Netherlands: The Previous Goal Scoring Galas In The HK: 'Nice Basketball?'

The most eye-catching game last weekend was, of course, the crazy 8-6 between Amsterdam and Den Bosch. A rare spectacle, as only three times before in the history of the Tulip big league a match resulted in at least fourteen hits. A dive into the past, and a reaction from Den Bosch player Koen Bijen. ‘They asked if I played good korfball.’

March 8, 1981Klein Zwitserland – MOP 13-1Klein Zwitserland is a class apart in the big league in the 1980-1981 season. Unassailable for the competition and ruthless for the opponent. Coach Joost Bellaart’s team set three record scores in this season. First there is the 11-1 victory over DKS, at that time the biggest win ever in the big league. After the winter break, KZ improves its own record in the home game against MOP. It becomes 13-1 against the team from Vught.

Remarkable about the monster victory is that eight of KZ’s thirteen goals came from field play. Tim Steens, now active as a field hockey commentator for years, makes four and Maarten van Grimbergen and Hidde Kruize two each. The dreaded penalty corner of Ties Kruize, the weapon of KZ, did not make the difference this time. Also special: the defensively strong MOP had only scored nine goals in the nine games prior to the game with KZ…

Tim Steens (left) and Hidde Kruize watch KZ teammate Maarten van Grimbergen score against MOP. Photo: Simon Smit

March 15, 1981Klein Zwitserland – Breda 15-0A week after the 13-1 against MOP, KZ goes one better against poor Breda. It becomes 15-0 at the Klatteweg, another improvement of the big league record and today still the biggest win ever in the history of the big league.

Ties Kruize is the celebrated man this afternoon: he hits five goals from a penalty corner and six from a long corner, which at the time was closely related to the penalty corner as we know it today. Kruize’s eleven goals against Breda are still a record in the big league, perhaps one for the ages.

Ties Kruize KZ - Netherlands: The previous goal scoring galas in the HK: 'Nice basketball?' - The most eye-catching game last weekend was, of course, the crazy 8-6 between Amsterdam and Den Bosch. A rare spectacle, as only three times before in the history of the Tulip big league a match resulted in at least fourteen hits. A dive into the past, and a reaction from Den Bosch player Koen Bijen. 'They asked if I played good korfball.'

Ties Kruize on behalf of Klein Zwitserland defending. Photo: archive KNHB

September 17, 1994Push – Amsterdam 2-12The 1994-1995 season is only three rounds of play underway when Push’s men take a tremendous beating on their own field from Amsterdam, which captured the national title for the first time in eighteen years a season earlier. Especially in the first half, coach Joep Brenninkmeijer’s team gives a lot of gas and goes into the break with an unprecedented score: 1-7.

Taco van den Honert - Netherlands: The previous goal scoring galas in the HK: 'Nice basketball?' - The most eye-catching game last weekend was, of course, the crazy 8-6 between Amsterdam and Den Bosch. A rare spectacle, as only three times before in the history of the Tulip big league a match resulted in at least fourteen hits. A dive into the past, and a reaction from Den Bosch player Koen Bijen. 'They asked if I played good korfball.'

Amsterdam striker Taco van den Honert (foreground). Photo: Jeroen van Bergen.

‘I said after the first half: guys, if I had anything to say about the game I would have been a bad coach,’ said Brenninkmeijer, who saw striker Taco van den Honert score half of all Amsterdam goals.

With the monster victory in Breda, Amsterdam revenged for its slip in the first away game of the season, losing 4-2 to HDM. The reigning champion eventually prolongs its national title by winning a total of eighteen of its 22 matches, often with great superiority. Amsterdam ends up scoring 93 goals, 27 more than the second most prolific team (Bloemendaal). Van den Honert lives it up all season, eventually finishing on 42 (!) league goals.