Combative Dessel has to keep his fingers crossed against pros: “Next weeks are more important” (Dessel)

A week after the satisfying home win against Tienen, Dessel Sport lost 3-0 on the field to leader La Louvière. The boys of coach Bart Janssens played a more than creditable first period, but the professionals of the home team eventually brought green and white to their knees. The results of the coming weeks will help determine how Dessel Sport’s season will continue.

La Louvière, which played a cup match against Anderlecht last Tuesday, started the match most sharply. Still, Dessel Sport showed itself ready to take on the battle against Goliath. “We had agreed in advance that we would play with five at the back,” says Stan Kolen. “The intention was to properly absorb the attacking block of the home team and that worked very well in the first half. We also managed to beat the clock with a certain regularity. I thought we played very good football in that first half.”

Books closed after halftime

Halfway through the match, no goal had yet been scored and Dessel Sport still had every hope of bringing something to the Kempen. “Logically, nothing was adjusted during halftime,” the defender continues. “Everything ran smoothly so there was no reason to make any changes. A not unimportant detail was the call to be a little calmer on the ball. At times we may have played football a little too hastily, while La Louvière gave us quite some time to play football. Soon after the break we had to chase after the break, but even afterwards we were on the wrong track several times. Anyway, the home team is made up of professionals and you start to notice that over time. Shortly before the end they scored two more goals to make it 3-0. Are those figures exaggerated? If you look at the first half, that seems like too harsh a verdict, but based on the entire match they do give an accurate picture. There is a difference in quality and that eventually came to the surface. Although I must say in the same breath that I was not blown away by La Louvière. Of course they are the rightful leader, but I expected them to be even stronger.”

Crucial weeks

Dessel Sport had to return to the bus empty-handed, albeit with its head held high, and take note of the harsh reality that it will not be able to get out of the basement of the rankings for the time being. We couldn’t catch Stan Kolen being nervous at all. “You can say that a possible loss of points at La Louvière had been taken into account. We perhaps showed a little too much respect for them, but we also know that we should not come here to get our points. The next two weeks are more important in that regard. The results of the home match against OH Leuven U23 and the move to Winkel Sport will determine what our remaining season will look like. We have to get at least four points from those two games, although I should actually say six points,” concludes Kolen.