The futsal players of Leekster Eagles proved that a match that was actually about the emperor’s beard could indeed be amusing. In an exciting home game against VNS United from Amsterdam, the Leeksters won 8-6. Thanks to the victory, the Leeksters officially maintain themselves and will play in the Eredivisie again next year.
Actually, the meeting between these teams was supposed to take place on March 31. The team from Amsterdam then had to go home empty-handed after the hall was unplayable due to leakage. This time there was no wetness due to rainfall. In this rematch, however, it did rain goals.
In a poor first half on the part of the Eagles, they should be grateful to keeper Erwin Mensink that it was 0-0 until the 17th minute. A clever kick-in by VNS allowed the visitors to take advantage of inattention in the Leekster defense in the 17th minute. Even Mensink couldn’t prevent the 1-0. In the same minute, Mensink was unable to grab a long shot, after which VNS made the 0-2 from the rebound.
Without significant opportunities for Leekster Eagles, both teams went to the locker room. Bas Lulofs, trainer of Leekster Eagles, was dissatisfied with the first half. “We are going to push back. Seem a bit impressed by the many tricks of the opponent. At half-time I tell the boys that we have to get into the duels more and focus on defending forward.”
The break and the words of Lulofs visibly did the Leeksters good. Mehdi Charraf-Edine immediately made it 1-2. After 5 minutes of play in the second half, Stan van der Wal scored the 2-2 from a free kick. Because VNS quickly ran out to a 2-5 lead, it seemed done for the Eagles. After Bilal Boundati made it 3-5, VNS scored the 3-6. After this, Karim Layeb picked up his second yellow card and had to turn in. With one man less, Leekster Eagles came through Stan van der Wal to 4-6. When the two minutes of ‘penalty’ were over, the Leeksters were able to continue with five players.
Clever use of a flying keeper allowed Stan van der Wal to tie the score to 6-6 with two goals in a row. With one minute left on the clock, Bilal Boundati tapped in the 7-6. The final chord was for Stan van der Wal. He made the 8-6 just in time and thus secured a hard-fought victory.