PSV D2 had to hand over its leading position in the 2nd Division C to Willem II/ RKC last Saturday. In a mediocre game, the Tilburg/Waalwijkers drew the longest straw. Properly considered, the match did not deserve a winner, but to say that PSV D2 was the better team...no. In field advantage it certainly was (Willem II/ RKC went near Aaron three times), but the D2 didn't really get any clear-cut chances either. Willem II/ RKC had it pretty good at the back, but could not do much in attack. Only the fast right striker sometimes had Jeroen Swinkels' hands full (but Jeroen did not let himself get crazy and kept covering short); otherwise there was little to enjoy offensively. And PSV? A bad day, shall we say. Little inspiration, many unnecessary ball losses, sloppy passing and a messy build-up (I hope Twan you don't mind me sitting in your 'chair' for a moment; we value honest reporting).
Briefly about the match, because there is not too extensive an analysis to be made either. The first five minutes of the first half are for Willem II/RKC. However, this initial offensive does not yield any major chances. PSV does have a big chance when the insecure goalkeeper of Willem II/RKC (we should have got more out of it, boys; why not shoot at the goal from time to time?) 'pushes' the ball against the post from a corner. A hard-working Joey Konings, Ertem Bölükbas and Giovanni Nicolaas then deal out some pinpricks, but it rarely becomes really dangerous. After 15 minutes, Mats Grotenbreg went well through on the right and shot at the goalkeeper, who again had poor control. Again it goes just right. Around the 20th minute, PSV has some nice chances again. First through Joey who is sent away well by Koen Vos, then through Matthias Verreth who plays the goalkeeper well but fails to pass the ball. Shortly afterwards a similar situation when Matthias again outplayed the goalkeeper, who only just managed to clear the ball and Joey shot high over. Missing the chances is a bad sign and indeed, it is Willem II/RKC that scores the 0-1 in the 25th minute. An iron law of football: if you do not score, the opponent scores.
PSV D2 went into the second half with some changes, but instead of a massive offensive by Twan Schepers' men, it was Willem II that took control and even scored. However, the goal is disallowed due to offside. After seven minutes, we finally see a nice attack. Ymanuel Hurkmans passes from behind to Mink Peeters. Mink finds Ertem who shoots well, but his shot ends up on the roof of the goal. Is it a start of a better PSV? No. The game remains messy. The intentions are good, but it just doesn't flow. Fortunately, Roel van Linschoten makes an excellent save on a long ball from Willem II/RKC that seems to shoot through. At the other end, Ties van den Eijnde fired at the enemy goal, but his shot lacked direction. Twan then again made some changes, and he also saw that things were not going well. From a corner by Zohair Labyad, Matthias almost headed the ball into the air, but it went too early. Fairly out of nowhere (and after a good pass from Jeroen Swinkels), Ties then zigzags past some defenders in the 22nd minute and pokes the ball into the far corner. Joy and relief: 1-1. It's still possible! Three minutes later, however, the Tilwijkers (as the Tilburg/Waalwijk combination will be called) plunge the PSV camp into mourning again when a free kick is shot in one go over Aaron, who until then has hardly had anything to do in the second half. In the remaining minutes, PSV pressed on, even got some chances (including once when the goalkeeper let go of the ball), but had to watch with sorrow as the three points went to Tilwijk. Rightly, no. Unjustly, no. All in all, a strange match in which PSV could not give the impression of winning the game and Willem II patiently waited for the mistakes that were indeed made. Bad, no. The league is still long and Willem II/RKC did not give the impression of having a solid championship team on Saturday. Whether PSV is, the coming weeks will have to show. In any case, we now have a goal to work towards: winning games with good football and taking points. And then just hope that Willem II/RKC leave the points somewhere. I have every confidence in that.