Passionate, Sharp, and Equals; Men of ZV De Zaan and GZC Donk Make It a Water Polo Festival
Chris van den Dobbelsteen on the showdown between the teams. 'We are certainly equals, as you can see from the finals where we faced each other in recent years. It's always great to take three points home.'
Under the watchful eye of national coach Harry van der Meer, Zaan's Stan Meijn won the swim off, after which the first Zaan attack led to nothing. Jorrit van der Weijden later opened the scoring for the home team from the right side. While the players from Gouda were short-handed due to two exclusions, Corver equalized. After several attempts from both teams, Veenhuis from Donk scored a beautiful long-range goal from a well-structured attack. The home team played confidently and increased the lead to 3-1. Rempt brought his team back into the game with two goals, including a well-taken penalty, to level the score at 3-3.
The second period showed that both teams knew each other well and were evenly matched in terms of scoring. Zaan started the third quarter well with a beautiful long-range shot by Janssen (4-6). The exclusion (with substitution) of GZC Donk captain Westerwoudt at a 4-7 deficit, after dissent towards the officials, was a turning point for the Gouda team. They rallied and, through goals by Schouwerwou, Veenhuis, and Stan van den Heuvel, got back into the game.
Bakker (De Zaan) won the swim off in the final period, and Donk continued to press defensively, leading to the first Zaan attack coming to nothing. Van der Weijden brought his team level with the visitors, but De Zaan pulled away at the right moment with a four-goal lead (9-13). Despite two more goals from Donk, Zaan professionally closed out the game.
Van den Dobbelsteen is pleased with the victory. 'I think we did fairly well, although we could have been sharper. We were a bit unsettled in defense at the beginning, but it worked out well, and we closed out the game well.'
Watch the full video with Van den Dobbelsteen here.
Winning coach Andreas Mirales on the victory. 'It was, as expected, a tough match against an experienced and qualitatively strong opponent who was extra motivated after their loss last week. Yesterday we showed our winning mentality, just like we have done over the past 1.5 years, and the intensity with which we play.'
With this victory, ZV De Zaan remains the undefeated leader in the league after five matches. Check the league standings in the Eredivisie here. The match can be rewatched via the livestream on the Eyecons platform with commentary by Dennis Ketelaars. A selection of match photos taken by Maarten Knol are available on the KNZB image bank. Throughout the day, the album will be updated.
Goal Scorers:
GZC Donk: Jorrit van der Weijden and Stan van den Heuvel (Both 3), Thijs Schouwerwou, Kjeld Veenhuis (Both 2), Jesse Nispeling (1).
ZV De Zaan: Pascal Janssen (4), Don Rempt (3), Angelo Corver and Claudio Brancatello (Both 2), Tim Ketelaars and Thomas Lucas (Both 1).
Next week, both teams will play in the Challenger Cup. The team from Gouda travels to Sliema, Malta, while ZV De Zaan plays in Novaky, Slovakia. Check out the match schedule here.
Van den Dobbelsteen on the European tournament. 'We aim to win all matches and ultimately secure the Challenger Cup. With the victories in hand, we are going there with a good feeling!'
