N.E.C. kicked off the second-half of the Eredivisie campaign with superb 1-0 victory over rivals Vitesse at the GelreDome in another chapter of the heated “De Gelderse” Derby. The result pushes the Nijmegen side eight well above the relegation zone and revitalises hope for a top half of the table finish and potential berth on the European stage.

Following a difficult opening half of the year that saw his side seem to run out of synch, yet show flashes of fine pedigree, N.E.C. manager Alex Pastoor knew Sunday’s derby could prove to be the launching ground for their resurgence. Yet with a victory drought in Arnhem that stretched some forty-two years the task would require not only passion ever so typical of the bitter rivalry but masterful tactical plan. From the victory over VVV prior to the break Mr. Pastoor called upon Krisztián Vadócz and the mercurial Leroy George for John Goossens and Abdisalam Ibrahim and summoned his charges with disciplined plan to patiently absorb pressure and wait for a countering opportunity. After an appropriate tribute for Vitesse legend Theo Bos grappling with the throes of cancer, the early stages saw chances sparse though the midfield battle embodied the spirit of contest with no ball left unchallenged. Following a probing effort from Marcus Pedersen that was dutifully stopped by N.E.C. number one Gábor Babos and Nick van der Velden teasing the goal with a close miss the match went to the break deadlocked.

At the restart, Vitesse showed purpose and direction as they launched forward but as N.E.C. orchestrated their tactical plan to perfection with any notable effort snuffed out by Gábor Babos. Six minutes shy of the hour the N.E.C. tactician called upon Nathaniël Will for Zoltán Szélesi and after the Nijmegen goalkeeper denied Alexander Büttner and Jan-Arie van der Heijden it was time for Leroy George to step up to centre stage. Coming with a quarter-hour remaining in regulation a corner from the right saw Vitesse goalkeeper Piet Velthuizen make two top notch stops before the rebound came to Leroy George where he promptly lashed the ball to the right side of the net. In dire need of the leveller the hosts launched forward but once again Gábor Babos proved to be their undoing with yeoman’s work. At the eighty-first minute Rémy Amieux entered for the goal scorer with Navarone Foor coming Nick Van der Velden shortly thereafter as N.E.C. continued its drive towards victory. Though Rémy Amieux narrowly missed adding to the margin, N.E.C. was resolute in defending and after four minutes of added-time the final whistle sounded with the winless drought put to rest.

Jumping over the barriers to throw his shirt to the faithful, Leroy George was then joined by his team-mates in a moment that not only speaks well of N.E.C.’s hopes for the second-half of the campaign but the state of football in Eredivisie.

Prepared by John Davies
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