GROESBEEK, Netherlands (Interstat) — De Treffers opened its Tweede Divisie season with a commanding 4-1 victory over VV Katwijk on Saturday at Sportpark Zuid, exceeding pregame projections with a dominant second-half performance.

The match, played before a home crowd on April 18, 2026, saw the hosts break open a scoreless deadlock with a rapid three-goal burst in a 12-minute span after halftime. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a far closer 2-1 finish for De Treffers, who entered with an 83.9% win probability according to the same service’s ELO ratings.

After a first half with few clear chances, midfielder Willem den Dekker ignited the home side. He opened the scoring in the 56th minute, finishing a buildup to give De Treffers a lead it would not relinquish. Den Dekker doubled his tally just seven minutes later in the 63rd minute, effectively putting the game out of reach early in the second period.

The floodgates remained open as forward Sebastiaan van Bakel added a third goal in the 68th minute, extending the advantage to 3-0 and cementing De Treffers’ control. VV Katwijk, which struggled to generate consistent offense throughout the contest, managed a late consolation goal in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Substitute Mukhtar Cabdi found the net for the visitors, assisted by fellow substitute Joey Ravensbergen, to break the shutout.

Any hope of a dramatic late comeback was extinguished almost immediately. From the ensuing restart, De Treffers drove forward and midfielder Ruben van Strien restored the three-goal margin, scoring just moments after Cabdi’s effort to finalize the 4-1 scoreline.

The match grew increasingly fractious in the final minutes. Four yellow cards were issued in a five-minute span from the 85th to the 90th minute, with Ravensbergen, Gavin Vlijter, Finn Janmaat and Bas Brussaard all booked. The contest concluded with a red card shown to VV Katwijk’s Justin Bakker in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

De Treffers’ attack was a multi-faceted effort. In addition to den Dekker’s brace and goals from van Bakel and van Strien, the assist column featured contributions from Vlijter, Ravensbergen, Janmaat and Brussaard, highlighting a spread of offensive involvement.

With the result, De Treffers begins its league campaign with a perfect record of one win and no losses, while VV Katwijk starts with one loss and no wins. The records are identical across all competitions for both clubs this season. The comprehensive victory provides a strong foundation for De Treffers in the early stages of the Dutch third-tier season, while VV Katwijk is left to regroup after a defeat that proved more lopsided than most forecasts anticipated.