Antwerp, July 1 A rampant Netherlands men’s side romped to a 6-1 win over reigning Olympic champions Belgium here, keeping alive their hopes of securing back-to-back titles in the FIH Hockey Pro League.
The victory took the Dutch to 32 points, the same as Great Britain. However, Great Britain can no longer win the league as they have the same number of points but fewer wins and no matches remaining.
The Dutch can still add to their points tally with one more match to come. Despite the defeat, Belgium can still sneak to the top, if they win their final two matches -– one against Spain and the other a rematch against the Netherlands.
The home side didn’t look nearly as threatening as they did in their drubbing of Spain a day earlier. Instead, it was the Dutch who came out firing. Before the first two minutes were up, they had scored their first goal, thanks to a Koen Bijen strike. But 10 minutes later, Thijs van Dam worked his way into the circle and ensured the ball reached Tjep Hoedemakers who tapped it in.
The Netherlands added a third goal in the second quarter when Terrance Pieters passed the ball to Steijn van Heijningen, who produced a perfectly-placed strike to extend their lead.
The home team’s woes were compounded at the start of the third quarter when Jip Janssen dragged in the Dutch’s fourth goal off a penalty corner while Floris Wortelboer added a fifth in the final period.
Alex Hendrickx’s goal from a penalty stroke provided scant consolation for the Belgians and the Antwerp crowd. To make matters worse, Thierry Brinkman added one last spectacular team goal to the enormous Dutch total in the final minute to wrap up a hugely important 6-1 win.
--IANS
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