August 15 & 16, 2009: Round 19 of the Vodafone Division:

August 15:

B36 Tórshavn – AB Argir 0-2 (0-0)
0-1 Rasmus Nielsen
0-2 Stig-Roar Søbstad

With a 2-0 win over B36, AB Argir made absolutely sure that they will be competing in the top flight again next season. This was AB’s 3rd win in succession.

After a goalless first half which AB had dominated, Rasmus Nielsen broke the deadlock in the second half before new Norwegian signing Stig-Roar Søbstad made the points safe with his third goal for AB in as many matches.

B36 on the other hand are in real danger of relegation as they are only 3 points clear of KÍ Klaksvík in 9th place. B36 have a game in had though, the postponed away-match against EB/Streymur which will be played on 26 august.

In Round 21 on 23 August B36 take on KÍ in a match that could prove to be a very deciding factor for the faith of these two former giants. A win for B36 would take them 6 points clear of KÍ, while a win for KÍ would make them level.

But this scenario could have changed before then as B36 have the chance to get points away to ÍF Fuglafjørður in round 20 on Wednesday, but B36 have often found it difficult in Fuglafjørður. KÍ have two difficult matches before they meet B36; tomorrow they visit NSÍ Runavík and on Wednesday they take on 2nd place Víkingur.

Earlier in the week B36 announced that they had appointed Sigfríður Clementsen as assistant coach to Mikkjal Thomassen. Clementsen was sacked at EB/Streymur after the cup final at the end of last month.

16 August:

HB Tórshavn – B68 Toftir 3-1 (2-0)
1-0 Andrew av Fløtum (pen)
2-0 Andrew av Fløtum
3-0 Bjarni Jørgensen
3-1 Jóhan Petur Poulsen

B68 had travelled to Gundadalur with a weakened team as centre back Jóhan Dávur Højgaard was missing through suspension, while left back Niclas Joensen and left midfielder Øssur Hansen were missing through injury. Half-injured midfielder Óli Olsen started the match on the bench.

HB tried to take advantage of the situation right from the start and had two qualified finishes in the first 5 minutes with long range efforts from Rógvi Poulsen and Milan Kuljic, although B68 goalkeeper Vlada Filipovic saved comfortably.

But before 10 minutes were gone, HB were 2-0 up.

On 6 minutes Rógvi Poulsen took advantage of a blunder in the B68 defence and got clear, but was then brought down by Pól Jóhannus Justinussen. Without replay it was difficult to tell if the foul had been done inside or outside the area. But the referee pointed to the spot. And as Justinussen was the last defender, he couldn’t escape the red card. Andrew av Fløtum made no mistake from the spot.

B68 now had to re-organize and moved Ndende from midfield to the centre back position. Down to 10 men and without both of their normal centre backs, B68 were now an easy target for HB. And it took only a couple of minutes to double the lead. Páll Mohr Joensen kept his cool and resisted the temptation of playing Andrew av Fløtum who was clear in an off side position. Instead he played a diagonal pass across to the left hand side where Rógvi Poulsen came storming forward. Poulsen’s shot was half-cleared by Filipovic, but av Fløtum followed up to put the ball into the back of the net.

Less than 10 minutes gone and the match looked decided already.

HB didn’t do much for the rest of the half and mostly just moved the ball around quietly.

B68 didn’t look capable of scoring although Keita tried his best, but usually he was too isolated up front with 4 HB defenders. Sometimes it was entertaining seeing his ball control and speed, but it never became really dangerous.

After André Olsen had gone close with a free kick for B68 early in the second half, also HB were down to 10 men a few minutes later when Andrew av Fløtum was sent off for a second bookable offence after a vicious - and completely unnecessary - tackle on midfield.

But before B68 could take advantage of the situation, HB had increased the lead to 3-0 when winger Bjarni Jørgensen broke through on the right hand side around the hour mark. Vlada Filipovic parried Jørgensen’s first attempt which was from a tight angle, but could do nothing with Jørgensen’s second attempt from the same position.

In the last 30 minutes of the match B68 did create a few clear-cut chances, but HB’s win was never really threatened.

Keita hit the post from a free header from the goal area after a fine cross from Óli Olsen who had come on late in the first half and was maybe, together with Keita, B68’s best man. But with about 10-15 minutes remaining, Olsen should have reduced the score when he had done all the hard work and rounded HB’s goalkeeper Símun Rógvi Hansen to roll the ball in the empty goal, but left back Poul Thomas Dam chased it down and saved off the line.

With less than 10 minutes remaining of normal time, B68 got a consolation goal with a header from Jóhan Petur Poulsen after a cross from Olsen as HB’s defence was sleeping.

As also Víkingur lost today, HB increase the lead at the top of the table to 10 points, and with only 8 rounds remaining, HB look set to take their 20th Faroese title. B68 dropped to 4th spot in the table, 1 and 2 points adrift of NSÍ Runavík and Víkingur in 3rd and 2nd spot, respectively.

NSÍ Runavík - KÍ Klaksvík 3-2 (0-2)
0-1 Odmar á Lakjuni
0-2 Stefan Kalsø
1-2 Christian Høgn Jacobsen
2-2 Jann Ingi Petersen
3-2 Karoly Potemkin

KÍ took the lead after only 4 minutes when Heðin á Lakjuni set up his brother Oddmar á Lakjuni with an easy finish.

NSÍ created enough of opportunities to equalize, but Jákup Mikkelsen made a couple of crucial saves to keep NSÍ at bay. Instead it was KÍ who doubled their lead in first half’s added time when Hjalgrím Elttør cut back to Steffan Kalsø who fired the ball into the back of the net via the crossbar.

But within the first quarter of an hour of the second half, NSÍ had managed to equalize. Christian Høgni Jacobsen scored the first on a rebound after Karoly Potemkin had hit the post with a header from a corner. Jann Ingi Petersen scored the second a few minutes later directly from a free kick into an empty goal as he Jákup Mikkelsen was setting up the wall.

And with a quarter of an hour remaining, Karoly Potemking finally saw an end to his goal drought, which has lasted since round 11, when he scored the winning goal on a rebound from Christian Høgni Jacobsen who had headed on the crossbar.

Points could have done wonders for KÍ, but with only 3 points up to B36 in 8th spot, nothing is decided yet.

Víkingur - ÍF Fuglafjørður 2-3 (0-1)
0-1 Øssur Dalbúð
0-2 Øssur Dalbúð
1-2 Andrea Lava Olsen
1-3 Balazs Sinko
2-3 Súni Olsen (pen)

Víkngur’s weak flicker hope of catching HB Tórshavn came to an end as they were beaten 3-2 by neighbours ÍF Fuglafjørður who at the same time took a giant leap away from relegation. This was ÍF’s first away win of the season.

Recent signing Øssur Dalbúð put ÍF 2-0 up with goals late in the first half and early in the second half.

Andreas Lava Olsen reduced the score almost immediately after Finnur Olsen’s through-ball had beaten ÍF’s off side trap.

But ÍF restored the two-goal cushion some 20 minutes through the second half with a shot from Balazs Sinko.

Víkingur responded quickly with a penalty from Súni Olsen 4 minutes later.

In the dying moments Finnur Justinussen had a great chance to salvage a point for Víkingur, but he blasted the shot high over the goal.

EB/Streymur - 07 Vestur 1-0 (0-0)
1-0 Arnbjørn Hansen

After two humiliating losses against AB Argir and ÍF Fuglafjørður following their 7-0 win over KÍ Klaksvík, the defending champions – but not for long – got back to winning ways with a win over lowly 07 Vestur. But they needed a stoppage time goal from Arnbjørn Hansen who took advantage of a blunder in the 07 Vestur defence.