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Odysseus '91 9

2 - 1

HMS 6

Rens Coopmans (schot)

50'

Assist: Mathijs Spriensma

Pavlos Panteliadis (schot)

80'

Assist: Simon Karman

Competitie

6e klasse 17

Datum

17 november 2018 10:00

Accommodatie

Onbekend

Door onze gastredacteur Pavlos Panteliadis.

After the second away defeat in a row, this time in the home of the Rivierwijkers, the gentlemen of the ninth wonder of the world had to overcome the psychological pressure and prove to their fans and themselves that they are able to keep being competitive through any harsh situations. This time, they were playing against HMS 6 who were at the time residing in the lower part of the standings.

Despite the early hours and the chilling weather, the boys were determined to lay their hearts on the field for the 3 points. After team father Jorit laid down the starting 11, using the now favorite 4-3-3 formation, the boys went out to the field determined to come back to positive results.

The game started favorably for the ninth wonder. HMS 6 was completely caught by surprise from the midfield pressure that Matthijs and Emiel were applying in the midfield and the first 10 minutes of the game completely belonged to Odysseus. Unfortunately, the early pressure wasn’t fruitful, with some distant shots from outside the box but nothing truly troublesome for the goalkeeper of HMS 6. As the unwritten rule of football says, “if you make chances and not take advantage of them, then surely you will concede”. Slowly but surely HMS was able to balance out the midfield pressure and started moving closer towards Sylvan’s goal. Around the 35th minute this pressure bore fruit for HMS, as they broke the deadlock with a pass down the middle to find the unmarked man which was turned in to a goal. 0-1 for HMS.

Immediately we could see in the eyes of the players the fear of another bad result which would have crushed their spirits and title hopes. Despite the encouraging yells of team father Jorit during the game, attempting to lift the team’s spirit, they boys looked like they needed to make it through the first half in order to regroup. Thankfully, luck hadn’t completely turned it’s back on the ninth wonder as the striker of HMS was able to break through the defense, but thanks to goalkeeper’s Sylvan great positioning, even though the striker passed him, he was able to put him so much to the side and his shot ended on the side net. After this chance, the referee blew the whistle for the half time mark.

We could see some troubled faces going in to the locker room and then, team father Jorit delivered a speech to lift the boys up. “You are better than them”, “you can’t allow them to leave here with a win”, “believe in yourselves” and “now it’s all or nothing” were some of the phrases that could be heard behind the closed locker room doors. Fifteen minutes later, the team was out on the field, with some chances in the players and a new more risky formation 3-4-3 to regain control of the midfield. Immediately, we could see the passion in the eyes of the players restored. Something was about to happen.

With the sound of the first whistle Odysseus quickly regained control of the game. The midfield, now consisting of Matthijs, Emiel and Simon were harmoniously exchanging passes with the calm defense until they could find an opening in the HMS defense. “Good things come to those who wait” and the gentlemen of Odysseus didn’t wait long. At the 55th minute mark, a quick pass from Matthijs to the right wing, brought Rens face-to-face with the HMS goalkeeper. And with a calm and cool-headed strike he send the ball flying to the right bottom corner of the HMS goal. 1-1. The boys were back in the game and with plenty of time to spare!

The team’s and the fans spirit had been lifted to the sound of De Körk and we had a game in our hands. Odysseus then really stepped on the gas pedal and went forth to further pressure HMS who did seem shocked from the early equalizer and 5 minutes later, on the 61st minute a great run from David on the left wing brought him inside the HMS box and as he protected the ball with his body, he was brought down and the referee immediately awarded the penalty kick! Team father Jorit, didn’t hesitate to take the responsibility for it and placed the ball in the penalty spot. Unfortunately, as fate had it, the HMS goalkeeper was playing the match of his life, and a fall to his right side with a stretch of his right hand denied Jorit and Odysseus the chance to take the lead. To the team spirit and the fans this seemed like a blow to the heart.

A few minutes later, the coveted number 10 Emiel, pulled a muscle in an attempt to control the ball in the midfield and had to be substituted. The scale was slowly turning in favor of HMS and for Odysseus it looked like they had their back against the wall. Then, it happened, in the 80th minute, following a free kick from the HMS goalkeeper the ball was won in the midfield by Simon for Odysseus but his pass was deflected by the tight HMS midfield line and the ball looked like it was hopelessly running towards the HMS goalkeeper again. At that moment, Pavlos, who had just entered the field as a right winger, wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste. With a fast sprint, he beat the HMS left back and won the ball right outside the box, sprinted towards the penalty spot and with the calmest of flicks to the ball, he passed it under the HMS goalkeeper’s feet. This was his first goal for Odysseus and what a time to score! Odysseus once again was close to another comeback following the away win against DWSV.

There were 10 minutes remaining on the clock and what looked like “Mission Impossible” during the half time was now within the players reach. After the goal, HMS upped their pressure in order to reach the equalizing goal but the “Guardian angel” of Odysseus, Sylvan was there every time the team needed him. With calm saves he managed to keep the ball away and the final whistle gave the team the psychological boost it needed.

After the game, there were cheers in the team for their return in wins, but we managed to get ahold of the wonder boy Jip who was substituted early and briefly said “I felt that we should have done a lot better in this game, we started off great and then we lost focus and conceded a goal. I also feel that some players like Gerben shouldn’t be hungover when coming to the games. That’s something the team management will have to take under consideration. Personally I didn’t play well and that troubles me but we will look in to it in practice. Luckily for us, we won and that’s what matters, so I’m happy”. We also managed to get ahold of Pavlos Panteliadis who when asked about the game said, “We win as a team, and we lose as a team. We are a family. We played well for some parts of the game but for most of it we weren’t who we are supposed to be, but we showed that this roster has the personalities and the spirit that even in our bad days will get the 3 points and at the end of the day this is what matters for the club”. Regarding his winning goal he said “I’m happy that my first goal gave the 3 points to the team. But it wouldn’t have been a winning goal if Rens hadn’t scored the equalizer first so I believe that this is a team effort”. Finally, we managed to get ahold of team captain Jorrit before he entered the team bus for a quick quote “Great win for the team. Now this match is behind us and we must focus on the next match against Nieuwegein which we must win to pass them in the standings. It will be difficult but I have faith in our roster”. The captain of HMS, with bitter-sweet feelings briefly commented “I would like to extend my congratulations to Odysseus for the win. Although we were better for the most part of the game, they took advantage of their chances whereas we didn’t build on the 0-1 advantage and in football, the team with the most goals wins. That’s life, we take home the good performance but we need to be better in front of the goal”.