Düsseldorf beat Tilburg Trappers 7:1 in a club friendly match on Thursday evening. The final score matched exactly what happened when the two sides met back in March, when the visitors also won 7:1. Tilburg came off a run of mixed results, including that heavy defeat to Düsseldorf and a 0:6 loss to Hannover Scorpions. Düsseldorf had been more consistent recently, with wins over Bietigheim and Freiburg in their last five games.
There were no minute-by-minute events supplied for this fixture, so the match flow remains unknown. What is clear is that Düsseldorf were clinical on the night, while Tilburg struggled to contain them. The visitors showed up with confidence after their 4:2 victory over Bietigheim just a week prior.
Tilburg's recent form has been uneven at best. They beat Hannover Scorpions 4:3 and Hannover 7:4 in February, but those wins were sandwiched between losses to Halle and Hannover. The March defeat to Düsseldorf was particularly harsh, and this result suggests the pattern continued.
>Düsseldorf's record since March shows some recovery. After losses to Landsberg and Lausitzer Füchse in early March, they bounced back with a 6:4 win over Freiburg. That momentum carried through to their latest friendly against Bietigheim and now Tilburg.
The 7:1 margin tells you everything about the gulf between these sides on this occasion. Tilburg will be disappointed to see their earlier result repeated, while Düsseldorf proved they can still dominate when they click.