HC Groot Venlo zijn landskampioen! In other, not dutch, words two straight wins with a narrow margin lead to celebrations for the new champion in the Netherlands.
The last gold cheers, in 2022/23 was Venlos first ever title. It didn’t take that long to double the awards in the price cabinet.
Venlo faced VOC Amsterdam, a duel between the top two of the league season.
Having lost just once over 22 games, Amsterdam had to accept defeat twice in the final series, and two close calls.
The nerves were present in Egerbos sports hall for the second games and only 39 shots found their way to the net for both teams.
Left wing, Angela Steenbakkers powered through with seven goals for Venlo while Liza Rovers had some important seconds with saves towards the end of the second half.
The drama continued to the very last minute, with a red card for VOC before Venlo could join in the victory dance.
The win also served as a perfect goodbye for coach Daniel Gielen, who leaves the successful team at its prime for an assignment with Houthalen in Belgium.
– If you write this in a script in advance, it would be too romantic a story, he said according to HandbalI Inside.