minutes later than scheduled.

The tension among the players was clearly visible in the first two quarters. Viktor Gaddefors let the ball slip out of his hands twice and missed two free throws with a 6-4 lead. The guests then ran out to 7-13, after which Gaddefors recovered and thanks to two nice assists from the Swede, Donar crept closer and the difference at the end of the first quarter was only two points: 16-18.

With his legs in the air

In the second quarter, both teams were still close to each other. Donar took a lead (28-25), but thanks to six points in a row from Heroes Den Bosch, the team from Brabant went into the break with a three-point lead.

Donar came out of the dressing room excellently, scored eight points in a row, but then saw Den Bosch come alongside again. Donar took it a step further and supported by the loud encouragement of the mustaches in the stands, the Groningen team ran out to 48-41 in the third quarter. Towards the end of the quarter, star Vernon Taylor was still getting the laughs after he toppled over the boarding and dangled his legs in the air for seconds before supporters and fellow players bailed him out of his plight.

In the last quarter, Donar blasted over the arch rival. Under a hurricane of noise, one beautiful score followed the other in rapid succession and it was 58-43 for the Groningen team in the blink of an eye. Donar then played the match decisively and won 67-54.

In the final, Donar will meet ZZ Leiden, which defeated Aris Leeuwarden 3-0 in their semi-final. The team from Leiden needed extra time twice in both home games to beat the Frisians. The home advantage in the best-of-five series lies with ZZ Leiden. On Sunday afternoon, Donar will start the final in the Five May Hall in their hunt for the eighth national title.

Despite the home advantage for Leiden, Den Bosch coach Braal thinks his old club Donar has an advantage in the final. ,,The physical aspect of our semi-final is much bigger than the series that Leiden played. Leiden will have to get used to that. They can do that quickly, so the first duel will be very important. He can steal Donar and then the momentum is with them.”