One minute before the end, Seve van Ass dragged his team HGC to a draw (3-3) in the Hague derby against HDM. The number ten of the Tulp Hoofdklasse did not gain anything from it. To increase the chance of avoiding the play-outs, HGC should have won. ‘Now the challenge is immense.’
Frustrated, captain Van Ass points to the scoreboard in the corner of the field after the match. The fact that the score was 3-3 is not what the 225-time international of the Dutch national team wants to say. He points to the clock.
When he scored the equalizer in the 59th minute with a drag push across the ground, the scoreboard clock read 00.00. For at least about three minutes. It was not always clear to him how many minutes were left in the final phase to pull off a victory after being 3-1 down, even though coaches Floris van der Linden and David van Ass tried to encourage the players from the sidelines. lights.
‘I found it very annoying that at one point the clock was already at zero. Even though the match wasn’t over yet. I didn’t know how many minutes were left to play. If we want to take steps with hockey, we should make it a bit more professional,” sighs Van Ass. He knows he shouldn’t actually bring it up. These are only a few sentences from the complete interview he gives, but it does illustrate his disappointment with the result. ‘It is of course annoying that the clock did not work, but those are external factors. We need to look in the mirror. We should have won.’
HDM player Chris Taberima pushed in a penalty corner in the Hague derby against HGC, making it 1-1. Photo: Rob Römer
From 3-1 to 3-3
In the last five minutes of the match, HGC came back from a 3-1 deficit to 3-3. Because the 3-4 did not fall, Van Ass has mixed feelings about the match. ‘On the one hand I’m happy with how we played. Especially in a match where we were under full pressure. But let’s be honest: the result is disappointing for us.’
A win was needed to close the gap with competitor HDM, number nine in the rankings. Early in the match HGC cautiously achieved a good result. With a hard shot, Thor Veldhuyzen van Zanten gave his team the lead in the seventh minute (0-1). But later in the match, HGC conceded three goals.
Van Ass: ‘We are conceding too many goals this season. If we want anything this season, that percentage has to go down. If you score three times against HDM, you have to win. With 3-1 or 3-2, it doesn’t matter. But it should never be 3-3. The goals conceded are too easy for us.’
Chris Taberima capitalized on a penalty in the third quarter: the 3-1 for HDM. Photo: Rob Römer
Statistically speaking, it is still possible. Realistically, it’s going to be difficult. Seve van Ass about the chance to avoid the play-outs
More than a month ago, HGC said goodbye to head coach Bram Lomans and his assistant Sonja Thomann. Since then, the team has only achieved two points: in addition to playing against HDM, it also drew against Schaerweijde.
Van Ass: ‘I definitely see progress. Today we had the better part of the game, I thought. We were dominant on the ball and we scored many corners. We have really taken steps in this regard. Only: the last step is to win these kinds of competitions. We have not yet succeeded in this. Apparently we had to come from very far away. There are still two games to continue the upward trend.’
Van Ass does not want to resign himself to playing the play-outs yet. But he is realistic enough to realize that avoiding that will be a difficult story. With two games to go, HGC is in tenth place. To close the gap with number nine HDM, it must make up a deficit of three points. HGC first plays against play-off candidate Rotterdam and then against middle-ranking Amsterdam. HDM also plays against Amsterdam and ends the season against bottom line Laren.
Van Ass: ‘Statistically speaking, it is still possible. Realistically, it’s going to be difficult. I think we have to get six points if we want to have another chance. By winning against HDM, we could have made things easier for ourselves. Or well, easier, easier… Less difficult. The most important thing now is that we continue to improve our game. Then we’ll see how far we are after 22 rounds. In any case, the challenge is immense.’
