The battle for a place in the play-off finals is fully open. HC Den Bosch escaped defeat at Amsterdam through a penalty corner variant by Sanne Koolen: 1-1. The hockey players can reach the final battle for the 25th time in a row.
A new format has been devised for the play-offs for the national title. Not a best-of-three series, but a diptych, as European football also knows, after which the balance is made. The game ended after a draw. No more shoot-outs in that case, although it didn’t get that far in the Wagener Stadium.
The fact that HC Den Bosch is in the final of the play-offs has been a certainty for 24 years. The hockey players took the national title 21 times, more than any club ever (Amsterdam won the national championship 20 times). But whether it will also happen this year is the big question after the performance in Amstelveen.
There was nothing to see from hunger to prizes in the first half hour. No chance in the first half, not even a penalty corner, while Amsterdam left the opponent alive by not using the opportunities and penalty corners. Marijn did that after the break: 1-0.
Sanne Koolen saved HC Den Bosch with a penalty corner variant: 1-1. The return at the Oosterplas promises to be a spectacle and a new final, the 25th since 1998, is still in it.
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