The Drenthe derby between E&O and Unitas delivered exactly what the audience hoped to see on Friday evening: battle, pace and spectacle. Ultimately, Unitas won: 27-32 in Emmen. And with that the points went to Rolde.
E&O, in its familiar green, started strongly in-house. For example, the Japanese Ryuga Fuijta showed his class in the opening phase with some nice goals.
Still, the Emmen team had difficulty keeping up with the red-blue machine from Rolde. Unitas switched quickly and regularly came through dangerously through Bram Drijvers and Harm Meijer, who completed their break-outs accurately.
The match went down to the wire for a long time with a lot of pace and commitment. All the elements of a derby were present: passion, battle and spectacle. The audience, who came in large numbers to the sports hall in Emmen, got what it came for.
Just before half time, Nawid Karimi-Zand gave the visitors a minimal lead on behalf of Unitas: 15-16.
Among the handball violence, the brotherly battle between Wouter (E&O) and Casper Pronk (Unitas) also attracted attention. That is not surprising, because both brothers touch more than two meters and therefore literally stand out. Fierce duels were fought around the circle.
“Yes, that is of course great fun to play against him,” Casper laughed afterwards. “Then you want to be just a little bit brighter.”