Two points were expected against Groen Geel, but DOS’46/VDK Groep had a disappointing start in the Korfball League: 12-12.
Not only the division of points hurt the Nijeveen formation, but especially the game pattern in most of the match. Coach Henk Jan Mulder did not beat around the bush afterwards. “This was really disappointing.”
DOS’46 took a break last summer with the departure of the experienced Kim Petersen and figurehead Max Malestein, but received good replacements in return with Willemien Kragt (East Arnhem) and the fit-again Mart Vrielink.
At Groen Geel it was a completely different story; with Mady Tims, a big name came to Wormer as a coach, but the former figurehead found a deflated selection. Groen Geel seems destined to be the bottom line and relegated, because the promoted HKC has an experienced selection.
“We should certainly win against this Groen Geel,” said Mulder, who also reflected on the great performance of the home club. “All credits go to them, because they gave everything they could. We didn’t deal with that well enough.”
Good defensively, increasingly sloppy offensively
DOS’46 showed in the opening phase what it is capable of defensively (0-3), as it was also a great strength in the previous edition of the indoor competition, which also led to the surprising fifth place in the final ranking. Groen Geel had to wait a long time for the first goal.
But because the Drenthe team itself was very careless with its attacking options, Groen Geel could continue to hope. “I haven’t completely figured out the statistics yet, but I think one of our attacking areas ended up with a shooting percentage of six percent. Well, you won’t knock over any opponent with that.”
Pizza slice
Mulder saw that the attack plan was initially fine, but that as the number of misses increased, the game became increasingly restless. “Actually, the game went back to the time before Friso (Boode, ed.) and I took charge of the team. It was playing korfball in a pizza slice, a kind of funnel. That is very predictable and just like tossing a coin and hoping it goes well.”
From the sidelines, the coaching duo tried to get the team back on track, but DOS’46 even had to give chase after the break (6-6). It was telling that the majority of the goals that the Nijeveners managed to produce came from penalty throws and free balls. There was hardly any return from the field game.
Miss from penalty spot
Willemien Kragt made it 11-12 just before the end, but that hard-earned lead for DOS’46 simply disappeared again. Christian Dekkers then had the perfect opportunity to make it 12-13 from the penalty spot, but his goal attempt was too short and was typical of the visitors’ match.
Mulder was extremely disappointed, but he also knows that grieving for too long is of no use. “We cannot linger in disappointment for too long. On Saturday we will have HKC visiting De Eendracht. Well, that’s a strong PhD student. We will really have to improve this week to keep the points at home.”
Laying a solid foundation
This is also important to lay a solid foundation for the season, as the experienced coach knows. “And it is not necessarily the case that if we finished sixth this year, we would have done less. You have to look at several factors. But we will continue to build stoically, with this competition being a good learning opportunity, and we will go from week to week. Then we will see later in the season whether there is more to it.”