For the time being, ADO Den Haag will have to watch the battle for direct promotion. At home, Darije Kalezic’s team lost 0-2 to FC Groningen. Goalscorers were Postema and van Bergen.
The meeting with FC Groningen was a special evening in every respect. Not only because this match was a real cracker in the Kitchen Champion Division, but also because prior to the match Van Hintum (500 matches in professional football), Derijck (150 matches in The Hague service) and Veerman (chosen as the best player of the third period) were put in the spotlight. This was apart from the good atmosphere and the large number of spectators who came to support the Hague team that evening.
For the battle for third place, head coach Darije Kalezic had to do without Asante, Van Hintum and Ché, who were all suffering from an injury. This meant that a starting place was reserved for Koudoussou, Absalem and Vigen.
In the initial phase of the match it was a matter of feeling out for the teams in the Bingoal Stadium. It was the visitors who had a little more dominance, but apart from a long shot, they also did not create any significant opportunities. Yet they managed to open the score following 18 minutes of play. Postema was able to tap the ball in from close range, giving ADO Den Haag another difficult task to overcome a deficit.
In the time that followed, relatively little happened in the Bingoal Stadium, although possession of the ball was still in favor of the away team. ADO Den Haag might once become dangerous following Vlak sent the emerging Koudossou into the depths. The right back then saw his cross shot just wide by Vigen. ADO Den Haag was unable to force anything in the first half, so the score was still 0-1 at the half-time signal.
The teams started the second half unchanged. And now ADO Den Haag also had to settle for the fact that FC Groningen was once once more allowed to score the first chance. Hove shot with full conviction, but saw his shot go narrowly wide.
Van der Sande, who had to watch the start of this match from the bench because he has returned from a minor injury, had been on the field for less than a minute when he was given his opportunity. Koudossou beautifully played out his direct opponent, Van der Sande entered the penalty area of goalkeeper Jurjus, unfortunately the attacker was a toe length short, so he might not put his foot once morest the ball with enough force and saw his effort unfortunately go wide.
ADO Den Haag seemed to get a better grip on the match, but had to concede another goal in that phase. Van Bergen had the ball before tapping in: 0-2. And so the task became a lot more difficult for the people of The Hague with 25 minutes to play. The home team tried, but was unhappy once more and once more. The more than 11,000 spectators in the Bingoal Stadium saw the match fizzle out: 0-2.
Characteristics
ADO The Hague – FC Groningen 0-2 (0-1)
Scoring: 18. Postema 0-1, 66. Van Bergen 0-2
Referee: Nagtegaal
Line-up ADO The Hague: Martian; Absalem (76. Van Wolfgang), Derijck, Surmeli ©, Waem, Koudossou, Vigen, Vlak (76. Esajas), Schalk; Veerman and Van Mieghem (59. Van der Sande)
FC Groningen line-up: Jurjus; Bacuna, Rente, Peersman, Maatta; Schreuders, Duarte, Hove, Valente (85. Blokzijl); Postema, Van Bergen (85. Mendes)
