The Groningen hockey players have started the second half of the season excellently in the promotion class. HIC was deservedly defeated 1-0 at the Harener Holt on Sunday afternoon.
It was an important victory for Groningen. Coach Julian Steen’s team was in the bottom regions going into the winter break. However, the gap with the play-off places is not large either. “We initially want to get away from the bottom spots as quickly as possible,” Steen said. “We can formulate a more concrete objective in a few matches.”
Ste saw his team start well on Sunday afternoon. “We were energetic, played forward and had a few chances,” the Groningen coach summarized the first half. “We had some opportunities and HIC was sometimes a bit dangerous on the counterattack. Although there were no real big opportunities.”
Good third quarter
In the third quarter, Groningen HIC tightened its thumbscrews. “They received two yellow cards, which I thought we enforced,” Steen said. “Evaline Janssens made it 1-0 from the rebound of a penalty corner. We should have scored at least another goal in the third quarter, but that didn’t happen, which made the fourth quarter still exciting. Although they didn’t get any big chances apart from a few corners.”
Huge discharge
Steen was happy with his team’s victory. “We are not in a good position. HIC is a good team that we have had a lot of trouble with in recent years. It is nice that we achieve a good result with good play. That is a reward for the hard work of the past preparatory weeks. Such a victory in the first match after the winter break is extremely important with a view to the rest of the competition. The relief after the match was also enormous for the girls.”