Keuken Kampioen Divisie Holders Jong Ajax lost their season opener, Go Ahead top the table, while FC Twente takes three points against fellow title favourites Sparta.
- By Kieran Noble
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Starting in Deventer, where Go Ahead Eagles kicked off their campaign in style by hammering a poor Jong Utrecht side 5-0. An impressive message sent out by last seasons biggest underachievers. Maybe this year we will see a lot more from this side who will be looking to make a return to the Eredivisie at the second attempt.
The tie of the round was in Nijmegen where NEC failed to hold on to a 2-0 second-half lead at home to Cambuur who showed excellent desire to come back and take a draw. These sort of mistakes early on could come back to haunt NEC later on in the season, especially when they are expecting a top 3 finish at least.
In Enschede, FC Twente won their opening game against fellow title favourites Sparta. The ‘Tukkers’ seemed comfortable at halftime with a 2-1 lead and should’ve been further ahead hadn’t Sparta’s No.1 make some great saves. The away side constantly pushed for an equaliser which never came to the relief of the 27,000+ home crowd, a Dutch second tier record. Man City loanee Matt Smith played a key role in the middle for Twente. The Welsh youth international is only 18 years old.
Relegated Roda will be pleased after picking up three points against holders Jong Ajax. Mario Engels put the side from Kerkrade ahead twice in either half. Ajax will be disappointed with their performance in the final third which cost them dearly this evening.
The final game of the weekend was an entertaining tie between Jong AZ and Almere City on Monday. Almere City raced into a three-goal lead in the first half but a red card gave Jong AZ hope in the second half. Ferdy Druijf and Reijnders scored late on but there was to be no equaliser.
All in all, a great opening weekend of second-tier football. Much to look forward to going into next weeks round of games. Interesting stat from this evening is that 3 of the 4 title favourites failed to win tonight (Sparta, NEC and Jong Ajax).
Eerste Divisie Results – Round 1
Dordrecht 0-0 Helmond Sport
FC Twente 2-1 Sparta Rotterdam
Volendam 1-2 Den Bosch
Go Ahead Eagles 5-0 Jong Utrecht
MVV 0-2 FC Oss
NEC Nijmegen 2-2 Cambuur
Jong PSV 2-1 FC Eindhoven
RKC Waalwijk 1-0 Telstar
Roda JC 2-1 Jong Ajax
Monday 20th August (19:00 BST)
Jong AZ 2-3 Almere
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