The two Saturday matches of the fifth round in the Tulp Hoofdklasse Dames did not yield any surprises. Co-leader Den Bosch won at the Oosterplas with a minimal margin against Rotterdam, while Amsterdam was the boss in its own Wagener Stadium HGC.
Den Bosch – Rotterdam 1-0
Den Bosch extended its impressive run without defeat in the Premier League to 46 games (W38 G8), but that went anything but smoothly against Rotterdam. In a tame first half, the home team created only a handful of chances against the solid team of coach Jordy van der Waart. The best attack of the evening immediately resulted in a goal: Joosje Burg scored the 1-0 from close range on a pass from her attacking partner Frédérique Matla.
After the break, Den Bosch showed itself more fiercely and hunted for a second goal with more conviction, but attempts by Charlotte Englebert, Joosje Burg, Babs Reijnen and some penalty corners from Matla, among others, were skillfully defused by Rotterdam keeper Iris Nikerk. Den Bosch did not really get into trouble despite that meager margin. The visitors, who recorded their second win of the season against Huizen last Thursday, were unable to create enough attacking danger.
Amsterdam – HGC 5-2
Before today, Amsterdam had already been undefeated in 22 games with HGC (W19 G3) in the Premier League and – as expected – there was no change in those statistics on Saturday afternoon. The match was only 45 seconds into the game when coach Teun de Nooijer’s team had already taken a 1-0 lead through goalkeeper Fay van der Elst, who responded attentively to a deflected shot by Noa Muller. It was already the sixth goal of the season for the Amsterdam striker, top scorer in the Dutch big league. Even before half time, Stella van Gils doubled the margin by hitting in the rebound from a penalty corner.
After halftime, the Argentinian Agustina Gorzelany (photo) increased the score to 3-0 with a striking penalty, before HGC was able to return the favor via Isis van Loon on a pass from Mariona Serrahima. Not much later, a move by Marijn Veen made Amsterdam 4-1: her shot was saved by goalkeeper Sofie ter Kuile, but Fiona Morgenstern was able to punch in the rebound. After an immediate answer from Filiz Tuzgöl, who cleverly finished off a nice counterattack by HGC, Renske Balemans finally ended the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter. That meant the fourth defeat in the five games this season for HGC.
