The handball players of Drenth Group Hurry-Up had a revival against Sporting Pelt on Saturday evening in the final phase. But it was too late and too short to prevent the 31-25 defeat.
The Zwartemeerders had won the home game superiorly against the Belgian team 31-23 in September. But Hurry-Up was behind the times in the BeNe League match in Neerpelt from the start. At no time could the people of Drenthe make things difficult for Sporting Pelt, with Tommie Falke from Emmen in their ranks. Before that, Hurry-Up had not done enough defensively and played too sloppily. Offensively, the focus was often not focused, resulting in many missed opportunities.
For a while, the one-sided match, in which Sporting Pelt set the tone, seemed to be turning in favor of the visitors from Zwatermeer. The Belgian players led 27-18 well into the second half and there seemed to be no problem for them. But the substitution of Jorick Pol in goal for the Croatian Boris Tot meant a change in the course of the game. Pol, who emphatically applied for a starting position, made a number of good saves in succession.
Hurry-Up is creeping closer point by point
Hurry-Up started to believe in it again and crept closer point by point with good attacks. The men of Drenthe coach Sven Hemmes reduced the deficit to 27-23, partly thanks to a very nice ball from Michael Wennink. Everything seemed possible again, but the revival of the Zwartemeers was too short-lived.
After coach Korneel Douven confronted the Sporting Pelt players during a time-out, the fun was over for Hurry-Up. The home team regained concentration and increased the pace. The lead was further increased through fast, good attacks, while the Zwartemeers fell back into the pattern of missed opportunities and sloppy passes. In the end, Spoting Pelt won easily 31-25, with Hurry-Up scoring the last goal of the match via a penalty from Hungarian Daniel Takó.
Gonzalo Gracio is not having his day
The fact that Takó took the penalty from seven meters had everything to do with the fact that penalty specialist Goncalo Gracio had previously failed face to face with the excellent Belgian goalkeeper Nick Deekens. Gracio wasn’t having his day anyway. The Portuguese had great difficulty finishing effectively from the left corner and only scored twice. But Harm Meijer, his colleague on the right, also did no better. He scored one goal.
At Hurry-Up, almost no one actually had their sights set. The people of Drenthe soon found themselves behind the scenes against Sporting Pelt. The home team had excellent coverage and managed to find the Drenthe goal by combining well. This resulted in an 18-10 lead for Sporting Pelt at half time.
The one-sided match was not exciting in the second half either. The Belgians took a 27-18 lead and victory was within reach. Hurry-Up then had a brief revival, but it was too short-lived to jeopardize Sporting Pelt’s victory. Tommie Falke, who was a crowd favorite in Zwartemeer for years, naturally met a lot of acquaintances at Hurry-Up. As a player, he trained a youth team with, among others, Emiel Hoogland, Sander Bos, Matz Wesseling and Martijn Bijl. They are all now playing in the first of Hurry-Up.
At Hurry-Up, the Hungarian Takó seems to be increasingly finding his feet after recovering from a serious injury. He scored four goals. Brent Riksten was the top scorer for the Drenthe with six goals, but he also missed several opportunities. Hurry-Up is eighth in the standings.
Sporting Pelt Hurry Up 31-25
Rest position: 18-10.
Hurry Up Scores: Riksten 6, Takó 4, Wennink 4, Hoogland 3, Vermeer 3, Gracio 2, Meijer, Boonstra and Bijl.
Next game: Saturday, Eupen 8.15 pm: KSTV Eupen-Hurry-Up.