Play-outs (D): victories for major leaguers HDM and Oranje-Rood

The ladies of HDM and Oranje-Rood have taken the first step in the battle for enforcement in the Hoofdklasse. Both major leaguers won their first match in the best-of-two on Saturday against a promotion winner. HDM was just too strong for Ring Pass at home (1-0) and the Oranje-Rood turned out to be a size too big for Nijmegen in Eindhoven: 3-1.

HDM got off to a much better start than Ring Pass. The promotion league had a hard time in the initial phase when the home team was fully on the hunt for a quick opening goal. That didn't happen until the second quarter. Kaat Walhof gave HDM the lead from a penalty corner. Moments later, the home team was close to scoring a second goal, but Yara Akkerman saw her effort hit the crossbar.

Oranje-Rood took an important step towards maintaining their place in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Nijmegen. Shortly after Isaline Kroon thought she had given the visitors the lead from a penalty corner, but the goal was disallowed because the ball ended up in the goal above the board, the home team struck. Merel Voermans gave the final touch after a smooth attack down the right flank.