Stadium speaker and referee the bitten dog at Roda JC against SC Cambuur. ‘If he had blown his whistle, we could have easily won’

For Roda JC, the stadium speaker was the culprit. The best man was convinced that the team from Kerkrade had been promoted after the victory over Cambuur, but that turned out to be a gross misconception. The fans also found this out when they had already stormed onto the field en masse. They left disappointed. Just like the players and staff of the opponent had done moments before. They had someone else to complain about: referee Sander van der Eijk.

He overlooked a violation twice. In the first half, Remco Balk was pulled to the ground in a promising position. In the second half, Cambuur was denied a great opportunity by a handball in the opponent’s penalty area. Thomas Poll screamed bloody murder in vain. The referee’s decision was clear: no card, no penalty. Afterwards the ‘What if?’ predominated. among the visitors from Leeuwarden.

“That was clearly a handball,” said Henk de Jong. “Afterwards the referee called me over. He admitted that he had misjudged both moments. I think that’s neat. But no matter how you look at it: these are decisive moments in a match. If he had blown his whistle for that foul on Balk and given a penalty, it would have just been 1-1. Then we could have easily won the match.”

Not enough answer

It didn’t happen. Cambuur tried to offer a match, but ultimately had to recognize his superiority in a better Roda JC. A team that, competing with FC Groningen, is on the verge of promotion to the Premier League. A blunder by Marco Tol in his own box meant that Vaclav Sejk could quite easily end the match: 2-0. And the sporadic opportunities that Cambuur created? They were just as easily nipped in the bud.

“Bummer,” said Floris Smand. “I’m not saying that we necessarily wanted to ruin Roda JC’s promotion party, but of course we just wanted to win. We can now say that the play-offs are definitely no longer feasible. And that’s a shame. Of course, the pressure was already off a bit, but we wanted to try to seize the small chance we still had. Today we did not have enough response to the play of Roda JC, a team that is further along than we are.”

Entertaining the audience

Next week there is one more match left until the season is really over. At the same time, it will, in all likelihood, also be the last in the characteristic Cambuur Stadium. It would be nice to end that with a victory, according to Smand. “To be honest, I’m just looking forward to it. At home, in our own stadium, with the audience behind us. I want to entertain the audience with high pressure and create opportunities.”

His trainer wholeheartedly agreed. “The public knows that we will do everything we can to give the season and the stadium a positive ending next week,” said De Jong. “We will take risks and do our utmost. I’ll make it clear to my boys what it takes. But they do know what goes on among the supporters. Next week it’s all about the fans and the stadium, which they have enjoyed all these years.”