Wednesday 18 April 2018

Kloetinge Kapers


VV Kloetinge  2  DVC  0

Dutch 1E Klasse B

It appeared that the Belgian beer stock holdings at nearby Nacht Winkel were not of the required standard, and nor were they priced appropriately. The boys needed a plan B.

After a night drinking Pils while my South Yorkshire friends were drinking all kinds of Monk related concoctions in a riverside boozer, the conclusion was made that en-route to our game on Saturday afternoon in Holland, we would call at a nearby Carrefour to stock up on some of the more obscure local varieties of rocket fuel / beaver piddle (delete as appropriate)

With bottles clinking away in the car boot, it was a trip North of the border into the Zeeland region of the Netherlands, onto an island in fact, to the small village of Kloetinge, which is effectively a suburb or Groes.

The trip was not the most exciting, it was flat and green, apart from a very impressive tunnel that was nearly seven kilometres long. The Westerscheldetunnel is a feat of modern engineering, ok the Channel Tunnel it clearly isn’t, but when they waive the ten Euro return fee on a weekend it’s certainly a value for money experience!

Nice Stand
Kloetinge is a lovely village, and seemed far too genteel to host a football team, especially at what is effectively the sixth tier of football in Holland. The Eerste Klasse is the final tier of football before the Hoofdklasse, which in turn offers promotion into the National League system. So we are talking a pretty good level of football here, albeit in an area of the Country that isn’t blessed with a whole range of football teams playing at a great level.

Typically Dutch, that is exactly how you would describe the ground. A decent sized car park leads to an equally decent sized push bike parking area, before eventually you hand over your cash to the jolly fellow on the gate.

Bottom End
A very impressive changing room facility sat behind the goal and that served the multitude of pitches that are on offer at the complex, while next to it was the homely and welcoming clubhouse that was bedecked with memorabilia of clubs from all across Europe, and indeed Luxembourg.

A couple of latch lifters were had prior to a helping of Chips and Bitteballen, and on a glorious day we sat on the veranda outside and discussed the veritable merits of a diet made up solely of mussels. It was becoming that kind of trip……

View From The Al Fresco Drinking Area
They have an impressive stand at Kloetinge that is far from typically Dutch, in the sense that it was a two story building with a sponsor area underneath and the seats above.  With green being the clubs predominant colour, the ground was endowed with manner of green structures, and the main stand was no different.

I was looking forward to the game because I was hoping for a decent standard of football in the Eerste Klasse, especially having seen games played as low as the Fourth Class while in Gelderland, but what became apparent was the standard was hardly any better than a significantly lower level in other parts of the Country. That, I suspect is due to a dearth of quality players therefore it becomes that bit easier in the Zeeland region to move up the ranks, compared to say Gelderland.

The Far Side
The game was poor, and it took two second half goals for the hosts to brush off the challenge of DCV. A goal on the hour mark from the wonderfully named Remco van Tiggele was followed up by a further strike in the 81st minute from Roy Mulder who’s name isn’t quite so impressive.

Post match we tried to gain entry to a bar in Goes but were refused due to some strange medieval thing going on, I must admit to never having been turned away as someone dressed in battle gear (except in Rotherham of course), but it was unusual all the same. So we decided to head to a lovely town called Middelburg and found a boozer that served the appropriate standard of Castrol GTX to keep the boys happy.

Tidy!
The day was far from over though, our sojourn to Holland may have been brief, but we had business to attend to back in Belgique, and my Jupiler was getting warm in the boot.  

The Stand Again
oof   

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