The women’s cup final was a thriller that ended on penalties and in which Club YLA defeated favorite OH Leuven. After regular time it was 1-1, in the penalty kicks Club was in charge with 2-4. After three consecutive second places in the competition, OHL has again missed out on a prize.
OHL immediately put pressure forward and it would continue throughout the first half. The first big Leuven chances came after ten minutes, two in one phase: Kuijpers first decided on goalkeeper Covent, on the rebound Van Dijk aimed over. Then it was Zomers who headed onto the roof of the goal. Just after the half hour it was Zomers’ turn again: she could have charged towards goal, but she dawdled and the chance was gone. Zomers then collided with a very strong Covent.
It was purely one-way traffic and the Leuven attack wave continued. With half time in sight, Ampoorter first headed just over, then Detruyer met an increasingly impressive Covent. It is incomprehensible that OHL was unable to score a goal from all those opportunities. Just when it seemed certain that the home team would go into halftime with a disappointing 0-0, they still took the lead. It happened a bit clumsily, via a deflected shot by Janssen, but the 1-0 was more than deserved.
Paralyzed by stress
Immediately after the break, OHL continued its momentum. Biesmans aimed over. After that, Club YLA finally started to press more and play more aggressively. The OHL attacks dried up. This did not immediately lead to great opportunities for Bruges, but just after the hour it was suddenly 1-1. After weak defending from OHL, Lievens scored the equalizer under the watchful eye of Club Brugge chairman Bart Verhaeghe and ex-Club coach Michel Preud’homme.
After the 1-1 it was still a bit up and down, but it did not become really dangerous. And so we went to overtime. You could clearly see that Club had lost confidence and OHL had suffered a mental blow. The visitors were dominant, but the nervousness and fatigue were too great on both sides to create many clear-cut opportunities. Club had the best chance through Boutiebi, but she did not take the ball very well. And so it went to penalties. The people of Leuven showed themselves paralyzed by stress with two weak penalties from Van Dijk and Mertens. Club stayed cool, missed nothing and lifted its first cup.
