Friday, March 17, 2023 at 9:56 PM• Sam Vreeswijk • Last update: 22:07

Heracles Almelo did not make a mistake in the Kitchen Champion Division on Friday evening. The Almeloans were 1-5 too strong for TOP Oss. All goals came in the second half, and Nikolai Laursen scored a hat-trick. Willem II won the top match against ADO Den Haag at the same time with 1-3, while Almere City FC also took three points. The new number three won 0-2 against Jong Ajax, which ended the match with ten men.

TOP Oss – Heracles Almelo 1-5
Heracles put on a mediocre first half, although that was also the merit of Thijs Jansen. The TOP goalkeeper, hired from Feyenoord, made a number of great saves to keep his goal clean. Shortly after the break, Jansen still had to capitulate. Rigino Cicilia, who came into the team at half-time, opened the score for Heracles by hitting a Brabant leg from the edge of the penalty area. When Nikolai Laursen also headed in the 0-2 from a corner kick, Oss’ resistance was broken. It was the match of the Danish attacker anyway, because via a new header and a goal in injury time, he ended up with three hits in Oss. The goals of Marko Vejinovic, whose streak hit uncontrollably hard, and Kyvon Leidsman’s goal of honor also came on the scoreboard.

ADO The Hague – Willem II 1-3
ADO opened the score within a minute via Joël Zwarts, who headed in a cross from Guillem Rodríguez Martínez. In the phase that followed, both teams had some chances for the second goal. For example, Jizz Hornkamp forgot to tap in a cross from close range and Joshua Smits saved Thomas Verheydt’s header. In the second half, Willem II scored 1-1 via a beautiful free kick by Matthias Verreth. The Tilburgers had a taste for it and thanks to two hits from Elton Kabangu they were 1-3 halfway through the second half. ADO was then unable to do anything in return and suffered its second home loss in a row.

Young Ajax – Almere City FC 0-2
Almere City was the better team and scored just before and just after the break. In the fortieth minute Jeredy Hilterman shot the ball in from the edge of the penalty area, in the 48th minute Lance Duijvestijn converted a penalty after a foul by Mika Godts. Five minutes later, the latter also received his second yellow card for a schwalbe. There was no more scoring in the remainder of the match.

Young AZ – FC Eindhoven 1-1
Youness Mokhtar was in the starting line-up for the first time at Eindhoven on Friday. The visitors put a lot of pressure on Young AZ in the initial phase, but were unable to convert that predominance into goals. In the second company, Mokhtar was replaced by Ozan Kökçü due to an injury. After a careless loss of possession by Evan Rottier, Ro-Zangelo Daal was finally able to open the score in the 73rd minute: 1-0. However, the reserves team of coach Maarten Martens easily relinquished that lead. A great free kick from Jasper Dahlhaus ensured a justified equalizer and the final score: 1-1.

MVV – Jong FC Utrecht 1-0
The fact that Jong FC Utrecht is the last of the Kitchen Champion Division and MVV is fighting for a ticket for the play-offs for promotion was not visible in the first half. The young Domstedelingen were equal to the home team and that frustrated the audience in the Geusselt, which whistled when it was still 0-0 at half time. It did not inspire MVV to great deeds in the second half. Only in the seventieth minute were the Star Carriers really close to a goal, but they saw that Ruben van Bommel hit the crossbar. It turned out to be a postponement of execution for Jong Utrecht, because the goal still fell ten minutes before the end. Jarne Steuckers hit hard from close range and gave MVV three hard-fought points.

Helmond Sport – Telstar 2-2
Telstar dominated in the first half and Christos Giousis put the team from Velsen-Zuid 0-1 after thirteen minutes by tapping in a low cross from Delvechio Blackson. In the remainder of the first half, David Min and Jayden Turfkruier were close to 0-2, but that didn’t fall before the break. That did happen after seventeen seconds in the second half, when Min hit the far corner. Helmond Sport soon brought the margin back to one, when Martijn Kaars scored on a pass from Elmo Lieftink: 1-2. Halfway through the second half, Telstar had to continue with ten men, after Giousis was sent off for a nasty foul. Helmond took advantage of the man more and still took a point in injury time, because Lieftink managed to tap the ball in.

Young PSV – De Graafschap 2-1
When visiting Jong PSV, De Graafschap mainly had to rely on the whims of Basar Önal. The Turkish youth international saw his shot hit the post after fifteen minutes, before striking in the 26th minute. After an excellent cross from Philip Brittijn, Önal managed to outwit goalkeeper Niek Schiks: 0-1. After the break it was Jong PSV’s turn. After a cross from Simon Colyn, August Priske Flyger nodded the ball behind Hidde Jurjus: 1-1. In the end it got even worse for De Graafschap, because the same Priske, again with the head, was also responsible for the winning goal: 2-1.

FC Den Bosch – FC Dordrecht 3-1
FC Den Bosch took the lead after half an hour of play: Tomas Kalinauskas passed the ball, Elso Brito – who seemed to be pushed somewhat – passed his own goalkeeper. FC Dordrecht smelled the 1-1 five minutes later via Jari Schuurman, who hit the outside of the post. However, a goal from Faris Hammouti (a low cross from Danny Verbeek tapped in) allowed Den Bosch to take a 2-0 lead at halftime. By turning well away from his opponent, Tidjany Chabrol Touré made the connection goal after an hour’s play, but the deep sent Verbeek made the final decision a few minutes later: 3-1.

No. Team m W G v +/- Pnt
1 PEC Zwolle 30 22 3 5 49 69
2 Heracles Almelo 29 20 3 6 50 63
3 Almere City FC 29 16 4 9 10 52
4 VVV Venlo 29 15 6 8 9 51
5 William II 29 13 8 8 15 47
6 FC Eindhoven 30 13 8 9 2 47
7 MVV Maastricht 29 13 5 11 1 44
8 NAC Breda 30 13 4 13 -5 43
9 Young AZ 30 11 8 11 0 41
10 Roda JC Kerkrade 29 12 4 13 1 40
11 Telstar 29 10 10 9 -11 40
12 The County 30 11 6 13 6 39
13 Ado den Haag 30 10 9 11 -8 39
14 Young PSV 30 10 8 12 -3 38
15 Helmond Sports 29 9 6 14 -17 33
16 Young Ajax 30 7 10 13 -7 31
17 TOP Oss 29 9 3 17 -20 30
18 FC Den Bosch 29 9 3 17 -30 30
19 FC Dordrecht 29 7 5 17 -19 26
20 Young FC Utrecht 29 5 5 19 -23 20

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