HZVV managed to beat Stadskanaal in a cup match, but it was not easy

After last week’s 4-1 win over ZZVV, HZVV again had to face an opponent who collapsed, tried to make the spaces as small as possible and hoped for the counter. Especially in the first half, coach Bram Freie’s team had their hands more than full with Stadskanaal’s style of play.

The first two big chances were for the Channel Stars. Captain Jeffrey Bakker’s shot found HZVV goalkeeper Rodney Rosink, who narrowed his goal well. While the fast Wessel Klijnstra waited too long before shooting after a nice through ball from Maik Tolner. This allowed the defense to intervene.

HZVV allowed the ball to move around more easily and always made good use of the spaces on the sides, but it took a long time before the team became dangerous. Only after twenty-five minutes did Stadskanaal goalkeeper Royce Geerlings have to take action for the first time to stop a shot from the diligent Gabriel Fernando.

Sweltering artificial grass field

Immediately after the water break on the sweltering artificial grass field of Stadskanaal, the visitors took the lead. The Channel Stars released Sander Dzemidzic on the left side, after which he served Tim Mulder at the far post with his cross.

The guests were unable to take advantage of the lead for long. At first they were lucky that Bakker missed an opportunity from close range. His header went wide. A little later it was right. Stadskanaal interrupted an attack by HZVV, who immediately tried to put pressure on the defense.

‘After the break it all became a lot more difficult’

However, Stadskanaal coach Marcel de Groot saw his team mount a razor-sharp counter. Left striker Leon Bos was the final score: 1-1. De Groot had consciously chosen to play a little further back with his team. “That worked out well before halftime. Then we created quite a few chances. After the break it all became a lot more difficult. We couldn’t keep the ball in the team anymore.”

At the beginning of the second half there was a curious moment. The assistant referee flagged for offside, after which Roy Tolner caught the ball in front of his own goal, while referee Wolthof had not yet blown his whistle. He solved the problem by blowing the whistle for offside.

Most dangerous attacker defender Summer

It took almost half an hour before HZVV took the lead again. It was the most dangerous ‘attacker’ and captain Alex Zomer who scored the winning goal. Central defender Zomer had already forced Geerlings to make a save twice with a header before he was successful.

The Channel Stars could no longer cope and left more and more gaps. Zomer appeared at the point of the attack and left Geerlings without a chance. This actually immediately decided the match.

Stadskanaal was out of condition. The high temperature and the intensive competition increasingly began to take their toll.

De Groot: “We are currently having a particularly intensive period with many competitions. One more cup match and a practice match against Hoogezand and then we have to be ready. In any case, it will be a very interesting season.”

Stadskanaal-HZVV 1-2

Scoring: 25. Mulder 0-1, 33. Bos 1-1, 72. Zomer 1-2,

Yellow card: Wijma, Hup (HZVV).

Referee: Wolthof.

Spectators: 100.

Stadskanaal: Geerlings; Valk, Roy Tolner (77. De Jonge), Nijmeijer and Mohammad; Becker (46. Prummel), Mark Tolner (72. Boerhof) and Schuiling; Klinstra, Bakker and Bos.

HZVV: Rosink; Ballast (62. Mugabe), Wijma, Zomer and Fernando; Sijtsma (72. Van der Sleen), Hup, Mulder and Valente (79. Schregardus); Dzemidzic (De Jonge) and Simons (Otten).