Second relegation in a row for Noordscheschut

The team of trainer Berry Zandink lost in the first round of the playoffs at home against second division club Unicum: 1-3. The guests ended up with nine players, because referee Van Kraay drew red twice for the club from Lelystad in the second half.

‘Nothing is impossible’

Without strong holders Nick Koster (on holiday to Thailand), Tom Kamping, Danny Kiekebelt and ‘talent’ Ramon Brakel (all injured), Noordscheschut started a nearly impossible mission against the technically skilled opponent. ,,Nothing is impossible”, said Zandink before the match. ,,We have to deal with this difficult road we have to go.” Perhaps the coach’s words were against our better judgement. In any case, Zandink was disappointed that he had to start (possibly) three rounds of playoffs with a faulty team. ,,Today we have to play a kind of power football, where we push the boundaries and don’t give the opponent self-confidence.”

It was not said on deaf ears, because the home team was old-fashioned from the start. With 120 percent effort, Noordscheschut took on Unicum, which had a former professional along the line with Edwin van Ankeren as trainer and a surplus of professional football experience in the field. The first chance was for the guests, but after more than fifteen minutes Rijnald Vos headed from a perfect cross from the driven back Jesse Steenbergen on top of the crossbar. Moments later, Steenbergen delivered another nice ball in front of the goal, but Vos did not control the ball properly.

Red card

Unicum exploited a quick counter-punch moments later with a ticker from Michel van Aggele: 0-1. The Schutters once again gave extra gas and made the equalizer out of nowhere. Melvin Mol hit the ball from a free kick behind Unicum’s keeper. But with the break in sight, the 1-2 suddenly fell. Captain Dyllan Lanser soloed from the right for the visitors’ second goal.
,,After the break, we wanted to play the opportunistic variant even more”, Zandink reported afterwards. ,,Only we didn’t really come into our strength.” Noordscheschut created a predominance without major opportunities worth mentioning. Unicum did get it, but only after captain Lanser had received a red card for hitting, on the advice of the assistant referee. Substitute Jason Lenz completed a failure with a man less neatly: 1-3.

Dry eyes

,,Incredibly sucks!” Zandink said after 90 minutes of fighting football. “Today we are not relegated. This doesn’t really affect me very much”, said substitute Danny Bouwman (33), who played his last game for the main squad and descends to fifth.

,,I have played in the first team for fourteen years and today I say goodbye with dry eyes. Only if the need arises, Berry can possibly call on me next season.”

,,After 18 years I will train again at the second class level. Different, but it is no different”, Zandink concluded his argument. “It’s a pity, but at Noordscheschut they take things as they are. That’s why we’re going to go all out again next season to see how far we can go.”