Kampong v Rotterdam Is the Pick of a Thursday-Night Round in the Hoofdklasse
No waiting for the weekend this time. Round 5 of the Hoofdklasse men is a Thursday-night round, all of it under lights on 22 October, and the fixture list has thrown up the one game everybody in Dutch hockey will be watching first.
Kampong v Rotterdam: champions, meet the form team
Rotterdam finally won a game on Sunday. The champions beat SCHC 5-2 for their first points of the season after three straight defeats, and the reward is a trip to De Klapperboom to play the side nobody is enjoying playing right now.
Kampong won 6-1 at Tilburg on Sunday, they’ve got a game in hand on most of the league, and they’re quietly stacking wins while Amsterdam take the headlines. Rotterdam at home is one test. Rotterdam away, four days after finally getting off zero, is a different one. If the champions lose this, the hangover talk comes straight back. If they win it, Sunday really was the turning point.
For our money, Kampong start favourites. They’re at home, they’re fresher in the legs over the season, and Rotterdam are still a side that conceded its way to the bottom of the table for three rounds. But champions with a point to prove are dangerous animals.
Amsterdam v HDM: four from four, and counting
Amsterdam host HDM at the Wagener Stadion with a perfect record and an 8-0 win at Schaerweijde still warm. HDM lost 2-0 at home to Bloemendaal on Sunday and now walk into the hardest away trip in the league. Anything other than an Amsterdam win would be the result of the round, and HDM know it.
The rest of Thursday night
Den Bosch are at home to Schaerweijde at the Oosterplas. Den Bosch won 3-2 at Pinoké on Sunday; Schaerweijde have lost all four, conceded 23, and now face one of the league’s best corner batteries. It could get long for the Zeist side.
Bloemendaal host Klein Zwitserland at ‘t Kopje. Bloemendaal’s 2-0 win at HDM kept them tucked in behind Amsterdam, while KZ were beaten 4-1 by Oranje-Rood in Eindhoven and need a response.
And SCHC v Pinoké is the quiet pressure game of the night. Pinoké are still winless, two points from four games, with a squad that has no business being down there. SCHC were beaten 5-2 at Rotterdam and are at home with something to prove themselves. Somebody’s week gets a lot better on Thursday. Somebody’s gets worse.
Thursday’s confirmed fixtures (20:30 CEST, 23:30 PKT): Amsterdam v HDM; Kampong v Rotterdam; Den Bosch v Schaerweijde; Bloemendaal v Klein Zwitserland; SCHC v Pinoké.
Same night in Germany: a Hamburg derby
Thursday isn’t only Dutch. The Bundesliga has a Hamburg derby the same evening, UHC Hamburg at home to Harvestehuder THC, and both sides arrive off a Sunday when every Hamburg team won. UHC hammered Berliner HC 7-1, Harvestehuder blanked Münchner SC 5-0, and the city’s four top-flight sides took all twelve points on offer between them. Something gives on Thursday. Köln v Mülheim follows on Friday night.
