Essington of HMS Triumph and Captain Sir Thomas Byard of HMS Bedford drove forward into the battle, Triumph coming close alongside the Dutch Wassenaar and opening a heavy fire while Bedford attacked Admiraal Tjerk Hiddes De Vries and Hercules. At the tip of the line, Beschermer was attacked by Belliqueux to starboard, Captain Inglis passing through the gap between Beschermer and Hercules. Ahead of this combat, the lead ships HMS Isis and Gelijkheid fought alongside one another, Isis having failed to break through the Dutch line and instead drawn up to port.
The Dutch central division joined the battle at the head of the line shortly after the engagement of Triumph and Bedford, causing considerable damage to all of the British vessels, particularly Venerable. The British flagship was soon isolated in the midst of the Dutch van, engaging Vrijheid, Staaten General, Admiral Tjerk Hiddes De Vries and Wassenaar simultaneously. Despite the heavy odds Duncan continued to fight hard, the British succeeded in knocking out two opponents by wounding Captain Dooitze Eelkes Hinxt of Beschermer, which drifted eastwards in confusion, while shots from either Bedford or Triumph set a powder barrel on Hercules on fire. The blaze on the latter ship, which soon spread to the sails and rigging, prompted a lull in the battle as the crew of Hercules desperately attempted to extinguish the blaze and other Dutch ships scrambled to escape the burning vessel as it drifted through the melee. Shortly afterwards, the battered Wassenaar surrendered to Triumph, with Captain Holland dead on his quarterdeck. Triumph then moved on towards the battle between Vrijheid and Venerable, at which time the crew of Wassenaar raised their colours again after being fired on by a Dutch brig.
Following Onslow's victory over the Dutch rearguard, the admiral ordered the least damaged of his ships to sail in support of the outnumbered British ships in the melee at the Dutch van. Powerful and Director were the quickest to respond, joining the attack on Vrijheid at 14:00. Russell, driving northwards to join the attack, encountered the now extinguished Hercules, whose crew had thrown all of their ammunition overboard during the fire to prevent the ship exploding. The ship was thus defenceless, Commander Ruijsoort surrendering immediately. The remainder of the British fleet now arrived in the battle, Captain John Wells of HMS Lancaster firing on the Beschermer near the head of the Dutch line. Aware that their vessel would be unable to resist the attack, Beschermer 's surviving officers turned away towards the shore, rapidly followed by the unengaged portions of the Dutch line. With the arrival of British reinforcements and the retreat of sections of the Dutch fleet, the battle was almost complete; the battered Wassenaar surrendered for the second time, to Russell, while Admiraal Tjerk Hiddes De Vries and Gelijkheid, both of which were too badly damaged to escape, also struck their colours. Eventually only the Dutch flagship remained in combat.
For an hour De Winter continued his resistance, with Director holding station off the stern of Vrijheid and repeatedly raking it. By 15:00, all three masts had been brought down, obstructing the fire of the starboard battery, while De Winter was the only officer who remained uninjured, standing on his wrecked quarterdeck and still refusing to lower his colours. In an attempt to settle the combat, Captain William Bligh of Director closed to within 20 yards (18 m) of the Dutch flagship and demanded to know if De Winter surrendered. The Dutch admiral replied "What do you think about it?", and then attempted to personally raise signals demanding reinforcements from the rest of his fleet, only to find that the halyards had been shot away. De Winter then summoned the ship's carpenter and ordered him to repair his barge, so that the admiral could transfer command to another ship and continue the battle. When British sailors from Director boarded the drifting flagship, De Winter was discovered assisting the carpenter with repairs to the barge. 