The Hoofdklasse programme resumes on Sunday with four rounds of matches left before the play-offs, and for the teams contesting third and fourth places, not to mention trying to avoid the relegation spot, every point is indeed vital.

With Excelsior ’20 having leapt to fifth place with their win over Voorburg a fortnight ago and neighbours Hermes-DVS currently seventh, the Schiedam derby at Thurlede takes on additional significance. Their first match, at the end of May, was rained off without a ball being bowled.

The home team should be at full strength, but Hermes will be without captain Pieter Seelaar and leading batsman Nicky Statham, both of whom are with the Dutch side playing Scotland in Aberdeen. Given Statham’s importance to the batting and the injuries Hermes have been dealing with, this is a crucial handicap, and may give Excelsior the edge.

Rashid Amin’s arrival will add sharpness to the Excelsior attack, and his pairing with Mark Cleary should be interesting to watch in the season’s final weeks.

Having lost to HCC before the break, VRA know that they need to beat Amstelveen rivals ACC to be sure of maintaining what is now the slenderest of leads over second-placed VOC Rotterdam.

They are without their three internationals, however, while the injury which forced Eric Szwarczynski out of the party for Aberdeen casts a shadow over the rest of the season, both for him personally and for his team. VRA will be hoping to be strengthened by the return of skipper Darrin Murray, who missed the HCC match, and that their reserves are sufficient to beat ACC.

But wins over HCC and VVV have given ACC hope that they may after all be able to avoid bottom spot and relegation, and taking on a weakened VRA gives them a great opportunity to secure a crucial victory. Home advantage, though, may just see the leaders through.

VVV have slipped down the table recently, and this week face a difficult journey to Rotterdam to take on VOC. They will be without Mudassar Bukhari, but their hosts will be missing Maarten van Ierschot and Jelte Schoonheim.

Even so, the Rotterdam side will, as always, rely on Bas Zuiderent and Xavier Doherty to ensure them a sizeable total, and Doherty’s bowling has emerged as a trump card. For VVV Mohammad Sadiq has been remarkably consistent with the bat, and if their bowlers can contain the VOC batsmen, the batting has the potential to spring a surprise.

HCC need to string together a good series of results in the closing weeks after a disastrous period in mid-season, and they still have an outside chance of making the play-offs. But they cannot afford any more slip-ups, and this week they are away to third-placed Quick Haag.

Both sides have players in Aberdeen: opener Tom de Grooth will be missing from the HCC line-up, while Quick will be without all-rounder Geert Maarten Mol and seamer Somesh Kohli.

This may give HCC the edge, although Quick’s plentiful crop of young players ensures that they have strong reserves.

Voorburg, the season’s surprise packet, are still in fourth place, but know that they must beat HBS at Craeyenhout this week to be sure of staying there. In the longer perspective this is the sort of match Voorburg have to win if they are to maintain their challenge for a semi-final slot, while HBS will slip into the danger zone if they lose.

This, then, will be a hard-fought encounter, and one which emphasizes just how small the gap is between fourth place and the relegation zone.

This week’s forecasts: VOC, Excelsior, HCC, VRA, Voorburg.