B36 took the lead with a penalty within a couple of minutes from kick-off. Odmar Færø played the through-ball into NSÍ's penalty area where defender Óli Hansen's mistake let the ball go to Bergur Midjord who did nothing to stay on his feet when NSÍ goalkeeper Tórður Midjord came out of his goal. B36 captain Klæmint Matras bombarded the spotkick into the back of the net.
But within 10 minutes of the game, NSÍ had restored parity. A 50 meter-long diagonal pass from left back Einar Hansen played Jónhard Frederiksberg clear on the right hand side of the penalty area, when B36's left back Alex dos Santos was negligent, and Frederiksberg lifted the ball over the out-rushing goalkeeper and into the empty goal.
Frederiksberg should have given NSÍ the lead later in the half, but clear in front of goal, his effort went over the bar.
In the 2nd half, B36 had NSÍ on their knees for the last 25 minutes of the match, but several clear-cut chances were wasted in a combination of poor finishing from B36 and great goalkeeping from Jens Martin Knudsen's successor in the NSÍ-goal, Tórður Thomsen. Twice he saved from a clear Karoly Potemkin – the 2nd of those saves coming in virtually the last kick of the match, 5 minutes into stoppage time.
NSÍ's defence looked unusually insecure for great parts of the 2nd half. – Maybe because central defender Jóhann Troest Davidsen went off injured early in the first half.
For B36, always unlucky Ingi Højsted was missing in midfield because of the knee-injury he got in the cup tie against 07 Vestur a week ago, and the news is that he will be out for at least 6 weeks.
NSÍ now travel to Iceland, where they meet Icelandic champions Valur in the Atlantic Cup on Saturday, before they visit B68 on Saturday 19 April, where they shouldn't have any problems winning.
B36 will think they should have bagged 3 points today, because they did create the opportunities for it. However, B36 proved that they can give any team a run for their money on home soil. Although Víkingur made a great start to the season by beating B68 4-1, they could very well find it difficult when they visit B36 on Sunday 20 April.
April 11, 2008:
Víkingur – ÍF Fuglafjørður 0-1 (0-1)
0-1 Frank Poulsen
New ÍF coach, David Jones, got a perfect start to his reign as ÍF coach as his team beat neighbours Víkingur 1-0 in tonight's match. David Jones, from England, was the star player for ÍF in 1979 when ÍF won the title, although Jones left the club a few matches before the end of the season because of some disagreements. This was his first match in charge, taking over from Abraham Løkin, who served as a caretaking coach for Jón Simonsen, who stopped shortly before the season's start because of personal reasons.
The first 45 minutes of today's match were quite even, but around the half-hour mark, ÍF took the lead thanks to Frank Poulsen's goal. In the 2nd half, Víkingur pressed hard for the equalizer, but hitting the woodwork was the nearest they came.
Next Sunday, 20 April, ÍF take on Skála, who lost 8-1 against HB in the 1st round, and ÍF will now fancy their chances of doubling their points-tally in the table.
Víkingur travel to Tórshavn to entertain B36, where B36 must now be considered favourites.
April 13, 2008:
HB Tórshavn – B71 Sandoy 3-0 (3-0)
1-0 Hendrik Rubseksen
2-0 Fróði Benjaminsen
3-0 Andrew av Fløtum
B71 thought they had taken the lead after a corner after 5 minutes, but joy quickly turned into disappointment when they learned that the referee had disallowed the goal. And that disappointment grew to despair when HB half a minute later took the lead with a goal from Hendrik Rubeksen, who was clear in front of goal.
10 minutes later, central defender Fróði Benjaminsen put HB 2-0 up. He broke a B71-attack in midfield and played the ball over to the right hand side and continued his run forward. Andrew av Fløtum then made a flat cross in front of goal, where Benjaminsen sneaked in to get his foot on the ball and swept it over the goal line.
Midway through the half, HB made it 3-0. Christian Høgni Jacobsen was through on goal and attempted to lift over B71's goalkeeper Símun Rógvi Hansen, who was quick out of his goal, but Jacobsen – who looked to be fouled by the keeper – placed his effort off target, but Andrew av Fløtum was on place to turn Jacobsen's effort into the empty goal (maybe the referee will register the goal as an owngoal, as a desperat B71-defender maybe touched the ball on the line).
Not long after, B71's Símin Hansen was sent off for a 2nd bookable offence.
But before that, Hansen had been close to reducing the score when his freekick clipped the crossbar.
Shortly before halftime, Brazilian Flavio was unlucky not to score, but his shot hit the upright, with Marcin David in the HB-goal well beaten.
The 2nd half was a very boring encounter. With a man in deficit, there wasn't much hope for B71 in getting a result from the match anyway, so the emphasis was put on defending. At the same time HB seemed reasonably content with the 3-0 score-line, and except from a few long range efforts, HB didn't create many scoring opportunities.
B71 had maybe one decent scoring chance in the 2nd half, but the shot was straight on the goalie.
On Wednesday, HB play the 1st leg of the cup semifinal against B36, before they next Sunday visit KÍ Klaksvík, who has made a very poor start to the season. Anything but 3 points to HB there will come as a surprise.
B71 play EB/Streymur in the Cup semifinal on Wednesday, before the same teams meet again in the league next Sunday. B71 will again be underdog.
Without impressing, EB/Streymur bagged 3 points to keep their 100% record. Arnbjørn Hansen put EB/Streymur 1-0 up, but shortly before halftime, B68 were awarded a penalty for hands. Jann Ingi Petersen rarely misses those, and he didn't this time either.
In the 2nd half, EB/Streymur upped the tempo, and Arnbjørn Hansen scored twice to get his hattrick and 3 points for EB/Streymur.
With a match away to B71 Sandoy next Sunday, their 100% record should still be intact after that match, although B71 can be difficult to beat at home.
In B68's 1st round match against Víkingur, B68's new Senegalese player, defender Landing, received a nasty knee injury that will keep him out for most of the season. And in the cup game prior to that one (against B71), Jóhan Petur Poulsen broke his leg. There seems to be an unwritten rule, that if you are a bottom-team, bad luck will hit you from all angles.
But on a happier note, B68's other foreigners, goalkeeper Vlada Filipovic and Senegalese Ndende og Keita have now received their working permits. And veteran Øssur Hansen, who had called it a day, has decided to give a helping hand – or foot.
And they will need all the help they can get as their next match is against champions NSÍ Runavík.
Former giants, KÍ, are after today's loss rooted to the bottom of the table. Sure, it's still early days, but for many KÍ supporters today's table must still be a frightening sight: No. 10: KÍ Klaksvík!
But it started well for them today as they took the lead halfway through the first half with a Símun Joensen goal.
However, Skála's Nigerian forward "Óbi" (Obele Okeke Onyebuchi) equalized shortly before halftime. And about half an hour into the 2nd half, Óbi scored his 2nd with a header from a corner to earn Skála 3 precious points.
KÍ take on HB next Sunday, and that could very well produce this table: KÍ: played 3, points 0.
Skála will visit ÍF next, and that looks like anybody's game.