Niels Roewen, the Wellenreuther of DZOH, shapes the revenge against Oranje Nassau

Niels Roewen walked quietly to the dressing room. Emotions seemed strange to the young goalkeeper: “If everyone is fit, I am the third goalkeeper. I have also substituted for VKW and PKC’83.” The 18-year-old also kept a clean sheet then. Roewen’s goalkeeping was almost flawless: “I think so too. Yes, Wellenreuther is also doing very well. I was tense, but not very nervous. I would like to show myself. Become a little faster and a little lighter, then I can continue to grow. Now the quarter finals, maybe I can play goalkeeper too.”

Coaches Karlo Meppelink (DZOH) and Erwin Heerlijn (ON) had joined the strange craze of fielding the second-best goalkeeper instead of the best in cup matches, following the example of professional football. That is quite striking when you are four wins away from a historic prize and only two wins away from participating in the national cup tournament with the BVOs. Meppelink even chose third goalkeeper Roewen, because the first is injured and the second was on the bench as a reserve. Both goalkeepers did well.

Ruendel Martina drops out with a serious injury

ON and DZOH also play against each other in the competition. In fact, they are numbers 1 and 2 of the first division J. In November, ON humiliated the team from Emmen 6-1. ON initially caved in willingly, but those who turn themselves into sheep are eaten by wolves. DZOH took the lead through a brilliant blast from Aron Timmerman and then ON had to. Striker Ruendel Martina soon had to leave with a serious-looking injury. It seemed like a blessing in disguise, as top scorer Peter van Son, who returned from winter sports last night, was able to score.

‘It was really a penalty for us’

ON played mediocre football. Both teams were dangerous once before the opening goal. Joël Zweerink headed onto the post on behalf of DZOH and for ON Rick Wiersma aimed over in a promising position. Wiersma unsuccessfully claimed a penalty from the strongly leading Marouan Achammachi, who is in a talent group on the way to the Premier League. Heerlijn thought very differently about that situation: “It was really a penalty. I even heard it from quite a distance. We also suffered two long injuries. But we don’t lose because of that. We just weren’t good enough today.”

‘The road to De Kuip has started’

Captain Daniël Sanafikhah, often a rock in the surf at DZOH, naturally agreed with the referee: “I asked our right back (Rayan Brouwer – ed.) and he said that he hit his own foot.” ‘ The captain, enjoying a cigarette, was happy with the ticket for the quarter-finals: “One more win and we will join the ranks of professional clubs. The road to De Kuip has started! We also wanted to show that things could be different after that big defeat.”

Two goals within 100 seconds

Veils of rain swept over the field after halftime. Dark clouds threatened, more than the 22 well-wishers on the artificial grass. ON was threatening through Youri Schuur and Schrijver, who struck after 72 minutes after a great move by David Voigt (1-1). ON only had a brief view of the win, because almost from the kick-off, Joel Zweerink cashed in on a pass from Bastin Boer (2-1). ON went all out for a penalty series, but Niels Roewen kept his goal closed with relative ease.

The tree of vengeance bears no fruit, says the proverb. We will know in a few months whether this also applies to DZOH’s retaliation expedition. This competition is scheduled again on April 20, same time, same sports park.