RKC Waalwijk will also play in the Eredivisie next season. Joseph Oosting’s team won 2-0 against Heracles Almelo on Wednesday-evening. Thanks to favorable results on other fields, the Waalwijkers were able to throw a big party, one game before the end of the season.
RKC seemed to be as good as safe against FC Groningen (3-1) two weeks ago. But partly due to the late loss of points against Cambuur (1-1), it was still a squeeze for the Waalwijkers. The team was only three points above the relegation zone prior to this round.
So against Heracles we had to win. The Almelo players were only two points above RKC, but after the first fifteen minutes the difference in points seemed greater. The home team was allowed to thank goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen that it was not yet 0-1. The keeper defused several Heracles opportunities.
Goosebumps
Undoubtedly the best moment of the match already took place in the eighteenth minute. Thousands of supporters stood and shone their phones in tribute to Matt and Pippin. The two players of amateur club RKDVC were killed in an accident on Saturday. Supporters of RKC and Heracles gave goosebumps and made football a sideshow for a while.
And as if it had to be, Michael Kramer put RKC in the lead as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ sounded in the stands. Richard van der Venne put the ball wide on the club’s top scorer, who scored his eleventh goal of the season for an empty goal.
The timing of the goal couldn’t have been better. RKC kept the lead until the break and after the break Joseph Oosting’s team immediately had a chance to make it 2-0. First via Vurnon Anita and shortly afterwards via Melle Meulensteen. The latter saw his header phenomenon turned around by Heracles keeper Koen Bucker.
world goal
In the second half, RKC insisted it looked for another goal. After an hour, the Waalwijkers received that reward. Finn Stokkers heads the ball to the incoming Van der Venne. The midfielder headed the ball beautifully into the far corner. This caused frenzied joy in the Mandemakers Stadium.
The joy grew bigger and bigger. Due to favorable results from competitors Sparta, Willem II and Fortuna, direct enforcement came closer and closer. The Waalwijkers hardly ran into problems on the field.
Enforcement official
When the final signal sounded after 93 minutes, the party started in Waalwijk. The win brings RKC to 35 points and even climbed over Heracles. Sparta won against Zwolle and is on three points from RKC, but because the Rotterdammers are playing their last game against Heracles, Sparta can no longer get over RKC in the ranking.
With this, Joseph Oosting’s team secured itself with another year of Eredivisie football. A top achievement for the Waalwijk club. Fireworks outside the stadium completed the celebration.