The Netherlands
Derde Divisie Zondag
Sunday 4th March 2018
Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.35
O.F.C. 4 V.V. Dongen 0, attendance 230
3’ 1-0
35’ 2-0
47’ 3-0
90’ 4-0
@ Sportpark O.F.C.
Twiskeweg 1
1511 BZ
Oostzaan
€5 Admission
No Programme.
This match hadn’t been on the agenda for this weekend. I had planned to visit A.F.C. versus H.H.C. in the Tweede Divisie yesterday afternoon, but as they have a grass pitch it was no surprise that it was postponed due to a frost, but at least this was known early on Friday afternoon. No problem, I would just visit a different ground in Amsterdam, but at a lower level, but one that play on a 3G pitch. This would have been fine, but a decision was made by Amsterdam Town Hall to cancel all matches under their jurisdiction for this weekend, regardless of what type of pitch they play on. Rather than travel close on two hours on public transport to get a game in the Tweede Divisie that I hadn’t already visited, I decided to settle on doing a game today instead.
The nearest option was at O.F.C. who play in Oostzaan, (Dutch clubs are always called by their abbreviated name, rather than their full title, so no other club can call themselves O.F.C. as this is now taken by todays hosts Oostzaanse Football Club) which is 25 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal Station on bus 392, which cost €11.70 return, but payment on the bus was by bank card only, unlike the bus to and from Volendam on Friday/Saturday that took cash. Very Odd !
I rarely use public transport due to unreliability and poor connection times, although the journey today was unreliable on the way out, but brilliant on the return. The 12.31 bus was cancelled, which meant going on the 13.01, which left two minutes late. The walk from the ground back to the bus stop took twelve minutes at a pretty quick pace, but it meant the 16.39 bus back into Amsterdam was made with a couple of minutes to spare.
The match was 6th versus 9th in what is the fourth level of Dutch football. An early goal for the hosts set the tone and when a bullet header was scored into his own net by a defender trying to clear the ball, Dongen knew it wasn’t going to be their day. With it becoming 3-0 so early in the second half it killed the game as a spectacle, with the final goal coming with the last kick of the match. The three points now lifts O.F.C. up to fourth in the league table.
