The handball players of Drenth Group Hurry-Up did not have their best day against Aalsmeer in Zwartemeer. They lost without a chance 27-34.
Hurry-Up met with Aalsmeer on a trained handball machine, which, despite Sinterklaas riding over the roofs again, had no intention of handing out presents. The Zwartemeer residents did not receive them. The men of Drenthe coach Sven Hemmes had to work hard against the North Hollanders. But they couldn’t really make it difficult for the visitors for a moment.
Hurry-Up remained too far removed from the good play that the team can mainly show at home; as recently became apparent during the great victory that the Zwartemeerders achieved over then leader in the BeNe-League Volendam. The Drenthe players did not even come close to reaching that high level in a well-filled De Eendracht sports hall on Saturday evening.
Hurry-Up makes too many mistakes
Hurry-Up made too many mistakes for that. The team made the wrong pass too often and was often not focused on shots. Aalsmeer immediately took advantage of this with lightning-fast attacks, in which international Donny Vink in particular was elusive. The fast left corner player, who was also deadly with penalty throws, became top scorer with 12 goals.
The North Hollanders had their cover in order and kept the defense pretty close in front of their good goalkeeper Marco Verbeij. That was much less the case with Hurry-Up. Zwartemeer goalkeeper Boris Tot, who was replaced later in the game by his younger colleague Jorick Pol, also did not have a great day.
Vaidas Trainavicius is important with smart passes
This all led to a match in which the home team was unable to cope with Aalsmeer’s handball violence. Routinier Vaidas Trainavicius, who caused a stir at Hurry-Up for years in the past, played an important role in the victory with smart passes to his fellow players and his five goals. Yet it took fifteen minutes before the visitors started to make the difference. But then there was no stopping the Zwartemeer residents.
At halftime, Hurry-Up, whose sweeping team consisted of Little Petes to dry the floor, was trailing 12-17. It only grew bigger in the second half. The final phase began via 16-24, 21-27 and 23-32. The match was no longer exciting in any way for a long time. There was some commotion when Aalsmeer player Pepijn Michielsen was sent off the field with a straight red card. According to the referees, he hit his opponent Martijn Bijl hard in the face. Bijl fell to the ground, but afterwards he was close friends with Michielsen again.
The return of Daniel Takó after a long period of injury is positive
The positive for Hurry-Up was the return of the Hungarian Daniel Takó after a long injury layoff. He played his first game this season and could not yet make his mark. Although he got into his game better towards the end of the encounter. All this could not prevent the Zwartemeerders from losing the game 27-34 after a last goal by their circle player Sjoerd Boonstra – after a pass from Takó. There was nothing to criticize about that victory for Aalsmeer.