Menen had counted on home advantage to beat Aalst for the third time this season, but the excellent form of the visitors turned out to be impossible on Wednesday evening. No points gain yet after two games in the Champion Play-off for Decospan.
“Of Demented just turned out to be too strong for us, it was that simple,” assistant Jelle Sinnesael made no bones about it after the clear 0-3 defeat on Wednesday evening. “Vanneste was allowed to start in the starting line-up instead of Dukic because Mathieu was doing very well in training. He played a very solid match, but that was not enough against a Lindemans who mainly impressed serving and attacking. We were able to hang on and even clear a deficit, but again it was too limited to flashes, moments and phases. Too little consistency. The old pain, in short.”
“We may have been outclassed, but we were certainly not outplayed,” said the assistant coach. “For example, in the first set we return to 19-20 after 12-16. In the second inning we went very well until 16-15, but we still couldn't hold on. The home defeat against Aalst is less painful than last Saturday. We were better at Haasrode Leuven but didn't take anything. There was no more to it than some creditable resistance against Aalst.”
Hectic
Saturday's home match against neighbor Knack Roeselare was postponed to next Wednesday. “This gives us a week to reflect,” Jelle Sinnesael concluded. “It has been a bit hectic at Menen in recent weeks with all the news around the team and the club about people leaving or quitting, including transfer rumors. Chairman Pierre Vandeputte has expressed the intention to concentrate more on the club and that is the best thing that could happen to Decospan Menen. As an assistant, I have the utmost confidence that everything will be fine for next season. But first and foremost we have to complete these play-offs as best as possible. This group of players still has eight matches to show the best of themselves without too much pressure.”