Sunday evening around six o’clock the main field of Tilburg was Amsterdam territory for a moment. Everyone and everything with a Hurley heart was delirious with joy after the team from the capital maintained its position in the big league. Hjalmar Voskuil made the winning shoot-out in a bizarre series in which hardly any goals were scored. ‘I went in that direction with buckling knees.’
They were delightful scenes at the end of a grueling weekend. Hurley’s men walked honorary rounds past the many Amsterdam supporters. Afterwards stormed their teammate Voskuil and that other hero, goalie Chris Combe, who stepped in during the shoot-outs. One by one, the frenzied Hurleyans jumped on each other. The pile got higher and higher.
Then followed a team photo. As if they had become champions. And another. And another. Captain Lex Tump almost missed it because he was talking to the audience. With a tremendous sprint – the last of the exhausting season – he joined the team and top hockey administrator Hanna Kernkamp, who ran like a true fan in Indra Aerts’ shirt.
So it was outright celebration at Hurley after that miraculous afternoon. In it, like the day before, it was 2-3, but this time in their favor. An afternoon with three goals in a minute and a half in the delicious last quarter. With fourteen shoot-outs, the first eight of which were all missed or caught. It was weird, bizarre and at times barely keeping up. Also for gold medalist Voskuil.
Tense joy for Voskuil after his lucky shoot-out. Photo: Willem Vernes
An extreme task during the shoot-outs
Godsamme, what a game … Unbelievable, right?” the striker shakes his head. He did have a very extreme set of duties during the blood-curdling shoot-outs. Missed his first attempt, took advantage of his second – thus decisive – and also took a penalty ball in between. ‘That actually wasn’t the intention at all,’ he sounds overwhelmed. Aerts was actually the designated penalty taker in the shoot-outs for Hurley, but the striker missed on shoot-out number four. That made the second attempt from the spot a prey for Voskuil. Laughing, “But I had missed a shoot-out right before that. So I too went in that direction with my knees buckling for that pingel.’
‘HJ’ as Voskuil is always called, can still barely comprehend what happened in the minutes before. ‘We are so happy to have fixed this. For the team and for the club. I know we didn’t always show it this season. But we really belong in the big league.’ In between, captain Tump also shouts: ‘Man of the match, that Voskuil.’ He tries – as best he can – to recall fragments of the match. Most of the tension was gone after yesterday. It was more nervous then. Today we knew they wouldn’t start with a good feeling, because of our comeback yesterday.’
Then Hurley fell behind 3-0, but still ended up with a ‘kind of acceptable deficit’ of 3-2 in the books. ‘We secretly like that pressure. We showed a lot of resilience again today. But it was close. For the same money, it would have gone their way. I think our experience was the deciding factor, in the end. We are now in the playoffs for the third year in a row. With them, a lot of guys are going through this for the first time.’
In 2023, Hurley relegated via the playoffs, against HDM. Last year, the Amsterdammers promoted again after the duel with HGC, which also ended in shoot-outs. Those went in relatively easily, especially compared to this year’s insane series. Hurley’s first four attempts went wrong. ‘But luckily that applied to them, too. Never seen that before, let alone experienced it. Have you? And then also with Chris Combe, our second goalkeeper in it. Definitely need to talk to that one. He had actually quit. And now he was fabulous, of an outside category.’
The end of a leaden year
His coach Enzo Torossi said it after the relegation showdown against Nijmegen: it was a leaden year for Hurley. Because of the seventeen defeats, 101 goals against and loads of injuries, which ran like a thread through the season. But especially the death of team manager Jeroen Kagenaar made the year logically very emotional for Voskuil and his mates. ‘This win is also for him,’ the goalgetter echoed with emotion. ‘We have another team wrap-up, to which his wife is also invited. That something so intense happened during the season also plays a role at a time like this.’
Of course the team is going to celebrate retention. Amsterdam’s hospitality industry can get its teeth wet this Sunday night. ‘You don’t have to worry about that. We wanted to create a story here, we told each other this morning. That five years from now you’ll still remember what happened here, in Tilburg. He reflects again on the unlikely match sequence. ‘Well, that will work. Don’t you think?
Relief with teammate Indra Aerts. Photo: Willem Vernes
by Hockey.nl
