Today Lierse blew their last chance to be able to play in the First division next season.
Antwerp made short work of the Pallieters. It ended 3-0 at the Bosuil. Both trainers gave their verdict after the match to the press:

Herman Helleputte was disappointed but didn’t appear to be too depressed:
Of course I’m disappointed to an extent. On the other hand the pain isn’t as big as it could be because we hadn’t hoped to make the play-offs for such a long time. You also have to admit that you can draw your own conclusions if you lose twice to Antwerp.

Nevertheless Lierse was dangerous early on:
We got the first best chances via De Witte and Janssens. Jarju shot against the underside of the bar just after that.
Then you think of the unwritten rule of football - the door slammed back in your face. If you go into a duel with two defenders on one striker, you have to come away with the ball. It was a mistake by Van der Jeugt, but we’re not blaming him after he’s had such a fine season. When it then becomes 2-0, you know that it’ll be difficult, if not impossible. In the second half there was the chance for Cavens. If he scores, everything is still possible of course. I’m convinced that we fell too short in terms of competitiveness in duels. Technically speaking we have the players.

Helleputte also proffered his support to Antwerp coach Warren Joyce:
They have a good chance of winning the playoffs. Their strikers are very strong. Utaka for example, has speed and power. Olguin, Darko (Pivaljevic) clever as always. He’s even got more clever which is certainly an important trump card for Antwerp.

Warren Joyce also realised that Antwerp were fortunate in the early phase of the match:
We were lucky with the shot from Jarju against the underside of the bar, but we didn’t begin the match badly, and perhaps should have had a very early penalty. Our first half was good, we threatened regularly and scored at the right times. Lierse haven’t conceded three goals often this season, which must say something. We mainly wanted to keep the 2-0 lead. Ristovic made a superb save, and our optimum team spirit ensured that we were able to control the match. The team spirit in our team has been superb all season anyway.

Joyce stated that his team deserved to be in the play-offs:
To be honest I think that we deserve to be in the playoffs. Lierse also deserved to be, they play good football.
Luckily for us we don’t have to play against them in the playoffs. We showed the hunger and the ‘drive’  and played as a team, and as long as we play our way we have a chance and are not afraid of anybody. I’m looking forward to the next six matches.

On Lierse TV you can watch an interview with Maged Samy