With his fourteenth and fifteenth competition goals of this season, Sam Lane (26) was again of great value for the Oranje-Rood on Sunday. Partly thanks to the top form of the New Zealand striker, the Eindhoven team won 3-2 against Den Bosch and started the long hibernation as leaders in the Tulp Hoofdklasse.
Sam Lane is a real killer within the lines. His statistics provide irrefutable proof of this. In eleven league games this season, the attacker has already scored fifteen times: seven field goals and eight penalty corner goals. Together with Kampong cornerman Jip Janssen, he shares the top position on the top scorers list.
If we look at all the rounds of the Oranje-Rood in this calendar year, it is striking how consistently Lane performs. He scored in seventeen of his team’s 21 matches and was good for a total of 25 competition goals. This made him the most accurate foreigner in the Major League in 2023. Of all players, only Jeroen Hertzberger (28) and Janssen (34) scored more goals this year.
Modest topspits
As hard and ice-cold as he acts as a finisher inside the lines, he is just as friendly and modest outside of it. When we confronted him an hour after the match in the catacombs on Sunday with the figures that betray his great form, he smiled somewhat awkwardly.
You can look back on a great first half of the competition.
Sam Lane: ‘I am particularly happy with the progress we have made as a team. Take Thibeau Stockbroekx for example, he did a great job and also scored a lot. All players, wherever on the field, have played their role very well this season and that has also made my role up front easier.’
But are you completely ignoring the blood condition you are in?
‘It’s very simple: I’m not the player with the most ball contacts during a match. To score I depend on the players around me. I have to thank my teammates for the supply I get from them, but also for the penalty corners that we all score together . That’s working out great so far this season.’
Last season, many Oranje-Rood matches ended unnecessarily in a draw. This season you have often managed to secure the three points. How do you explain that difference?
‘I think we have grown as a team. The coaches have simplified and better coordinated the players’ tasks. It also helps that many players have taken steps in their development. Just look at guys like Max de Bie and Sheldon Schouten, who have both made their debut for the Dutch team. That gives confidence and they take that with them to the club.’
Are you surprised that the Oranje-Rood is now even the leader halfway through the competition?
‘I think our current ranking is justified, but at the same time it doesn’t achieve anything. Nobody remembers the winter champion in a season. It’s about finally making it to the play-offs again with this club. So far we are doing well, but we should not look beyond the next match. We may have made that mistake too often last season.’
You will now fly straight to New Zealand to prepare with the national team for the Olympic qualifying matches in January, for the Paris Games next year.
‘We play those matches in Oman, so that will certainly be a special tournament and an interesting experience. Eight countries are participating and we have been placed in a group with Germany, Canada and Chile. Ultimately, the best three teams at that tournament earn a ticket for Paris. I am convinced that we will achieve that with New Zealand.’
You return home as the top scorer in the big league, where it is the middle of summer. That must be a wonderful prospect.
‘Yes, that certainly feels good. Lately I’ve opened the curtains a few too many times in the morning to discover that it was wet and cold outside again, haha. Now a warm, intense hockey summer awaits. I’m excited.’
by Hockey.nl
