In a week which saw Ajax progress into the knock-out rounds of the Europa League and spill some precious league points against FC Twente, a lot happened on the fields of De Toekomst. Headlining, though, was Jong Ajax’ meeting with Jong PSV, in a pre-game warm-up for the real deal on Sunday.
On Saturday, the U15’s impressive win streak was broken by Vitesse. It was the first loss after 41 wins for the youngsters, under former professional Nordin Wooter’s lead. In the 12th minute, Cyubahiro opened the score in a quick counter. After half time, the Vitesse striker decided the game by completing his hattrick, against an Ajax side that was missing lots of starters. 0-3 was the final score.
The U17’s played against an inspired FC Utrecht at De Toekomst, which started out impressively. That spell of dominance was very short-lived though, as Uzan grabbed his second yellow card in the 4th minute and they were down to 10. Against the remaining opponents, Ajax could play a relatively relaxed game. Bakker made it 1-0 25th minute and 5 minutes later, Margaret completed the final score by netting the 2-0.
In Utrecht, at Zoudenbalch, Aaron Winter and his U19 side faced the local FC’s agemates in a historically heated battle. The youngsters started out well, keeping the ball in possession and letting it pass around the midfield. A free kick from Struijk was the closest Ajax got to scoring, but it was sent wide.
After half time, Ajax came out of the dressing room breathing fire and immediately struck the bar. However, it took Winter’s boys a rough 70 minutes to start rewarding themselves for their great play. In the 69th minute, Zian Flemming released a successful shot from range. In the game’s final stages, Mees de Wit and Flemming both netted, creating a final score of 0-3.
A day earlier, the real headline of the weekend was played; Jong Ajax – Jong PSV in the Jupiler League. With the real firecracker being lit this coming Sunday, both Reserves gave an excellent warm-up for what could be a key game in deciding the Eredivisie title race and both club’s final standings.
Keizer’s players started out weakly against PSV, allowing the Eindhovenaren to have a few shots on goals and creating next to nothing. Clement broke the barrier though, as he has done so often this season for the Reserves, and saw his long range drive splash apart on the post. A few chances followed, but there were no goals. An error from Lartey-Sanniez gave Rosario a chance to test Krul but he failed to find the net, entering half time with a 0-0 score.
The second half gave a similar image, with Ajax dominating the play but lacking any real bite in the box. In the 60th minute, the goal was there though as substitute Kaj Sierhuis finished strongly after a freekick from Frenkie de Jong. The striker’s first goal in professional football brought Keizer the win eventually, as the game knew a few more chances but no goals.