April 26, 2009: Round 04 of the Vodafone Division:
HB Tórshavn – Víkingur 2-1 (1-1) 1-0 Fróði Benjaminisen 1-1 Hans Jørgin Djurhuus 2-1 Milan Kuljic
HB took the lead after a quarter of an hour when Andrew av Fløtum’s attempted scissors kick on goal from outside the penalty area instead became a perfect pass to a completely clear Fróði Benjaminsen who couldn’t miss from close range.
But Víkingur levelled around the half hour mark when Finnur Justinussen did the hard work on the right hand side before he made a perfect cross to Hans Jørgin Djurhuss at the far post who headed in the equalizer. This was Djurhuus’s third goal already this season. In previous years he has been more renowned for his yellow and red cards than for scoring goals.
But just a couple of minutes into the second half, HB restored their lead when Milan Kuljic headed in Rasmus Nolsøe’s free kick, as the defence was ball watching.
Víkingur managed to put some pressure on HB in the latter stages. The closest was Súni Olsen’s long range drive that was saved by the goalkeeper in combination with the post.
HB still didn’t show any real championship form today, and they seem to find it very difficult to create real scoring opportunities. So far HB have scored most of their goals on set pieces – a good ace too have up your sleeve, but at some stage HB will run out of aces. On the other hand, HB have now played all of the teams that were expected to be in the top half of the table, and with 9 points from 4 games, HB are well in contention.
On Wednesday these two teams meet again, but this time in the Cup competition, where Víkingur will have the home advantage.
NSÍ took the lead shortly before the halftime whistle when EB/Streymur forgot to mark Karoly Potemkin who headed home from a corner.
But EB/Streymur were level again a few minutes into the second half with a fine strike from Brian Olsen.
However, NSÍ restored their lead just moments later when Potemkin headed in his second.
Midway through the second half EB/Streymur levelled again with an incredible (wind assisted) free kick from Bárður Olsen from more than 30 metres.
NSÍ had the chance to get their nose in front again immediately with a penalty, but Óli Hansen’s penalty was saved by Gunnar á Steig who today had replaced the injured René Tórgarð.
However, what Óli Hansen couldn’t do from the spot, team-mate and namesake Einar Hansen could from 20 metres as he scored directly on a free kick to put NSÍ 3-2 up with less than 5 minutes remaining from normal time.
But it wasn’t over yet as EB/Streymur for the 3rd time found an equalizer; this time with a header from Rumanian Soren Anghel.
With 5 minutes of added time, it was almost inevitable that we were going to get a stoppage-time winner. And we did, because 2 minutes into stoppage time, Hjalgrím Elttør played Karoly Potemkin clear so that the Hungarian could complete his hattrick and win the match for NSÍ and send them to the top of the table.
At the moment, NSÍ look to be the best bet for a champion. They proved that today and they proved it last Monday when they beat HB. And so far, NSÍ is the only team that has played any kind of real football this season.
As an interesting note it could be mentioned that Karoly Potemkin was originally hired by EB/Streymur in the 2007 season as emergency striker for injured strikers Sorin Anghel and Arnbjørn Hansen. But EB/Streymur wasn’t interested in extending the deal in 2008, so Potemkin went to B36 Tórshavn who was short of attacking players. However, halfway through the season there was some issue between the player and the club who released the player who then went to NSÍ Runavík.
Match highlights: EB/Streymur vs. NSÍ Runavík:
07 Vestur – B36 Tórshavn 4-2 (2-2) 1-0 Hans Arni Ellefsen 1-1 Sam Malson 1-2 Johan Ellingsgaard 2-2 Milan Pejic 3-2 Jens Erik Rasmussen 4-2 Jens Erik Rasmussen (Pen.)
B36 who had a 100% record before today’s match crashed to a 4-2 defeat against the newcomers 07 Vestur who recorded their first points of the season.
After 07 Vestur has taken the lead after just a couple of minutes of the first half, B36 went in front inside the last quarter of the first half with goals from Englishman Sam Malson and Johan Ellingsgaard. But on the stroke of half time, Serbian player Milan Pejic equalized for 07 Vestur.
But towards the end of the match, super-veteran, 41 year-old Jens Erik Rasmussen secured victory for 07 Vestur by first scoring on a direct free kick before he added another on penalty.
With matches against AB (a), ÍF (H) and KÍ (A), 07 Vestur will think they can add more points to their tally.
B36 have a very tough schedule in front of them where they play first against neighbourd HB, then EB/Streymur (a) and NSÍ (H). After these matches, B36 could still be stranded on their 9 points which they earned for their first 3 matches.
KÍ Klaksvík – AB Argir 0-1 (0-0) 0-1 Rasmus Nielsen
After 4 rounds of the league, KÍ is the only team without a win and are rooted to the bottom of the table and the situation is starting to look critical for KÍ.
AB on the other hand have made a quantum leap in the table, adding another 3 points to the 3 they earned last week and have 4 teams under them in the table.
Goal scorer in today’s match was Rasmus Nielsen 20 minutes through the 2nd half. Nielsen came to AB from B71 Sandoy who were relegated at the end of last season.
ÍF Fuglafjørður – B68 Toftir 3-2 (1-1) 1-0 Høgni Zachariasen 1-1 Jóan Símun Edmundsson 2-1 Frank Poulsen 3-1 Andy Olsen 3-2 Ahmed Keita
Without a point for their first 3 matches the pressure was mounting on ÍF Fuglafjørður, but that pressure has eased considerably after today’s win over B68.
After ÍF had taken an early lead with a header from Høgni Zachariasen, 17-year-old Jóan Símun Edmundsson leveled the score midway through the half.
But Frank Poulsen sent ÍF on winning course early in the second half with a long range effort before Andy Olsen gave ÍF a two-goal cushion.
In the dying moments, Ahmed Keita scored a consolation for the visitors.