Middelstum 2 - 2 Drenthe (390579257)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 12000 at VV Middelstum Arena today. Geri Konzet was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Soni Lindman and Waldemar Piffaretti. Middelstum started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Vermeer - Hart Nibbrig, ter Horst, Uil, Couperus - Euverman, Kwanten, Tegelaar, Amperse - van der Burgh, Schultz.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Drenthe. They fielded: van Loenen - van Nassau, Gootjes, Bulsink, Jagtenberg - Bitter, den Braber, van 't Reve, Michels - de Gaay Fortmann, Bottema.

Against a lesser team, Drenthe could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 3 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save. With 5 minutes played G. Amperse almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. Making his way up the middle 10 minutes into the match, S. Kwanten almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert J. van Loenen blocked it to keep the score level. One of many good crosses from E. Michels on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by T. Bitter, who scored for Drenthe. 0 - 1 E. Michels was, after 22 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper D. Vermeer made the save. 23 minutes in, and Middelstum were able to score the equalising goal to make it 1 - 1 when T. Schultz picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Drenthe, with 52 percent of the ball.

Middelstum broke through on the left 51 minutes into the game, with S. Kwanten firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 2 - 1 lead. After 57 minutes, Drenthe's J. den Braber fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, E. Michels got himself booked. The manager of Drenthe was not happy. Drenthe's counterattacks were lethal to the opposing defence, allowing T. van 't Reve to score easily from the right flank for 2 - 2. Drenthe enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 54 percent of possession.

Most important Middelstum player was J. van der Burgh. D. Vermeer on the other hand, had a terrible day. Drenthe's best player was D. de Gaay Fortmann. J. van Loenen turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 2 - 2.