August 30 & 31, 2009: Round 22 of the Vodafone Division:

August 30

HB Tórshavn – Víkingur 1-1 (1-0)
1-0 Rógvi Poulsen
1-1 Sølvi Vatnhamar

It was Víkingur who had the early pressure but it was HB who had the first qualified finish after 15 minutes when Andrew av Fløtum took a cross down with his chest, turned and fired towards goal, but Geza Turi in the Víkingur goal reacted quickly to tip the ball over the crossbar with a terrific save.

A couple of minutes later Víkingur had their best chance when a through-ball played Andreas Lava Olsen clear of the HB defence, but Marcin David was quick out of his goal to block the shot from Lava Olsen.

Later HB went close with a free kick from Rókur av Fløtum Jespersen, before Súni Olsen at the other end forced HB goalkeeper Marcin Dawid to make a great diving save from Olsen’s always dangerous free kicks.

Víkingur could also have taken the lead from another Olsen free kick earlier that was knocked in to the penalty area, but Finnur Justinussen header was off target.

Generally it was Víkingur who had been the better side for most of the half, but towards the end HB finally started to string some passes together and after 37 minutes it paid dividend when Andrew av Fløtum brilliantly played Rógvi Poulsen clear, and Poulsen easily dribbled around the goalkeeper and wrong-footed a couple of defenders before he scored into the empty goal.

Within the first 5 minutes of the second half HB nearly made it 2-0 after a fine attack with many combinations, but the opportunity looked gone when they lost the ball in the penalty area, but careless defending allowed Andrew av Fløtum to get the ball back and shoot, but the ball bounced off the upright.

But a few minutes later Víkingur had equalized. Finnur Justinussen was played clear but he shot right on the goalkeeper and the chance went begging. – Well, it should have, but the HB defence who should have been in full control of the situation just stood there doing nothing and allowed Sølvi Vatnhamar to get the ball and fire it into the back of the net for 1-1. It looked comical!

The equalizer looked to be short-lived when HB were awarded a penalty just a couple of minutes later. But it looked like a really soft penalty which the referee probably got wrong. However, you who regularly follow Faroese football on this website know that penalties are not a real scoring opportunity in the Vodafone Division – as such. And yes, you guessed right: Andrew av Fløtum missed the penalty. So maybe justice was done. This was av Fløtum’s 2nd miss out of 5 tries this season. But he doesn´t have to be ashamed as the missing percentage is well over 40%!
Update: HB has a picture from the penalty situation. The text on the picture is: “Penalty? You be the judge…!"

Víkingur went extremely close to another goal when Zoltan Bukzsegi’s shot was deflected and threatened to go in just inside the post, but Marcin Dawid reacted incredibly quick to change direction and dive to divert the ball around the post.

Bjarni Jørgensen later went close with at free kick, but it was 35 cm over the goal. The foul that led to the free kick should have produced another yellow card for the Víkingur player who had already received one earlier in the match, but the referee didn’t have the courage; as if he was compensating for the penalty earlier.

For the most, it was Víkingur who had a slight edge during the second half, but in the last 10 minutes it was more even again as both teams pressed on for the win.

HB went close late on, but Milan Kuljic’s powerful header went into the side netting.

In one incident, Víkingur´s central defender Atli Gregersen lost his temper and seemed to fist his own captain on the head – or at least tried to.

If EB/Streymur win against NSÍ Runavíik on Moday, HB’s lead in the table will shrink to 8 points which should still be plenty enough for the title with only 5 matches remaining.

07 Vestur – B36 Tórshavn 2-0 (1-0)
1-0 Owngoal
2-0 Tamba Yarjah

With a convincing 2-0 win over B36 Tórshavn, 07 Vestur move off the bottom place and leapfrog KÍ Klaksvík, although it’s only goal difference which separates them. But as both are only 3 points adrift of B36 in the lifesaving 8th place and 5 points from ÍF in 7th place, nothing is decided yet.

07 Vestur took the lead about a quarter of an hour through the match when Milan Pejcic's free kick was knocked into the penalty area and somehow ended in the goal and was credited as an owngoal.

Around the hour mark Tamba scored on a rebound from B36’s the goalkeeper after Jens Erik Rasmussen’s initial shot.

If 07 Vestur beat AB on away soil in the next round (which is not before 12 and 13 September because of the internationals against Austria and Lithuania) and B36 lose against HB, then 07 Vestur and B36 will be equal on 21 points.

On paper, 07 Vestur’s remaining matches over the coming rounds look less frightening than B36’s:

07 Vestur: AB (a), ÍF (h), KÍ (a), B68 (a) and HB (h) (only 2 top 5 teams).

B36 Tórshavn: HB (h), EB/Streymur (a), NSÍ (h), Víkingur (a), B68 (h) (all top 5 teams).

KÍ Klaksvík – AB Argir 1-1 (1-0)
0-1 Tróndur Sigurðsson
1-1 Atli Danielsen

After AB had taken the lead midway through the second half with a goal from striker Tróndur Sigurðsson, KÍ managed to salvage a point in the dying minutes when Atli Danielsen scored on a rebound from his own missed penalty (which makes it 14 missed penalties out of 33 = 42.4% (must be some kind of a record for the top division in a FIFA member country)).

In added time temper boiled over in both camps and KÍ’s Høgni Madsen (who changed from NSÍ in the summer break) was given the red card. This is his second red card in successive games as he also got one in the last match he played when they beat Víkingur 2-0 and was therefore suspended in the crucial match away to B36 last Sunday. Now he will again be suspended in the equally as crucial match against ÍF Fuglafjørður in the next round.

B68 Toftir – ÍF Fuglafjørður 5-2 (3-1)
1-0 Ahmed Keita
2-0 Óli Olsen (pen)
2-1 Andy Olsen
3-1 Ahmed Keita
4-1 Debes Danielsen
5-1 Ahmed Keita
5-2 Rógvi Jacobsen

Having earned only a single point in their last 4 matches, B68 bounced back with an emphatic 5-2 win over ÍF who are looking nervously at the table again.

Less than 2 minutes had been played when Óli Olsen played Keita clear to give B68 the lead, and on 27 minutes it was Olsen’s turn to score when he converted a penalty that had been awarded to Keita.

ÍF reduced the deficit with 10 minutes remaining when Andy Olsen scored on a rebound from B68 goalkeeper Vlada Filipovic, but shortly before halftime Keita restored B68’s 2-goal cushion.

Midway through the second half Debes Danielsen increased to 4-1 before Jóan Símun Edmundsson set up Keita to complete his hat trick. With his 3 goals today, the Senegalese moves level with Víkingur’s Finnus Justinussen at the top of the goal scorer list with 14 goals each.

As the match was drawing to a close, Rógvi Jacobsen scored a late consolation for ÍF.

In all fairness, it should be mention that ÍF missed several of their defensive players either through suspension or injury.

ÍF are still 5 points clear of the relegation line, but that margin could shrink quickly if ÍF doesn´t beat KÍ Klaksvík in the next round.

August 31

EB/Streymur – NSÍ Runavík 2-2 (1-0)
1-0 Dánjal Davidsen
1-1 Christian Høgni Jacobsen
2-1 Arnbjørn Hansen
2-2 Christian Høgni Hansen

After this evening’s draw with NSÍ Runavík, EB/Streymur go 2 points clear in the runners up position, while NSÍ jump from 5th to 4th, 3 points adrift of EB/Streymur.

But at the same time, it means that HB Tórshavn now only need two wins in the remaining 5 matches to make sure of the title as that would take HB to 54 points, as EB/Streymur can only reach 53 points if they win the rest of their remaining 5 matches.

In today’s match EB/Streymur took the lead seven minutes before the break when defender Dánjal Davisen was at the end of a free kick.

Einar Hansen almost equalized for NSÍ on the stroke of half time when he curled a free kick on the post.

But 5 minutes into the second half Christian Høgni Jacobsen equalized for NSÍ as he took advantage of a defensive blunder by Davidsen who apparently was a better attacker than defender today.

EB/Streymur restored their lead with a quarter of an hour left with a goal from Arnbørn Hanssen who scored on a rebound after goalkeeper Meinhardt Joensen had saved EB/Streymur's initial effort.

But it took only six minutes until Christian Høgni Jacobsen again had equalized for NSÍ.

Only 3 points separate EB/Streymur in 2nd place and Víkingur in 5th place.