Second relegation in a row for Bellingwolde hits hard

Lesly Korte and Martin Ras lay exhausted on the grass after the final whistle. Both players were already there when the association under trainer Loek Swarts was still doing well and promotion to the second division was missed by a hair’s breadth.

After the departure of Swarts it became more difficult, although there was another revival under Harold Molanus, but in recent seasons it has become less and less. Players stopped, often moved to Groningen and with the icing on the cake, the departure of a dozen players to Veelerveen.

Logically, this loss could not be absorbed and a hopeless season followed in the third division. It was also difficult this year, but Ras and Korte continued to come weekly from Beilen and Groningen respectively to help their association.

All the luck in the world

Trainer Tsaerd van der Meer was replaced by the board at the end of the season by the duo John Kuiper and Henk Uildriks. After a cautious start, they saw their team increasingly take the initiative. The guests from Langezwaag could only hold back and were very lucky to go into the break with 0-0.

Two minutes before the halftime signal, Korte and Ras gave midfielder Jop Bakker an opportunity not to be missed. Captain Korte gave a pass, Ras stepped over the ball, allowing Bakker to shoot completely free in front of the guests’ goal. From five meters, however, to the dismay of the home team, he shot at the post.

Pole, keeper, pole

Immediately after the break, the post was also in a good mood for Langezwaag. A free kick from Briean Wubs jumped through the post, the keeper and again the post back into the field. What Bellingwolde failed to do, the Frisians did the first time they became really dangerous: score.

Less than a minute later, Ras equalized again, but the convincing play of the first half did not return. When Jeroen Oolders also shot the ball against his opponent and he could easily make it 1-2, the home team panicked.

Free kick in the cross

Everything was too rushed, the consultation was gone and more and more players tried individually to win the match. VV Langezwaag took advantage and scored 3-1. Bellingwolde keeper Robert Leontew then prevented a greater deficit. In the final minute of the official playing time, Korte gave his team some hope by shooting a free kick into the intersection.

But the equalizer never came. While the Frisians celebrated, the defeat at Bellingwolde hit hard. After the rest had already left, Korte finally helped Ras up, whereupon both trudged off the field together and went to the dressing room with an ashen face.