OG/AC

Same time, same place; 7 - 8:30ish in the AC!

VVV Venlo - FC Groningen 2-5

Berg battles VVV Venlo defenders

The first half was an easy one for the FC, scoring in the 16th (Lovre) and 45th (Berg) minute. The lead was extended in the 47th by Powel. Then FC Groningen decided to play sloppy and without a lot of inspiration. VVV took advantage of that attitude scoring twice to make the score 2-3. That apparantly awoke the FC Groningen offense once again who then scored in the 85th (Berg again) and 89th minute (Nijland goal). The win moves FC GRoningen up to 4th position.

VV Grijpskerk - ONR (Orange Nassau Roden) 2-1

#1 vs. #4 turned into a close match with chances and opportunities back and forth. VV Grijpskerk was able to come back from a 0-1 deficit in the 63rd minute and scored the equalizer just three minutes later. It took until the 88th minute before the redshirts were able to produce the winning goal. #2 Lycurgus beat #3 De Pelikanen.The season might come down to the crucial home game for Grijpskerk against Lycurgus on March the 15th. SO far, only two points separate the two teams.

FC Groningen - AZ Alkmaar 2-1

Two Marc Berg goals (PK shown here) defeated AZ Alkmaar on Sunday February 17 in the Euroborg. With the win, FC Groningen remains in 6th place, four points ahead of the 7th place team.

OG/AC

At the time of this writing it looks like we're cleared to go again on Monday February 11th at 7 pm. We should finish up around 8:30 or so.

FC Groningen - Roda JC 1-1

R E D!!!!!!!

Considering that Meerdink got ejected with more then an hour to play, the 1-1 score is quite an accomplishment. Not too many spectators thought the red card was justified. On monday the judicial committee from the Royal Dutch Soccer Association concluded that the red card should not have been issued and therefore no consequences for Meerdink other then the fact that he did not get to play the entire game. The referee agreed that he made a mistake after seeing the game video but guess what; too little, too late. But, time to move on, it's water under the bridge and Vitesse Arnhem will try to make tomorrow's game a "Bridge too far" for the Groningeners.

VV Middelstum - VV Grijpskerk 3-0

An embarrassing 3-0 defeat against lowly Middelstum by way of a collective sub par performance. One more misstep like this and Lycurgus will knock the redshirts out of first place.No games are scheduled for February the 9th and that is probably a good thing. Time to sort things out and get this baby back on track.

OG/AC update

Today, January 28 there will be OG from 7 pm until about 8:30 pm. Next week there will not be OG due to NW hosting the girls basketball sectionals. We will hopefully be back at the AC the following week, February 11th.

VV Grijpskerk- Mamio 8-1

The VV beat last place Mamio 8-1. Next week the VV will travel to Middelstum to play the local VV Middelstum. VV Grijpskerk remains in first place.

Feyenoord - FC Groningen 1-1

Only an own goal prevented the FC from going home with three points. A unneccesary own goal from Fledderus in extra time before the half put Feyenoord even with the green and whites. Until then FC Groningen was ahead by way of a 32nd minute goal by Berg (unassisted). A lack of concentration by Fledderus caused the defender to head the ball in his own goal. It was a lackluster performance in front of 42,000 by both teams. The draw puts the FC in 5th place overall.
On a side note, Rasmus Lindgren signed a contract with Ajax Amsterdam (3rd FC Groningen player to do so this season) and Erik Nevland signed with Fulham. The transfer/trade deadline is January 31st and the FC has some work to do to make up for the loss of talented players.
Go to feyenoord.nl and watch the recap of the game on "feyenoord tv".

FC Groningen-NEC Nijmegen 5-1

Mark-Jan Fledderus's celebrates his first goal (PK) in the 33rd, he would score the second goal as well.

A sold out Euroborg was the back drop for the largest win ever at the new stadium by FC Gron'ingen. A 5-1 win over NEC gives the FC some confidence going into this weekends matchup against perennial powerhouse Feyenoord. The FC also started talks with Premier League's Fulham about a transfer of 31 year old Norwegian Erik Nevland.Newly signed de Roover and Cahais will be eligible for sunday's fixture against Feyenoord.

FC Twente - FC Groningen 3-1

Lovre posesses the ball against FC TWente

FC Groningen lost to FC TWente (3-1) and fell to 5th place overall. Bruno Silva will go to Ajax (contract might be finalized yet today) and FC Groningen picked up Belgian defender Sepp de Roover from Sparta Rotterdam. FC Groningen also signed Argentinian defender Matias Cahais from Boca Juniors. Erik Nevland and FC Groningen have received an offer from Fulham for the scandinavian but the bid was declined by the FC. The ball is now in Fulham's court to see if they will increase their offer and transfer bid.

VV Grijpskerk wins Super Cup

Beating all five opponents, including the futsal team from the professional soccer organization Cambuur, meant that Grijpskerk won its second piece of hardware within a week. Winning the prestigious Super Cup sponsored by the Newspaper from the northern Netherlands "Dagblad van het Noorden" sure finishes off the winterstop period in succesful fashion. The Super Cup tourney is a tournament that consists of 8 teams who all had to qualify to even make it to this competition. Seven teams had to win their indoor tournament the weekend before, one team was invited back automatically because they won the event last year. The winner gets the chance to defend the Cup. This means that VV Grijpskerk will return again next year.

Grijpskerk in SuperCup!

Grijpskerk won the Leekster Football Gala and by doing so, qualified for the "Dagblad van het Noorden" SuperCup which will be played today. The first game will be against VV Hoogeveen,followed by games against Futsal Club Leeuwarden and LTC Assen. Winners will end up in cross/semi finals and finals,

FC Groningen - Excelsior 3-2

Lovre's winning goal in injury time.


Goran Lovre scored the winning goal in the 95th(!) minute of the game. No goals were scored in the first half but the 2nd half made up for the lack of goals in the first half. Lovre opened the score for the FC in the 58th minute but Excelsior tied the game one minute later. The green and white pride went ahead again on a Berg goal in the 64th minute. Nine minutes later the game was all even once again. Excelsior thought it would travel back to Rotterdam with a point. This was not to be; five minutes into injury time, the FC crossed a ball into the box which was completely missed by the Excelsior defense giving Lovre an unexpected opportunity. He did not hesitate and scored the winning goal giving FC Groningen the full 3 points in front of a sold out Euroborg.

No OG/AC on January 14 & 21.

On January 14 three basketball home games will be played at NorthWood, therefore we won't be able to get the AC that night. January 21 is Martin Luther King day and there will be no school or OG that day. The next OG will be on Monday January 28 at 7pm.

OG/AC January 7,2008

Open Gym at the AC will be at 7 pm and run until about 8:30 or 8:45 this coming Monday, January 7. If there is a change, an announcement will be made.

Sparta Rotterdam - FC Groningen 1-3

Stefan Nijland scores two goals at the Spangen Castle against Sparta

With two Nijland goals and a Lovre goal and assist the FC pulled off the 4th Eredivisie win in a row and with one day to go until the Dutch winterstop, FC Groningen is in 3rd place (moving ahead of Ajax!) and assured of nothing worse then 4th until the competition resumes. For FC Groningen that will be January 12th against Excelsior. With the 1-3 win at Spangen Castle (an actual castle that is part of the stadium as well as the oldest football ground in the Dutch Premier League)FC Groningen also has as many goals scored as goals given up. FC Groningen ended 2007 very strong and look to stay in the top 5 to contend for a spot in UEFA or Champions League competition in 2008.

FC Groningen - PSV 2-1

Berg scores against PSV Eindhoven.

On 2nd Christmas Day/Boxing Day it was FC Groningen who were able to overcome a 0-1 deficit to beat the rich boys from the south. Despite falling behind in the first half, FC Groningen was able to play with inspiring motivation in front of a sold out Euroborg. With 2 goals in the second half the FC won again at home while moving up to 4th place behind the three perennial dutch powers with only one game to go (against Sparta Rotterdam this weekend) before the Dutch soccer winterstop.