Last-second winner sees Donk lift Challenger Cup trophy in Gouda
GZC Donk are celebrating in Gouda after downing Zaibas 12-9 to be crowned the 2024/25 men’s Challenger Cup champions. Guus van Ijperen was the hero, firing in his fifth of the game one second before the final buzzer to spark wild scenes inside the rocking Groenhovenbad arena. A powerful performance saw the Dutch side wipe out their two-goal deficit from the first-leg in the very first minute and that helped set them on the road to victory. Donk also created history as they became the first men’s team from the Netherlands to win a major European water polo trophy.
2024/25 Challenger Cup Men
Final Second-Leg
Saturday, 26th April 2025
GZC Donk (NED) 12-9 EVK Zaibas (LTU)
(Agg: 23-22)
GZC Donk got off to a dream start, as EVK Zaibas’ two-goal aggregate lead from the first-leg was wiped out inside the opening minute, and five goals from Guus van Ijperen – including a dramatic winner in the final second – helped steer his team to a sensational victory.
‘We talked about the importance of getting off to a fast start and we managed to execute that plan perfectly,’ said van Ijperen after lifting the trophy. ‘With the deficit from the first leg, we knew we had to begin quickly and give everything, and that’s exactly what we did.
‘At the end, we thought maybe the game was drifting towards a shootout, but we kept calm and knew one more goal would give us the title. The ball fell to me and I could see the clock on one [second], so I knew I just had to shoot, and it was such a relief to see the ball go in.
‘This win means so much to the club, all the players, fans and volunteers, as we have worked incredibly hard for this moment. It’s also Koningsdag [King’s Day] here in the Netherlands, so the celebrations will now be even better.’
The game opened with Jorrit van der Weijden feeding the free centre Jorn Winkelhorst, who turned and smashed his shot in for 1-0 after just 24 seconds.
The hosts were then level 26 seconds later, this time Kjeld Veenhuis capitalising on a man-up to level the overall scores.
With the drums beating in the stands and a loud local support urging the Dutch players on, Zaibas were struggling to settle in attack, and captain Jan Bakulo crashed two shots against the frame of the goal.
After almost three minutes, Luka Bosic finally found a way past Donk keeper Bendi Bognar to get the visitors off the mark with a nice action goal.
The home side’s blocks and defence were working well, suffocating the Zaibas players, and the seven-goal hero from the first-leg Marko Jelaca was being kept silent.
In the second quarter, the momentum remained with Donk, as two early strikes from Daan Schouwerwou put them 4-1 up and ahead by one on aggregate.
Bakulo soon made up for his earlier misses by finding the net from a six on five, but Guus van Ijperen was on target too from an extra to make it 5-2 midway through the quarter.
Another Bakulo strike and one from van Ijperen ended the first-half scoring at 6-3, but there was a long way to go and Zaibas came out fighting in the third.
Bosic rifled in from distance from the Lithuanians’ first attack, then Jelaca finally found his range from a six on five to wrestle back the aggregate lead with 4:42 on the clock.
Donk responded by forcing an exclusion and in the dying seconds of the man-up, Cas Westerwoudt’s shot flew into the corner, much to the sheer delight of the home supporters.
Zaibas were finding another gear, though, and it was their Croatian double world champion Ivan Krapic who scored next from a well-worked six on five for 7-6.
Van Ijperen hammered home again to level the tie once more with 23 seconds remaining in the quarter, before Quint van den Heuvel made the most of a man-up late on, beating the buzzer to make it 9-6 heading into the final eight minutes.
The noise levels were deafening at this point and Donk knew all they had to do was draw the fourth quarter and the trophy was theirs.
But Zaibas centre Krapic struck first by overpowering his marker after 48 seconds to level things up, then Donk’s 18-year-old van der Weijden was the coolest player in the arena as he collected a rebound on extra and arrowed the ball home with 5:21 left to play for 10-7.
Jelaca was just as calm as he made it 10-8 shortly after, but disaster struck for Zaibas when goalkeeper Kralj Aleksandro’s wayward pass was easily intercepted and van Ijperen was allowed to swim through on goal to make it 11-8 with 3:20 on the clock.
There was still time for Zaibas to get back on level terms overall, as after a time-out, Aurimas Jonkus scored from a six on five for 11-9.
In the last 60 seconds, the tension was clear, as both sides missed their shots, but then with 15 seconds remaining, Donk coach Joran Westerveld called a time-out to settle his team ahead of one final attack.
Time appeared to slow down as the home players passed the ball around without rushing a shot, then van Ijperen received the ball with just one second remaining and he unleashed an unstoppable effort that bounced off the water and into the net to spark the wild celebrations.
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Andy Rollé for European Aquatics
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