FC Volendam is going into the winter break with a good feeling. The team of interim coach Michael Dingsdag surprised when visiting SC Heerenveen by winning 2-1 in the Abe Lenstra Stadium. The bottom of the Premier League thus records its first victory since October 29 (3-1 against Excelsior).
Benaissa Benamar (head injury), Calvin Twigt and Robert Mühren were missing at FC Volendam. Just like against Feyenoord (3-1 loss), interim coach Michael Dingsdag opted for a five-man defense with Damon Mirani at its heart. Dingsdag, who made waves at Heerenveen and won the cup in 2009, knew in advance that it would be his last match as manager of Volendam. During the winter break, the club wants to appoint a new head coach and Dingsdag will become an assistant again.
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In contrast to the match with Feyenoord, Volendam did not want to park the bus again. Yet it had to go into reverse in the opening phase. Goalkeeper Mio Backhaus had to save twice in the first fifteen minutes from a long shot by Thom Haye. The biggest chance for the home team came from the foot of Pelle van Amersfoort. The striker was put away and shot the ball narrowly wide.
Surprise
Completely against the odds, Volendam took the lead in the 28th minute. A long ball from George Cox was completely misjudged by Oliver Braude, who opened the door for Bilal Ould-Chikh. The Volendam attacker then punted the ball hard behind Heerenveen goalkeeper Andries Noppert: 0-1. Towards half time, Volendam had to go backwards again. Mats Köhlert headed just over and Van Amersfoort was also close to a Frisian goal with a headed chance from a corner kick.
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Heerenveen started the second half with attacking intentions, but Volendam struck again on the counter. Zach Booth launched Lequincio Zeefuik, who went on an adventure. He turned Syb van Ottele completely crazy and then convincingly shot the 0-2 against the ropes. After almost an hour of play, Zeefuik even had the third Volendam goal on his shoe. Once again, Dingsdag’s team came out well with a counter, after which Ould-Chikh passed to Zeefuik and the striker shot just over.
Butt pinching
Volendam also had little ball in this match, but had little to fear from Heerenveen. Yet the Frisians got back into the game halfway through the second half thanks to substitute Ion Nicolaescu, who tapped in a cross that changed direction: 1-2. The tying goal turned out to be the starting signal for a long offensive, but Backhaus turned out to be a good obstacle on several attempts.
With the victory in Friesland, FC Volendam ends the calendar year with a victory. The North Hollanders now have 11 points in the Premier League after 16 games. This puts it on par with Vitesse, which will face number sixteen Almere City tomorrow at 12.15 p.m.
FC Volendam line-up: Backhaus; Neighbor (Plat/66), Mbuyamba (Douiri/77), Mirani, Flint, Cox; De Haan (Nazih/85), Van Driel (Le Roux/66), Booth; Ould-Chikh (Hoeve/77), Zeefuik