So with an air of expectation, Belgium emerged from the clubrooms first, and then proceeded to quickly take an early lead against the slow-footed Devils in the first match of the day. Having watched Sydney defeat Hawthorn in the AFL grand final just hours earlier at Coco’s Outback Bar inAmsterdam, the Devils looked lethargic and took a while to swing into action.

But the Devils soon found their feet to create plenty of scoring chances from the middle of the ground and soon closed the gap, before piling on the pressure in the second half to run out convincing 66-point winners.

Up next was The Hague v Belgium, in what proved to be tightly contested, see-sawing match. Belgium led for much of the game, but after playing two matches in a row, were eventually overwhelmed by the strong-finishing The Hague Storks in the dying moments of the match. After squeezing through the last goal of the match, The Hague won by just 3 points.

That victory by the Storks set up a do-or-die final against Amsterdam, with The Hague keen to repeat their first-ever victory against the Devils in August, also at the VVV.

The Devils, Dutch Australian Football Association (DAFA) premiers in 2010 and 2011, were ready for the challenge though and slammed on several early goals against the stiff wind to take an early lead. The Storks were not to be denied, however, and bounced back to narrow the lead and head into the half-time break with their tails up and full of confidence.

The Storks threw everything against the Devils in the final half, but to no avail, as Amsterdam stood firm and foiled every attack to rebound and score crucial goals at crucial moments. The Devils eventually won by 4 goals.

A BBQ and a few social drinks after the matches ended what was a fantastic way to end the 2012 season. Plans are underway for a repeat in the 2013 season.

That ‘one day in September’ is also being staged in Amsterdam, where the Dutch Australian Football Association (DAFA) will also stage its grand final, hosting teams from The Hague, Amsterdam and Belgium for a ‘do or die’ round robin series.

From 1 pm, the reigning Dutch champs, the Amsterdam Devils, will take on The Hague Storks and the Belgium national squad at the VVV sports ground this coming Saturday.

Each match will be played in 20 minute halves and the winner crowned Benelux Champion. It’s the inaugural Benelux Cup event, so make sure you don’t miss history in the making!

Times

12 pm - Ground set-up and warm-up
1 pm - First game starts
5 pm – BBQ and beers / drinks
7 pm - Presentations and party

Address

Amstelveen Hockeyclub VVV (A.C. & H.C.)
Sportcomplex Het Loopveld
Aanloop 7 1183 SZ
Amstelveen
020-640 3502

The first quarter showed The Hague’s intent to finally break its drought of wins, as it kicked with arguably a 5 goal breeze. The Storks put on a solid performance of fast, efficient footy, booting 6 goals to the Devils’ 1. Though the first quarter wasn’t without controversy as for the first time ever in Dutch-Aussie footy history the quarter was actually timed to include stoppage play – bit too serious!?

Five goals down entering the second quarter, the Devils knew they were up against it and had to react strongly kicking with the wind – enter Aaron ‘Azza’ Gray-Block (the referee-turned-rover), who put on a master-class of hard running, skillful footy to lift the Devils. Though The Hague returned fire with young full-forward Joe Durling proving a handful on the lead and kicking accurately to keep his team’s 5-goal buffer intact.

After a heavy half-time downpour, the skies were again clear and Amsterdam started strongly, kicking the first goal of the new half with a superb end-to-end play with Dave Koh moving into attack and slotting home a scintillating team goal. Again The Hague responded by slamming home a quick fire goal. Devils’ first-gamer Rutger started to find his Australian rhythm with his constant tackling and link-up play in the centre of the park creating a second goal for the Devils and lead his team into the final quarter with a glimmer of hope at retaining their dominance over The Hague.

The final quarter started with a bang as the Devils’ midfield of Scotty, Pete and Damo starting to win the ball out of the centre square and bomb it long to the waiting forwards. Three quick goals in succession and the Devils were starting to believe in the comeback, only 2 goals down and they had the breeze! But the Storks were not going to let history pass them by and, as they had done all game, responded quickly with some fast running and long passing across the park to fire through 3 goals straight to finish off the match. Amsterdam Devils 9.12.66 to The Hague’s 15.10.100.

The Hague started the match well and dominated early, kicking the first goal and dominating possession of the pill but inaccuracy in front of the sticks meant they did not turn early possession into points.

The Devils, getting into gear, then piled on five goals to finish the quarter with a solid lead.

That set the trend for the match with The Hague playing well and sharing possession, but just having difficulty getting the scores on the board to bridge the gap from the first quarter.

The Devils finally ran out easy winners, defeating The Hague by 50 points.

Saturday May 26th – 1:00 arrive – 2:00 start – VVV Amstelveen

Saturday 2nd June – 1:00 arrive – 2:00 start – VVV Amstelveen

Saturday 30th June – 1:00 arrive – 2:00 start – VVV Amstelveen

Saturday 25th August – 1:00 arrive – 2:00 start – The Hague

Saturday 29th September – GRAND FINAL – VVV Amstelveen

**International matches TBA

Address:  The Hague Sportcomplex
Jan van Beersstraat 69
2523 JS
Den Haag
070-­393 83 41

Address:  Amstelveen Hockeyclub VVV (A.C. & H.C.)
Sportcomplex Het Loopveld
Aanloop 7
1183 SZ
Amstelveen
020-640 3502

• 1pm Ground Setup and Warm-up
• 2pm Amsterdam vs Den Haag Game Start
• 4pm BBQ
• 6pm AGM Meeting
• 7pm until late Presentations and Party

We encourage anyone and everyone to come down and support the boys, participate and join in the festivities on the day and night. There will be four trophies up for grabs that include:

• Best Expat
• Best National
• Leading Goalkicker
• Grand Final Winner

If there are any questions post a comment or contact the DAFA via the contact section on the website.

[googleMap name="VVV, Amstelveen" description="Amsterdam Australian Football Ground" width="600" height="300" typecontrol="false" directions_to="false"]Aanloop, Amstelveen[/googleMap]

The Flying Dutchman will therefore take on a team of Expats at the VVV cricket ground in Amsterdam. Make sure you’re a part of the national squad’s EU Cup build-up!

We’ll also hold a national training day at The Hague on Sept. 3 with some media coverage as the Flying Dutchman aim to take out the championship trophy this time round.

The DAFA grand final is still planned for Sept. 17 in Amsterdam with The Hague Vs The Rest.

The winning design

Wearing their current national jumper, the Flying Dutchmen have been back-to-back runners-up in the EU Cup in 2009 and 2010 following their 9th placing in the 2008 championship — a tremendous achievement.

The jumper has been worn with great enthusiasm, guts and pride, but after four years of service the DAFA has now decided it was time for a new, refreshing design.

Following a poll among playing and non-playing DAFA members, the design pictured here to the right has been selected in August 2011 as the new national jumper.

The Flying Dutchmen will wear the the new jumper for the first time at the 2011 EU Cup in Belfast in October.

Organisers are expecting this year’s event to be bigger than ever with new teams expected to make their debuts in both the Men’s and Women’s Competitions.

The tournament will be held at Queens University’s Sports Facilities, a short distance from the Belfast city centre.

For more information, click here.

Played on July 2 in Den Haag, it was again the second quarter which set the Amsterdam team up for victory as they kicked eight goals to three to take the lead and head into the second-half with their tails up.

The Devils were then unstoppable in the second-half, pouring on the pressure in the third quarter before easing back in the fourth.