Review of all the action from round 26 of the Eerste Divisie and a preview of next weeks action.

  • By Lee Tierney
  • Follow Lee on Twitter

wijnaldum edkVVV Venlo had a great chance to almost seal a place in the end of season play offs with a win at lowly Ajax Jong which would put them a step further to the Period Three Championship but despite taking an early lead they through Utrecht loanee Leon de Kogel Ajax Jong fought hard & eventually ran out comfortable 4-1 winners. Dordrecht march on at the top after destroyed an in form Emmen side 6-1 away from home, Emmen had hit four goals in each of their last two home games but were brought down to earth with a bump. Willem II stay in second place four points behind Dordrecht after a narrow 3-2 win over Achilles 29.

Sparta Rotterdam & Eindhoven lead the pack chasing the top three but both suffered disappointing home losses last weekend, Sparta lost 2-1 to an improving MVV Maastricht side & have 41 points whilst Eindhoven are three points better off despite a 2-1 loss to lowly Almere City. Rob Muhren leads the Eerste Divisie scoring charts with 18 goals following a hat trick in a 4-2 win for Volendam & Twente Jong which moves then into sixth place on the same points as Sparta Rotterdam, Muhren has thrived since the departure of the free scoring Jack Tuyp to Ferencvaros & will surely attract Eredivisie attention in the summer.

Oss moved off the bottom after a 2-2 draw with De Graafschap coupled with Achilles 29 defeat at Willem II, Achilles have 20 points with Oss on 21. Almere City & Telstar are above them on 28 points, Telstar followed up a good win over Ajax Jong by getting hammered 5-0 at Fortuna Sittard. Up until recently Den Bosch looked favourites to claim the Period three title but two successive loss have cost them, the latest a 4-1 reverse at Excelsior which moves the Rotterdam side into seventh place after just one loss in their last nine games. PSV Jong beat Helmond Sport in front of just over 200 fans at an empty Phillips Stadion, Alex Schalk hit 2 & Wijnaldum grabbed the other in a rare second string appearance.

This week is the final round of fixtures in Period Three take place this coming week with four teams still in with a shout of the period title, following the defeats for VVV Venlo & Den Bosch Willem II are in pole position as they lead Venlo by one goal, both have 18 points in this period with Willem II facing a trip to an improving MVV Maastricht side whilst VVV welcome the unpredictable Twente Jong knowing they must win & hope they do by more than a one goal margin than Willem II manage. Den Bosch have 16 points & a slightly worse goal difference than Willem II & VVV Venlo so they must win & win well at home to out of form Sparta Rotterdam & hope the others slip up. Excelsior are the final side in with a chance but the need to beat Eindhoven & rely on Willem II & VVV Venlo lose & Den Bosch fail to win.




admin (14220 Posts)

Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter