- News release
Den Bosch build a defensive wall: six clean sheets in a row
After seven match rounds, the Den Bosch women’s team are not only unbeaten but, above all, virtually impenetrable. The league leaders have a goal difference of +29 after seven wins and have now kept six clean sheets in a row. That is remarkable, even by Den Bosch standards.
Den Bosch began the season with a 7–1 home win over Pinoké. Maria Steensma scored the 3–1 goal for the Amsterdam side in that match. It turned out to be the only goal Den Bosch have conceded so far this season.
Since Steensma’s goal, they have kept consecutive clean sheets against HGC (0–5), HDM (0–2), Bloemendaal (3–0), Amsterdam (0–2), Victoria (9–0) and SCHC (0–2). After seven matches, Den Bosch therefore have 30 goals scored and just one conceded. Their goal difference stands at +29.
Six consecutive clean sheets
Six consecutive clean sheets is a rare feat in the Hoofdklasse Women. Since the league’s inception in 1981, a team has achieved a run of at least six league matches without conceding a goal on only sixteen occasions.
Den Bosch accounts for no fewer than six of those runs. The current run is not yet a club record. In the 2020–2021 season, Den Bosch kept a clean sheet in no fewer than ten league matches in a row, which remains the Hoofdklasse record.
The start to the league season has also been exceptional
The combination of seven wins and six clean sheets is also remarkable. Before this season, only three teams had ever started the league campaign with seven wins and at least six matches without conceding a goal.
HGC achieved this in 1989–1990 and had a goal difference of 24–1 after seven matches. Den Bosch themselves followed in 2001–2002 with 27–1 and, in 2020–2021, even 25–0.
The current team is therefore only the fourth to achieve this combination — and, with thirty goals, also the most prolific of that list.
Thirteen wins in a row
Moreover, Den Bosch’s dominance did not begin this season. Since the 0–4 home defeat against SCHC on 22 March, the team has won all thirteen subsequent league matches.
Such a run is also exceptional. The last team to win at least thirteen league matches in a row in the Hoofdklasse Women was also Den Bosch. The Brabant side achieved a run of fourteen consecutive victories in 2024.
Coach Marieke Dijkstra’s side can therefore take the next step on Sunday against Rotterdam in a run that is beginning to resemble the dominant streaks of Den Bosch’s previous glory years.
Rotterdam face the Den Bosch defence once again
It is precisely their upcoming opponents who know just how difficult it is to break down Den Bosch’s defence. Rotterdam have failed to score a single goal in their last five league encounters with Den Bosch. Those matches ended 2–0, 1–0, 0–2, 0–0 and 1–0.
Amber van den Dijssel is the last Rotterdam player to have scored against Den Bosch. That happened on 29 October 2023, during a 1–6 home defeat.
On Sunday, the team will make another attempt at the Oosterplas, but given the form of the Den Bosch side outlined above, it is clear that it will be an almost impossible task.
