Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial 1

Saturday 6th April 2019

Kick Off 20.30. On Time !

K.S.K. Oostnieuwkerke 1 K.V.C. Deerlijk Sport 1, attendance 172

32’ 0-1

74’ 1-1

@ Cockstraat 24

Oostnieuwkerke

8840 Staden

€7 Admission

Team Sheet/Newsletter, free.

When the trip was originally planned, the middle game of the day was to be a 17.30 kick off, but as the fourth passenger had already been to the ground in question, we did the 18.00 kick off at Beveren-Leie instead. The distance between both choices were around the same from Oostnieuwkerke, but obviously having half an hour less time to cover the distance might be a bit tight, especially as the SatNav was saying it would take 31 minutes to drive it. As it turned out, I dropped the other three at the end of the driveway leading up to the ground, then managed to find a parking space about 150 yards up the road, and I was still in the ground seven minutes before the kick off. Easy!

Oostnieuwkerke were crowned champions last weekend, despite losing 1-3 at home to third placed Racing Club Lauwe, as second in the league table V.K. Dadizele also lost at home. Deerlijk meanwhile, came into this in 13th place in the table, which is fourth bottom, and there is still a chance of them being relegated at the end of the season.

Deerlijk deservedly took the lead with a header over the ‘keeper following a long ball into the box. They looked to be holding firm, but Oostnieuwkerke managed to scramble in an equaliser with sixteen minutes left. The last quarter of an hour was end to end, as both teams pushed for the winner. Just as we went into added time, Oostnieuwkerke were awarded a penalty. It looked like all the hard work would be wasted for the visitors, but their ‘keeper saved the spot kick, diving to his right. Seconds later the final whistle went.

So, Deerlijk go into the final game of the season leading the two teams below them by three points, whilst bottom of the table K.F.C. Meulebeke are already down. Oostnieuwkerke can look forward to playing in the Belgian League next season. As for us, it was an easy drive back to The Tunnel for our scheduled 01.18 return crossing. It left two minutes late and managed to lose a further nine minutes on the journey across!

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Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial 2B

Saturday 6th April 2019

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.01

K.S.K. Beveren-Leie 1 V.V. Tielt 1, attendance 83

27’ 0-1

39’ 1-1

@ Leenriestraat

8791 Beveren (Leie)

€5 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

It was only ten miles between the two matches and it took about seventeen minutes drive time. On arrival there seemed to be some sort of confusion, as the gateman charged us all the OAP rate, which for two of the party, no problem, but I can’t see how the other two of us could possibly look that age. Or do we ? Anyway, it was only €1 cheaper, so it wasn’t going to make much difference either way.

The match was 5th versus 8th in the league table, but it wasn’t the best of games. Tielt took the lead with a looping header over the ‘keeper from a free kick, before a 20 yard screamer levelled it up for the hosts. The nearest either side came to winning it in the second half, was when a Beveren-Leie striker had a shot that hit the left hand post, flew across the goal, then hit the right hand post before the ball was cleared.

At least with the game finishing just before 19.50, it meant we were on schedule to make our third match of the day with about ten minutes to spare………

Belgium

West Vlaanderen Provincial 4C

Saturday 6th April 2019

Kick Off 15.00. On Time !

K. Zonnekloppers Dentergem 4 V.C. Ons Genot Stasegem 1, attendance 119

39’ 1-0

67’ 2-0

72’ 3-0

84’ 4-0

89’ 4-1

@ Meulebekesteenweg 18B

8720 Dentergem

€4 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

We were booked on the 09.50 Tunnel from Folkestone, heading for Belgium and what we hoped would be a treble in the West Vlaanderen Provincial League. A lot of clubs had moved their matches to today, in order to avoid a clash with the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour Of Flanders) cycle race, which is of far more interest to the locals than the local football clubs will ever be. Despite being very busy, due to the start of the build up to the Easter Holidays, the trains were running on time, although ours did leave two minutes late.

The match was 2nd versus 11th in the league table. Despite dominating the match, Dentergem were struggling to break the visitors down and were not helped by a very dry and bumpy pitch. Stasegem actually had the best two chances of the first half, but the hosts broke the deadlock just before halftime and a two goal burst midway through the second half saw the game won. They added a fourth goal, six minutes from time, before Stasegem nicked a late consolation.