Thankfully the last ADO match occurred on a mild evening, which was a good thing.  At times, this was a boring and dour encounter.

From the first whistle ADO went on the attack and forced a first minute corner. Rankovic crossed the ball on to the head of Cornelisse, which almost deceived Jelle van Rouwelaar in the NAC goal, who had managed to palm the ball away into the air where two players collided and managed to ricochet the ball just over the bar.

For the next twenty minutes nothing happened apart from bad crossing and passing from both teams. ADO where having the greater possession in midfield and linking play nicely to both flanks, only for the final delivery to go out of play or to a waiting opponent, even when there was no pressure on.

Twenty one minutes and NAC take an undeserved lead. They gain their first corner of the match. Swung in with no real pace it left the ADO defence flat footed and an unmarked Nourdin Boukhari stooped low to squeeze the ball over the line with a gentle header.

NAC got into their stride as the half progressed. Took them too long in my opinion, as I was expecting them to come charging at ADO after they were beaten 0 – 4 in Breda only last December. A sustained period of attacking play by the visitors put an unconvincing Boy Waterman under a lot of pressure. Time after time he mistimed his handling. He dropped catches, missing punched clearances. The defence looked shaky as they lost confidence in the man at the back.

The forty second minute saw a serious injury occur to a NAC player. Fouad Idabelhay was racing through on goal when he seemed to trip over a divot in the grass. No one was near him as he tumbled. Immediately it looked bad as the trainer was called on to the pitch. After three minutes of treatment he was taken away by stretcher to warm applause by both sets of fans. He was replaced by Anthony Nurling.

As NAC adjusted their team, ADO went on the attack again, forcing a corner on the left. For only the second time in the half, a decent corner flew in to be met by the head of Timothy Derijck, who powered a header just wide of the post.

With seconds remaining of the half, ADO pressed on forward, searching for the equalizer. A move that started from the back opened up the NAC team in the center of the pitch.  simple ball would have put one of the three forward players in on goal. But then they lost the plot, for some unknown reason the entire ADO team stopped still, and the ball just rolled slowly in to no mans land. A NAC player just casually collected the ball and started a move that went nowhere. This lack of aptitude by the ADO team was met by a cacophony of boos and jeers from the home support. They must have been glad when the whistle blew for half time.

Three minutes in to the second half, Karim Soltani raced down the left wing, cutting inside close to the byline and fired in a low hard cross which was blocked and bounced back to him. In one quick movement he struck for goal which the NAC keeper did well to save at the bottom of the post, turning the ball aside for a corner.

ADO were now forcing the issue, winning 50/50 balls, running for each other - a big difference from the first half. NAC were under a lot of pressure, but at no time looked in dander of conceding a goal, as ADO lacked that final punch. On fifty five minutes NAC needed to relive the pressure they were under and just hoofed the ball long up the field, almost catching ADO out. It was a straight race to the ball between keeper Waterman and NAC forward Csaba Feher. Waterman won the race, just, sliding out of his box to knock the ball clear.

For ten minutes ADO became the team they were in the first half, no cohesion at all, like a team of strangers which could not put two passes together. The crowd got on the backs of the ADO team - they looked clueless.

Sixty one minutes later, there was an ADO substitution, Rick Hoogendorp replacing Richard Knopper. That change was greeted by a loud roar as the local favourite came on.

The handbags were out on sixty seven minutes when an over reaction by ADO’s Mitchell Pique to an innocuous challenge by Tyrone Loran sparked a twenty one man melee of pushing and shoving, quite pathetic really. Both players were awarded the yellow card. From the resulting free kick Rob Penders of NAC clattered in to the back of Lex Immers. Free kick was given, twenty three meters from goal. Seventy one minutes had passed as Hoogendorp ran up and sweetly struck a curving shot accurately in to the right hand corner of the NAC net 1 - 1, scoring his 100th goal in Eredivisie (Champions League) football.

ADO piled the pressure on and looked in total control. Hoogendorp was an inspiring figure as all his team mates reacted to him and matched his tireless attitude.

In the ninetieth minute, a needless foul on Joonas Kolkka resulted in a great free kick which Waterman did well to punch clear outside his area, only to be retuned on the volley by Feher that whizzed just wide of the post.

In the last seconds of the game, ADO broke forward quickly. Hectic defending kept ADO out until the ball fell to an open Berry Powel just inside the area. With the goal at his mercy with only the keeper to beat, he took too much time and as he struck a fierce shot, two defenders threw themselves in front to save the game. The final whistle blew and Powel’s head dropped, knowing he could have, and should have won the game.

A draw was a fair result, although ADO could have snatched it at the end. The crowd went home relatively happy after the match. Four points from the last two home games, a nice return. If that continues, it should see them still playing top flight football next season. Man of the Match: Rick Hoogendorp. From the moment he stepped on the pitch as a second half substitute, Ado became a far better and more determined team.

Attendance 10, 000

Next home fixture for ADO is on March 8th against Ajax.

Neal McClimon

www.itpphotography.com

If you wish to comment or express an opinion about this article please e-mail the editor@TheHagueOnLine.com