The handball players of Aalsmeer have won the national title. At home, the home team was too strong for Volendam with 34-20, which was unable to force a decision game. A supremely powerful Aalsmeer crowns itself champion for the fourth time in a row.
Aalsmeer was soon with one less man in a packed sports hall De Bloemhof. Samir Benghanem was given a time penalty of two minutes and Volendam goalkeeper Dennis Schellekens scored twice. The Volendam team, who had to win to keep track of the title, quickly took a 3-1 lead. From the moment that Aalsmeer was complete again, the home team quickly turned the backlog. The tandem between Benghanem and Vaidas Trainavicius went well and brought Aalsmeer to 8-6 after fifteen minutes.
Volendam had trouble with the physically strong game that Aalsmeer put on the mat. The team of the retiring coach Mark Ortega was unable to create opportunities towards halftime, because Aalsmeer had the cover in order: 12-8. Tim Bottinga, who was brought in much earlier than last week, took his side by the hand and brought the margin to three at halftime: 15-12.
walk over
Immediately after the break, Aalsmeer walked further away from the Volendam team: 19-13. The visitors’ problem was the simple loss of possession in the attack, which meant that it was countered by Bert Bouwer’s team. Volendam was overrun in the first phase after the break by an adult playing Aalsmeer, who had a lot of willpower: 22-15. Volendam became more and more sloppy and seemed to have given up hope for a good result. In the end, Aalsmeer went out to a 34-20 victory.
Volendam was allowed to hope for the handball title for the first time since 2013. After a blistering game last week (27-26), the teams seemed to be close. Aalsmeer crossed the line in Volendam and was now much too strong: 34-20. As a result, it is champion of the Netherlands for the fourth time in a row.
More soon.