ODC 1-0 Rood Wit V
Play Offs Tier 6/7 (Sunday South)
Molenwijk
29 May 2014
In the ground hopping community much is made of the relative difference between lower league Dutch and Belgian grounds and how the latter are preferable as they offer character, whilst the former are predominantly sterile, modern and a lot alike. Sound familiar? Well it would, I have stated it on this website on many occasions! But I'm slowly coming around to the suggestion that I may have been a little unfair on my adopted homeland. Yes, there are a number of very modern, practical grounds that have a very similar feel, but as I pass the hundred mark for amateur grounds visited in the Netherlands, it is fair to say they are nowhere near the majority.
Case in point, the wonder Molenwijk, the Boxtel home of our hosts for the day 'Overwinning Door Combinatie. It's everything that originally drew me to fall in lover with Belgian provincial football, yet in the most Dutch of towns. A wonderful main stand with a wooden roof, decorative entrance, grass banks, smaller add on facilities and a slightly, and charming, unkept feel to it. It even had its own horse in waste ground between one corner and neighbouring railway (reminded me of the rec back in Aldershot).
The game itself was also everything you would expect from a play off. Tense, plenty of errors, hard tackles and chances at a premium. The home side won the game with a goal towards the end which, whilst a little hard on the away side, did at least set up an exciting finish. I left feeling that Rood Wit would recover at home in the second leg the following Sunday and get promoted.
Again I was wrong as a 0-0 draw saw ODC, and their wonderful ground, go through.
Case in point, the wonder Molenwijk, the Boxtel home of our hosts for the day 'Overwinning Door Combinatie. It's everything that originally drew me to fall in lover with Belgian provincial football, yet in the most Dutch of towns. A wonderful main stand with a wooden roof, decorative entrance, grass banks, smaller add on facilities and a slightly, and charming, unkept feel to it. It even had its own horse in waste ground between one corner and neighbouring railway (reminded me of the rec back in Aldershot).
The game itself was also everything you would expect from a play off. Tense, plenty of errors, hard tackles and chances at a premium. The home side won the game with a goal towards the end which, whilst a little hard on the away side, did at least set up an exciting finish. I left feeling that Rood Wit would recover at home in the second leg the following Sunday and get promoted.
Again I was wrong as a 0-0 draw saw ODC, and their wonderful ground, go through.