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Holland: Den Haag and Twente finish goalless [Sat Sep 17th, 2005]
It finished honours even at the Zuiderpark stadium as ADO Den Haag played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw with FC Twente.
Both teams had been looking to give their Eredivisie campaigns a much-needed boost following defeats last weekend.
However, it turned out to be a disappointing affair for the 5,000 spectators with chances few and far between, although the hosts were unlucky to hit the crossbar shortly after the interval.
ADO showed signs of promise in the first 10 minutes with Joonas Kolkka providing some early inspiration for the hosts.
But Michael Mols could only head Kolkka's seventh-minute free kick over the bar, while a dangerous corner from the Finnish striker two minutes later saw Jon Paul Saejs' shot cleared off the line by Twente defender Ramon Zomer.
Kolkka then stole the applause at the other end of the pitch clearing Daniel Majstorovic's header away from the goal after the Swedish defender was the first to meet Sharbel Touma's curling corner kick.
It was the last action the crowd would see in the first half however, and the interval did little to improve events with the defensive tactics of both sides continuing to make their presence felt.
Frans Adelaar's Den Haag side came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 50th minute with Kolkka once more providing the spark.
A series of exchanges with Eljero Elia saw the Finn play a neat pass through to Michael Mols, who in turn pulled the ball back to Aleksandar Rankovic allowing the midfielder to fire in a half-volley.
But although Twente goalkeeper Remco Pasveer was beaten, the woodwork intervened to deny ADO the opening goal.
The rest of the half quickly fizzled out with no further chances from either side until six minutes from time.
And Twente substitute Guilherme Afonso should have done better when a goalmouth scramble saw him drag his shot wide of the post from no more than three yards out.
PA Sport
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