Hoofdklasse Men Round 9: Den Bosch v Amsterdam Is the Title Race in One Game

First against second. Two points between them. Sunday at the Oosterplas, Den Bosch against Amsterdam, and the winner takes the Hoofdklasse into the international break sitting top.

Amsterdam got there by doing what nobody had managed in 32 league games. They went to Eindhoven last Sunday and beat Oranje-Rood 3-2, ending a run that stretched back further than most players in the league can remember. That win took them to 22 points from eight games, seven wins and a draw, and it made them favourites. For our money, they look like it too. They’ve got the best defence in the league and they’ve just beaten the side nobody could beat.

Den Bosch won’t be scared, though. They’re second on 20 points and still unbeaten in nine, even if their six-match winning run ended in a 2-2 draw at Bloemendaal last weekend. They’ve got the home crowd and they’ve got the one thing Amsterdam don’t: nothing to lose. A win puts them top. A draw keeps Amsterdam ahead but leaves the race exactly where it is. A defeat, and suddenly there’s daylight at the top with the season barely a third gone.

Oranje-Rood have to pick themselves up fast. Third on 19 points, they travel to Pinoke on Sunday, and the champions’ conquerors need to show last weekend was a blip, not the start of a slide. Pinoke held the defending champions Rotterdam to a goalless draw last round, so this won’t be a gentle landing.

Rotterdam’s season still hasn’t caught fire. The champions drew 0-0 at Pinoke and they host Schaerweijde on Sunday. Schaerweijde finally got off the mark last week with a 3-1 win over Tilburg — they had nothing from seven games before that — and now they’ll be chasing a second win in a row.

At the bottom, Tilburg are running out of road. Nine straight defeats, a new club record, and they host HDM on Sunday. HDM drew 3-3 with Kampong last week in a six-goal thriller, so they can score. Tilburg need a result from somewhere, and soon, because the gap to safety is growing every week.

Kampong host Klein Zwitserland in the round’s other game. Kampong have slipped up in two top-of-the-table clashes in a row now, and the top three are starting to pull away. Klein Zwitserland ended a five-match winless run of their own last Sunday, beating SCHC 2-0, and they’ll fancy their chances of making it two in a row. SCHC, meanwhile, host Bloemendaal, who held Den Bosch to a 2-2 draw last week.

All six games start at 3:00pm CET on Sunday 15 November, 7:00pm PKT. Den Bosch v Amsterdam is the one to clear your evening for.

Round 9 fixtures, Sunday 15 November: Den Bosch v Amsterdam; Rotterdam v Schaerweijde; Pinoke v Oranje-Rood; Kampong v Klein Zwitserland; SCHC v Bloemendaal; Tilburg v HDM.