Round up of all the action from Round 37 of the Eerste Divisie, which saw Willem II crowned champions.
- By Lee Tierney
- Follow Lee on Twitter
Willem II return to the Eredivisie at the first time of asking as they beat Telstar 4-0 in front of a buoyant 13000 fans at the Koning Willem II Stadion in Tilburg, knowing a win & Den Bosch avoiding defeat at home to second placed Dordrecht Willem II took a 25th minute lead through top scorer Ruud Boymans & were never going to surrender that lead. Heymans made it 2-0 before Messaoud added a third goal, although the party was still on hold as Dordrecht led at Den Bosch but minutes after Messaoud’s strike news filter through that Den Bosch had levelled & the party began. Boymans added a fourth to take his tally to 28 for the season as excited Willem II fans lined the perimeter of the pitch waiting for confirmation of promotion. The confirmation didn’t need to come as full time brought a pitch invasion & celebrations as fans & players alike celebrated an immediate return to top flight football.
Dordrecht ended up drawing 1-1 at Den Bosch, a result good enough to give the home side a place in the play offs as they finished Period 4 runners up to Willem II. The visitors have led the table for all but four weeks this season but will now need to pick themselves up for the play off campaign. Excelsior have also confirmed a play off place as they will finish the highest of the final four teams to qualify, they enjoyed a 2-1 success at Twente Jong to seal an impressive third placed finish. Eindhoven gave themselves a great chance of making the play offs with a late winner against De Graafschap, who also aim to make the end of season lottery. Two more sides can still qualify & both are in good form & will fancy their chances, Volendam beat bottom side Achilles 5-1 whilst Fortuna Sittard beat Almere 3-0 & have only lost one game in the last thirteen.
The maths are simple as we head into next week’s final round of league fixtures, three teams from Eindhoven, Volendam, Fortuna Sittard & De Graafschap will qualify. Eindhoven have 57 points but the worst goal difference although they know a win at bottom side Achilles 29 will secure a play off place, Volendam follow on 56 points & visit VVV Venlo who have already qualified & have lost six of their ten games since qualification. Fortuna Sittard & De Graafschap are locked on 55 points with the latter having slightly the better goal difference, next week De Graafschap entertain a wildly inconsistent Ajax Jong & Fortuna Sittard will no doubt have a large following making the trip to Emmen for what will be an exciting end to the season.
Oss scored late to beat MVV 2-1 which means Achilles 29 will finish bottom of the table in their first season at this level, Achilles went down 5-1 at Volendam with Henk Veerman scoring four times.
Follow
Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter
