ADO Den Haag O21 also won their first home match in the competition. FC Groningen O21 was defeated 3-1 at home. Matches against the highest youth team of FC Groningen always guarantee good football and a lot of tension. The Groningen team highly values youth training and this is reflected in their first team.
Text: Glenn Duijzer | Photos: Frans Leermakers
Against Feyenoord, later on Saturday night, no less than seven youth players were in the starting line-up to steal a point from the Rotterdammers in the final seconds (2-2). That must be the ultimate example for ADO Den Haag! To start a match in the Eredivisie with seven of their own youth players.
At the request of FC Groningen, the match was brought forward to 12:30, so that they could be home in time to see the first team play. The team of trainer Melchior Schoenmakers had to leave for the Hofstad at eight o’clock.
Among the spectators were: Finn de Bruin, Ronald Boakye, Calvin Gustina (MSK Deinze), Joris Mathijsen, Darije Kalezić and Kawa Hisso. Both of the latter left at half-time, after Nikiema was replaced and therefore missed the good performance of Thijmen de Koning.
The match started evenly, with both teams having an opportunity to open the score within ten minutes. On the Hague side, it was of course Jarno Slootweg who had the first chance, his shot lacked power and ended up in the hands of goalkeeper Jasper Meijster. Samuel Dikoŝ shot the free kick high over Kilian Nikiema’s goal in a promising position at the other end.
As the match progressed, the home team became stronger, which also resulted in several chances for the yellow-greens. Issac Dijkhuizen managed to free himself on the right with a nice feint and his diagonal shot was tipped out of the goal by goalkeeper Meijster. After seventeen minutes, it was a hit after Dijkhuizen himself won the ball on the Groningen half and walked into the penalty area from the right.
His effort was deflected in such a way that the ball ended up in the goal. Despite everyone expecting a goal from Dijkhuizen, referee Maurick van Dijk had decided to attribute the goal to defender Sven Bouland: 1-0. Incidentally, it turned out that the referee liked manly football and regularly applied the advantage rule or thought it was a normal duel. As a result, the duel was almost never stopped due to ‘injuries’. Van Dijk was only not a fan of commentary and timekeeping, which is why both sides were given a yellow card.
Afterwards, however, the referee himself thought that he had whistled a lesser match. For the supporters of The Hague present, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the regular referees. In the next attack from The Hague, it was almost a hit. From a cross by Dijkhuizen, Slootweg came just in front of the Groningen goalkeeper and tapped the ball on the ball. In the rebound, Jaynilson Geoffrey just came up short to still shoot the ball into the goal.
Still, that 2-0 came on the scoreboard before half-time. From a corner by Jaydavon Haas, it was Sky Heesen who could shoot from close range, but before his effort could reach the goalkeeper, it was Dijkhuizen who quickly changed the direction of the ball. With that, leaving the defenders bewildered. The 2-0 was also the half-time score
Under pressure
It was immediately clear after the break that the visitors wanted to do something about this situation. The team from The Hague was put under a lot of pressure and that immediately resulted in two chances from Mark Hoekstra from short distance. Goalkeeper Thijmen de Koning was able to distinguish himself immediately and block both attempts. Despite the fierce pressure and the fact that the match was mainly played in the Hague half, there was suddenly a Hague opportunity at the stroke of the hour. Ersi Bode continued well on the right and his cross ended up at the feet of the completely unmarked Slootweg, who scored his fourth goal in as many official matches for ADO Den Haag U21.
A few minutes later, Joop Oosterhof managed to make it 3-1 with a well-considered lob, thus increasing the pressure on the Hague defence even further. The Groningen team did not get any further than a header from the same Oosterhof, which was blocked in two instances by De Koning. With this result, the team of trainers Ervin Lee and Ronald Samson can be found in first place in Division 1.
1. ADO Den Haag O21 3-7 (6-3), 2. Feyenoord O21 2-6 (7-2), 3. FC Twente/Heracles Academie O21 3-6 (9-6), 4. NAC Breda O21 3-5 (3-2).
The program for ADO Den Haag O21 for the next two weeks looks like this;
Tuesday 17 September 20:00 vv Katwijk – ADO Den Haag O21
Saturday 21 September 15:00 ADO Den Haag O21 – FC Twente/Heracles Academy O21
Saturday 28 September 14:45 NAC Breda O21 – ADO Den Haag O21
ADO Den Haag U21 line-up
Kilian Nikiema (46. Thijmen de Jong), Keanu Does, Devyn Payne (46. Irfan Karijowidjojo), Sky Heesen, Kane Miardjo, Ersi Bode (80. Raelson Gomes Landim), Kaj van Houwelingen, Jaydavon Haas (63. Özder Ozcan) , Issac Dijkhuizen, Jarno Slootweg, Jaynilson Geoffrey (63. Sinan Özen).
