Hall Season Round 6 – DOS ’46 4 vs. LDODK 3
The time of Sinterklass and Zwarte Piet here in the Netherlands is over but Christmas draws closer. Many houses are displaying an impressive number of lights and many of the bridges are also adorned in their florescent best. It will be my first Christmas away from my family in New Zealand and also my first winter Christmas! Must be time to make some mulled wine!
This week has been a quiet one; sometimes so quiet around the house it feels like I have taken a vow of silence. But this has provided an opportunity to refocus on what I want to achieve during the five or so months I have left here in the Netherlands. Also, this week was an opportunity to introduce James Johnston, a fellow Korfballer from Christchurch, to DOS ’46 and Dutch Korfball while he is on holiday here in the Netherlands.
It was the final home game day of the year for DOS ’46 with many teams having away games next week in the final round before the Christmas break. It was also anticipated to be one of the toughest, as many teams were squaring off against the top teams in their pools.
James joined me at De Eendracht for the afternoon beginning with watching DOS ’46 A1 hosting competition leaders DSC A1. With DOS ’46 finally back to full strength, a tight fought first half with some quality shooting from both teams finished with a one-goal lead at half time for hosts. The second half was one was traffic from the start with Harjan Visscher shooting the Christmas lights out as DOS dominated their favoured opponents to win 28-20, shining the way for the rest of the day.
DOS ’46 3 then battled against KCC 2. Unfortunately I can’t tell you much about this game as James and I ducked out for some food. Towards the end of the game scores were tight but some clutch shooting in the final quarter allowed KCC to defeat the home side 15-18.
DOS ’46 2 were up against DSC 2 with DSC looking to avenge the defeat of their juniors earlier in the day. Scores seesawed through the first 45 minutes of the game as no team was able to take the ascendancy. At 18-19, a patch of clinical shooting from the visitors stretched the lead to 18-24 and despite a late charge from DOS ’46, DSC kept themselves in front winning 23-26.
The big battle of the two leading lights in Hoofdklasse B, DOS ’46 and AWDTV from Amsterdam began with the usual fanfare. James was impressed, as I always am, with the atmosphere that surrounded first team Korfball. From the young children leading the players out during team announcements to typically vocal crowd, once again De Eendracht was abuzz! The game followed the lead of all of the games so far with the score line remaining close. DOS ’46 always looked like they had the ability to pull away but tonight their finishing was just not as accurate in previous weeks. Conversely, AWDTV made the most of the chances that were on offer and were able to open up a small lead into the second half. Despite their best efforts a weary DOS ’46 side were unable to topple their difficult opponents. Final score 22-26.
I enjoyed chatting with James about the differences he saw with the Korfball observed today compared with what he is used to back home. He noted that the attacks start more quickly here, often trying to establish good post-position early in an attack. He also echoed many of my own thoughts where on the surface it doesn’t appear that tactically much of the play is different from back home. It’s just that the players here are infinitely more clinical in performing the basics of the game; accurate passing, accurate shooting and timing of their movements through improved on-court vision.
With all of the warm-up games out of the way it was time for the main event! At least that’s the joke we are using in our DOS ’46 4 team (the vastly reduced crowd size says otherwise!). The opponents were LDODK 3, one of the leading teams in our pool. Our side has continued to perform better over the last couple of games after some large early losses. This game was another step up in performance as a team. Keeping in theme with the rest of the day, the game was tight from the start with the teams trading goals for most of the first half. Finally, I was starting to get the better of a taller opponent in the rebound position, using many of the lessons I have learned from my opponents in previous weeks. LDODK were unable to have the freedom of prolonged attacks that our opponents had been able to create in previous weeks. However, the visitors played it very safe on defence while a couple of our defensive errors gave them some easy penalty chances and a two-goal half time lead. The second half was as tight as the first, LDODK were never able to extend their lead but every time we the scores closed within one, a clutch shot gave them a little more width in the score line. In the end their shooting from distance proved to be the difference as the light from our challenge dimmed, consigning us to another frustrating loss 14-16.
For this kiwi Korfballer it was a contrast of emotions as I digested the game. It was satisfying to improve my own performance, particularly with reducing mistakes and having more of an impact around the post. This has stemmed from taking an extra half-second and slowing down my play on court while focusing on learning from week to week (Interesting I find writing these reports one of the most beneficial ways to learn from my play during the game). It was also frustrating clear that I have much to learn in attacking one on one as I struggled to be an attacking threat in this game.
I know from my improved shooting consistency when I have time to be balanced at training that the ability to score frequently is there. I just need to master other basics to allow this improvement to be of use in a match situation.
Mastering the basics, something that the best Dutch Korfballers are very good at and one area where our Korfballers back home must continue to strive for their own mastery.
Tot Volgende Week,
Lorenzo
The time of Sinterklass and Zwarte Piet here in the Netherlands is over but Christmas draws closer. Many houses are displaying an impressive number of lights and many of the bridges are also adorned in their florescent best. It will be my first Christmas away from my family in New Zealand and also my first winter Christmas! Must be time to make some mulled wine!
This week has been a quiet one; sometimes so quiet around the house it feels like I have taken a vow of silence. But this has provided an opportunity to refocus on what I want to achieve during the five or so months I have left here in the Netherlands. Also, this week was an opportunity to introduce James Johnston, a fellow Korfballer from Christchurch, to DOS ’46 and Dutch Korfball while he is on holiday here in the Netherlands.
It was the final home game day of the year for DOS ’46 with many teams having away games next week in the final round before the Christmas break. It was also anticipated to be one of the toughest, as many teams were squaring off against the top teams in their pools.
James joined me at De Eendracht for the afternoon beginning with watching DOS ’46 A1 hosting competition leaders DSC A1. With DOS ’46 finally back to full strength, a tight fought first half with some quality shooting from both teams finished with a one-goal lead at half time for hosts. The second half was one was traffic from the start with Harjan Visscher shooting the Christmas lights out as DOS dominated their favoured opponents to win 28-20, shining the way for the rest of the day.
DOS ’46 3 then battled against KCC 2. Unfortunately I can’t tell you much about this game as James and I ducked out for some food. Towards the end of the game scores were tight but some clutch shooting in the final quarter allowed KCC to defeat the home side 15-18.
DOS ’46 2 were up against DSC 2 with DSC looking to avenge the defeat of their juniors earlier in the day. Scores seesawed through the first 45 minutes of the game as no team was able to take the ascendancy. At 18-19, a patch of clinical shooting from the visitors stretched the lead to 18-24 and despite a late charge from DOS ’46, DSC kept themselves in front winning 23-26.
The big battle of the two leading lights in Hoofdklasse B, DOS ’46 and AWDTV from Amsterdam began with the usual fanfare. James was impressed, as I always am, with the atmosphere that surrounded first team Korfball. From the young children leading the players out during team announcements to typically vocal crowd, once again De Eendracht was abuzz! The game followed the lead of all of the games so far with the score line remaining close. DOS ’46 always looked like they had the ability to pull away but tonight their finishing was just not as accurate in previous weeks. Conversely, AWDTV made the most of the chances that were on offer and were able to open up a small lead into the second half. Despite their best efforts a weary DOS ’46 side were unable to topple their difficult opponents. Final score 22-26.
I enjoyed chatting with James about the differences he saw with the Korfball observed today compared with what he is used to back home. He noted that the attacks start more quickly here, often trying to establish good post-position early in an attack. He also echoed many of my own thoughts where on the surface it doesn’t appear that tactically much of the play is different from back home. It’s just that the players here are infinitely more clinical in performing the basics of the game; accurate passing, accurate shooting and timing of their movements through improved on-court vision.
With all of the warm-up games out of the way it was time for the main event! At least that’s the joke we are using in our DOS ’46 4 team (the vastly reduced crowd size says otherwise!). The opponents were LDODK 3, one of the leading teams in our pool. Our side has continued to perform better over the last couple of games after some large early losses. This game was another step up in performance as a team. Keeping in theme with the rest of the day, the game was tight from the start with the teams trading goals for most of the first half. Finally, I was starting to get the better of a taller opponent in the rebound position, using many of the lessons I have learned from my opponents in previous weeks. LDODK were unable to have the freedom of prolonged attacks that our opponents had been able to create in previous weeks. However, the visitors played it very safe on defence while a couple of our defensive errors gave them some easy penalty chances and a two-goal half time lead. The second half was as tight as the first, LDODK were never able to extend their lead but every time we the scores closed within one, a clutch shot gave them a little more width in the score line. In the end their shooting from distance proved to be the difference as the light from our challenge dimmed, consigning us to another frustrating loss 14-16.
For this kiwi Korfballer it was a contrast of emotions as I digested the game. It was satisfying to improve my own performance, particularly with reducing mistakes and having more of an impact around the post. This has stemmed from taking an extra half-second and slowing down my play on court while focusing on learning from week to week (Interesting I find writing these reports one of the most beneficial ways to learn from my play during the game). It was also frustrating clear that I have much to learn in attacking one on one as I struggled to be an attacking threat in this game.
I know from my improved shooting consistency when I have time to be balanced at training that the ability to score frequently is there. I just need to master other basics to allow this improvement to be of use in a match situation.
Mastering the basics, something that the best Dutch Korfballers are very good at and one area where our Korfballers back home must continue to strive for their own mastery.
Tot Volgende Week,
Lorenzo