Game 4 – De Meeuwen 4 vs. DOS ’46 4
This week instead of training on Wednesday as per normal, we traveled to the home of De Meeuwen Korfball Club (Meeuwen translates to ‘gull’ in English). The game scheduled for 8.30pm.
Coops, after a long day at her temporary job picking apples and pears, arrived back to our current residence in Dieverbrug and had just enough time to scoff down some food before we jumped in the car headed for Nijeveen to meet the team. De Meeuwen was a one-hour drive from Nijeveen and as usual we traveled in a three-car convoy the whole way, enjoying some of the very flat Dutch scenery at dusk along the way.
We arrived at De Meeuwen to be wowed by a gigantic artificial turf, big enough to hold 3-4 full size Korfball fields. This was to be our first game under lights, not a big issue as we have become used to training under lights back in Nijeveen. Fortunately it was a mild evening on Wednesday as things are starting to get a bit nippy at either end of the days now.
As seems to be normal at the level we are playing at, teams have a high number of older players that are maybe not as mobile on court as they once used to be but are highly experienced and very intelligent in the way their use their skills. De Meeuwen certainly had a high proportion of these players, mixed with a few younger team members. Today, Coops started in aanval (attack) while I began the game in verdediging (defence).
Both teams scored a couple of early goals as the players settled into the game. Early on it was clear that Coops and I were facing opponents had one goal in mind when attacking – to push the doorloopbal (running in shot). My opposite certainly tried to use this in every attack early on, using his experience to twist me inside out a number of times. Fortunately his conversion rate did not match his skill in movement. With much help from my vak mate Chris we managed to close this down as an attacking option for De Meeuwen. During the first quarter of the game, we managed to keep our noses in front but as the half wore on we were not able to create as many chances to score and De Meeuwen took control with some nice distance shots. Somewhere in the mix, I scored a goal from 6m and while looking directly into the lights it was difficult to tell if it actually went in. I also received another sharp lesson from my opponent in smart rebounding and play around the korf. While he was not much taller than me, with effective positioning and holding out, he was able to out rebound me consistently and create some short chances through my defensive errors (one resulting in me giving away a penalty which De Meeuwen converted) This left us two goals behind down 8-6 at ruststand (half time).
Heads down at half time, with both the score line and disjointed attack, big improvements needed to made in the second half against this team we really should have been winning against.
Into the second half De Meeuwen scored early. We found ourselves three goals down, far from the ideal start to round two. An improved defensive effort from DOS ’46 meant that De Meeuwen struggled on attack and created limited scoring chances. This was effected by our team playing smarter on defense and for me personally, making significantly less errors around the korf as I figured out how to even up the battle with my opponent. Slowly we managed to reduce the deficit, but De Meeuwen always managed to stay just in front. Coops scored what is become one of her trademark shots, dropping out of the feed position to nail a nice four metre shot and further reduce the gap in the score line. With only a few minutes to play, our super-sub from the fifth team scored from 8-9m, drawing the scores level at 13-13. In a frantic final two minutes, neither team managed to score and leaving the result as a draw.
While it was nice to have not lost and scrambled to a draw, it was not a performance we were overly happy with as a team or individuals. Certainly today continued my learning about the art of rebounding and smart play around the korf. I was not happy with the way I was dominated in this area during the game and as a shorter player I know I am likely to end up in the rebound often on defense as taller players try to take advantage of that height difference. We must also continue to score more goals, aiming for at least 20 goals a game. Coops noted after the game, a sentiment I very much agree with, that it feels like we have forgotten many of the basics of Korfball we learned back in NZ. When we are on court we think so much about trying to play with the right tactics for the team that we are making simple errors that we would never make back home.
Post match we enjoyed a relaxing beer at the clubrooms before the journey home. Two things surprised us: 1) the amount of smokers that are around with a number of people reaching for cigarettes after games where ever we seem to be; 2) De Meeuwen’s club magazine had a cover photo with a male and female (guessing they are players) naked and soapy with an enlarged korf around their waists………gold Korfball advertising!
Arriving back to Dieverbrug just before midnight, we were certainly feeling pleasantly weary, Coops having another day of fruit picking to look forward to in the morning.
Lorenzo
This week instead of training on Wednesday as per normal, we traveled to the home of De Meeuwen Korfball Club (Meeuwen translates to ‘gull’ in English). The game scheduled for 8.30pm.
Coops, after a long day at her temporary job picking apples and pears, arrived back to our current residence in Dieverbrug and had just enough time to scoff down some food before we jumped in the car headed for Nijeveen to meet the team. De Meeuwen was a one-hour drive from Nijeveen and as usual we traveled in a three-car convoy the whole way, enjoying some of the very flat Dutch scenery at dusk along the way.
We arrived at De Meeuwen to be wowed by a gigantic artificial turf, big enough to hold 3-4 full size Korfball fields. This was to be our first game under lights, not a big issue as we have become used to training under lights back in Nijeveen. Fortunately it was a mild evening on Wednesday as things are starting to get a bit nippy at either end of the days now.
As seems to be normal at the level we are playing at, teams have a high number of older players that are maybe not as mobile on court as they once used to be but are highly experienced and very intelligent in the way their use their skills. De Meeuwen certainly had a high proportion of these players, mixed with a few younger team members. Today, Coops started in aanval (attack) while I began the game in verdediging (defence).
Both teams scored a couple of early goals as the players settled into the game. Early on it was clear that Coops and I were facing opponents had one goal in mind when attacking – to push the doorloopbal (running in shot). My opposite certainly tried to use this in every attack early on, using his experience to twist me inside out a number of times. Fortunately his conversion rate did not match his skill in movement. With much help from my vak mate Chris we managed to close this down as an attacking option for De Meeuwen. During the first quarter of the game, we managed to keep our noses in front but as the half wore on we were not able to create as many chances to score and De Meeuwen took control with some nice distance shots. Somewhere in the mix, I scored a goal from 6m and while looking directly into the lights it was difficult to tell if it actually went in. I also received another sharp lesson from my opponent in smart rebounding and play around the korf. While he was not much taller than me, with effective positioning and holding out, he was able to out rebound me consistently and create some short chances through my defensive errors (one resulting in me giving away a penalty which De Meeuwen converted) This left us two goals behind down 8-6 at ruststand (half time).
Heads down at half time, with both the score line and disjointed attack, big improvements needed to made in the second half against this team we really should have been winning against.
Into the second half De Meeuwen scored early. We found ourselves three goals down, far from the ideal start to round two. An improved defensive effort from DOS ’46 meant that De Meeuwen struggled on attack and created limited scoring chances. This was effected by our team playing smarter on defense and for me personally, making significantly less errors around the korf as I figured out how to even up the battle with my opponent. Slowly we managed to reduce the deficit, but De Meeuwen always managed to stay just in front. Coops scored what is become one of her trademark shots, dropping out of the feed position to nail a nice four metre shot and further reduce the gap in the score line. With only a few minutes to play, our super-sub from the fifth team scored from 8-9m, drawing the scores level at 13-13. In a frantic final two minutes, neither team managed to score and leaving the result as a draw.
While it was nice to have not lost and scrambled to a draw, it was not a performance we were overly happy with as a team or individuals. Certainly today continued my learning about the art of rebounding and smart play around the korf. I was not happy with the way I was dominated in this area during the game and as a shorter player I know I am likely to end up in the rebound often on defense as taller players try to take advantage of that height difference. We must also continue to score more goals, aiming for at least 20 goals a game. Coops noted after the game, a sentiment I very much agree with, that it feels like we have forgotten many of the basics of Korfball we learned back in NZ. When we are on court we think so much about trying to play with the right tactics for the team that we are making simple errors that we would never make back home.
Post match we enjoyed a relaxing beer at the clubrooms before the journey home. Two things surprised us: 1) the amount of smokers that are around with a number of people reaching for cigarettes after games where ever we seem to be; 2) De Meeuwen’s club magazine had a cover photo with a male and female (guessing they are players) naked and soapy with an enlarged korf around their waists………gold Korfball advertising!
Arriving back to Dieverbrug just before midnight, we were certainly feeling pleasantly weary, Coops having another day of fruit picking to look forward to in the morning.
Lorenzo