The bad weather which has disrupted the Hoofdklasse season means that there is a full double programme this weekend, but also that the competition will carry over until the following week unless – as seems very unlikely – the championship and relegation issues are resolved in this week’s matches. And with the rain still threatening, there may be more uncompleted matches by Sunday evening.

Last Saturday’s abandoned match between VOC Rotterdam and HBS Den Haag having been awarded to the former, they are now two points behind leaders VRA Amsterdam with three games to play. They are at home to Hermes-DVS on Saturday and away to Rood en Wit on Sunday, and will be reasonably confident of maintaining the pressure on their rivals. The top order wobbled slightly against HBS, but the side came back well enough to be ahead on points when the game was called off, confirming their claim to be VRA’s main challengers.

VRA face a rather more demanding programme, at home to HCC on Saturday and away to HBS the following day. The match against HCC in Den Haag was one of the Amsterdam side’s two defeats so far this season, and Saturday’s game is likely to be another hard-fought contest. But VRA go into the weekend knowing that they have to win twice to stay clear of the possibility of a play-off, and their strength at home seems likely to see them through.

Sunday’s match at HBS is a different proposition, and assuming that captain Billy Stelling is able to serve the one-match immediate suspension which is one of the consequences of last weekend’s events, the home side should be at full strength. The HBS attack is strong enough to test VRA’s batting as thoroughly as it did VOC’s last week, and the Amsterdammers will have proved their mettle if they pull off their second win of the weekend and stay clear at the top.

Should VRA win both matches and VOC lose, of course, then VRA will be crowned champions, but it seems more probable that the title battle will carry on until next week.

Two points behind VOC in third place, HCC still have a theoretical chance of grabbing the championship, although even a win against VRA on Saturday would be of no use unless both the leaders and VOC lost at least one other game. But they will be reasonably confident of winning their home fixture against Excelsior on Sunday, so that they will travel to Amstelveen on Saturday with a clear determination to do the part of the job that is in their hands and then hope for the best.

The relegation issue is equally uncertain, with Rood en Wit currently two points ahead of VVV Amsterdam by virtue of the penalty imposed on the latter at the very start of the season. Rood en Wit are away to Excelsior ’20 Schiedam on Saturday and then at home to VOC, while VVV are away to Voorburg and at home to Quick Haag.

All these opponents, with the obvious exception of VOC, have been pretty inconsistent all season, and while both the threatened clubs have found engineering wins extremely difficult, it isn’t unimaginable that one or other of them will raise their game sufficiently to pull off a last-minute victory.

VVV are, perhaps, more likely to spring a surprise than Rood en Wit, and they know that they have to win at least once if they are to have any chance of survival. Both VCC and Quick, therefore, will approach these games with some trepidation, and it would be unwise to bet against the possibility of a relegation play-off.

The remaining games – HBS at home to Quick Haag on Saturday and Hermes-DVS at home to Voorburg on Sunday – are only significant for the final rankings in the middle of the table, but with HBS and Quick currently level in fourth place the first of these matches will be the more influential on the final positions.

This week’s tips:
Saturday: VRA, VOC, Excelsior, VCC, Quick Haag.
Sunday: VOC, VRA, HCC, Quick Haag, Hermes.