Hoofdklasse After Round 7: Amsterdam and Den Bosch Tied at the Top, Den Bosch Women Still Perfect
Seven rounds in, the Dutch tables have a clear shape to them. At the top of the men’s league, two giants are locked together. In the women’s league, one team hasn’t dropped a point. And at the bottom of both, two clubs are still waiting for their first point of the season.
Men: Amsterdam ahead on goal difference, Oranje-Rood lurking
Amsterdam and Den Bosch both sit on 19 points from seven games, six wins and a draw each. Amsterdam lead the table on goal difference, plus 20 against Den Bosch’s plus 17, after scoring 28 goals to Den Bosch’s 26. That’s the only thing separating them right now.
The danger team is the one in third. Oranje-Rood have 16 points from just six games, five wins and a draw, and their game in hand means they could go top outright if they win it. Bloemendaal are fourth on 14, Kampong fifth on 13 from six games, and SCHC sixth on 11. Then there’s a gap, and then the story of the season so far: Rotterdam, the defending champions, are down in eighth on six points from seven games, with five defeats already. That’s a title defence in real trouble.
At the bottom, it’s bleak. Schaerweijde and Tilburg both have nothing from seven games. Schaerweijde have scored six and conceded 28, Tilburg five and 29. Somebody has to blink soon, because a season without a point gets heavier every week.
Women: Den Bosch perfect, SCHC chasing
Den Bosch women are the story of the Dutch season. Seven games, seven wins, 21 points, 30 goals scored and one conceded. That plus 29 goal difference is not a typo. They beat SCHC 2-0 at SCHC on Sunday to end the hosts’ 42-match unbeaten run, and that result is why the gap at the top is what it is.
SCHC are second on 18 points, six wins and that one defeat, with 21 goals scored and 10 conceded. Amsterdam are third on 16, five wins, a draw and a defeat, with 24 goals for and seven against. Rotterdam are fourth on 14, Hurley fifth on 12, and Kampong sixth on 11 despite a plus 14 goal difference, the third best in the league, which tells you how tight the top six is.
Pinoké and Oranje-Rood both have eight points, HDM six, Bloemendaal four, HGC three, and Victoria are bottom without a point, five scored and 35 conceded. Victoria’s problem is the same as the men’s bottom two: when the goals dry up at one end and pour in at the other, every weekend feels like damage limitation.
For our money, the men’s title race is the best in Europe right now. Three teams within three points, one with a game in hand, and the champions floundering in eighth. The women’s race looks more settled, but SCHC are only three points back, and a Den Bosch slip anywhere would blow it wide open.
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