In a downright thriller, Drenth Groep Hurry-Up and Aalsmeer shared the points 28-28. With that, the visitors in Zwartemeer were just a little happier than the home team.
While the playing time had already ended, star Patrick Miedema was allowed to moor one more time for one last shot. In front of him was a seemingly impenetrable wall with waving arms of Aalsmeer players. Still, the Hurry-Up game distributor managed to avoid it, but saw his ball being tapped over by goalkeeper René de Knegt. Immediately afterwards, the exciting game ended 28-28.
The spectators, who had watched the last few minutes standing in the stands biting their nails, calmed down somewhat. In itself, the division of points was a good reflection of the mutual strength in a duel that was fought on the cutting edge with a lot of battle. Still, Hurry-Up, which led 24-20 after fifteen minutes in the second half, could have collected the full two points with a bit more luck.
Joop Fiege can live with the result
“I can live with the result. We were equal”, said Hurry-Up coach Joop Fiege. ,,But we have had a difficult two weeks with many injuries. I had not signed up for this result beforehand. We were four goals ahead in the second half, but Aalsmeer is a good team that punishes every mistake. We had a good phase with many break-outs, but then conceded a lot of time penalties. Then it becomes a battle.”
Hurry-Up, which remains third behind Lions and Aalsmeer in the title fight, only has one point left from the duel in Zwartemeer. “What does that mean? Don’t know. We will now prepare for the semi-finals in Thursday’s cup against Bevo in Panningen. A very important match. We still play for everything. That’s nice. I told the boys: our preparation for this match against Aalsmeer was very bad. So we actually won a point. We can’t complain.”
Aalsmeer tries hard to find holes in Hurry-Up’s cover
With thirteen seconds to play, Hurry-Up still led 28-27. Aalsmeer tried with all its might to find holes in the Zwartemeer defense, in which the home team defended like lions. The clock ticked inexorably towards the end. A special action was needed for the visitors to equalize after all. Playmaker Vaidas Trainavicius, the Lithuanian who previously played for Hurry-Up for many years, scored with a surprising and sneaky low shot: 28-28.
There were only seconds left on the clock after that. The Zwartemeerders started their last attack, but it stalled because Miedema was swept down hard for the umpteenth time. De Emmenaar, who has been named the best midfielder of the BeNe-League, was then allowed to shoot one more time by the referees, but without result.
Nicolai Schoemaker: This was a great match
That was more of a damper for Hurry-Up than for Aalsmeer, which had dragged the draw away from the gates of hell. The Zwartemeerders couldn’t play at the top of their game in recent weeks due to multiple injuries. Coach Fiege was able to use almost everyone again against Aalsmeer, although the necessary match rhythm is still missing here and there.
Nicolai Schoemaker, the captain of Hurry-Up in the defense, thought it was a great match. “There was more in it for us. We played well, but the last ten minutes we played too many. The referees gave us more time penalties than Aalsmeer. Although we should have finished the chances we got more. We also had some bad luck. We now get one point. That should have been two, but we keep a chance for a place in the final for the title”, said the Dane.
Hurry Up Aalsmeer 28-28
Rest mode: 13-13
Spectators: 350.
Scores Hurry Up: Miedema 7, Gracio 4, Jaspers 3, Meijer 2, Suelmann 2, Tako 2, Bos 2, Azenha 2, Boonstra, Schoemaker and Pronk.
Top scorer Aalsmeer: Arborist 7.
Next game: Thursday Panningen, 8 p.m.: Bevo-Hurry-Up, cup semi-final.