August 20 & 22, 2010: Round 19 of the Vodafone Division:

August 20

NSÍ Runavík - EB Streymur 0-0
NSÍ will be the more satisfied team with the one point as they'll still keep HB in second place at least 5 points (which is in effect 6 as NSÍ have a far superior goal difference) behind, while EB/Streymur's role in the title-hunt is becoming an obscure one as they trail the leaders by 9 points.

EB/Streymur's only realistic hope of winning the title was by winning Friday's match, and then do the same on Wednesday again when the same teams meet again – this time with EB/Streymur as hosts. With that scenario, the gap between NSÍ and EB/Streymur would have been only 3 points.

The match was quite even throughout the 90 minutes, where the better football was played during the first half which also produced the better scoring opportunities.

EB/Streymur went closer to scoring in the first half when Gudmund Nielsen had an effort on the bar 10 minutes from halftime. A few moments later, Leif Niclasen squandered a fine opportunity for EB/Streymur. Niclasen, who a couple of seasons ago was re-schooled from forward to left back, was again used as a striker in this match as he replaced Arnbjørn Hansen who started on the bench after being stretchered off having sustained a head injury in the 1-1 draw against B68 last Monday. On the positive side, EB/Streymur had Brazilian left back Alex dos Santos back in the line-up, having been sidelined since he broke the collarbone early in the season.

NSÍ also had their opportunities; especially in the first half an hour, but René Tórgarð in the EB/Streymur goal made a couple of fine saves to keep NSÍ at bay.

The second half produced little of structured play and scoring opportunities were few and far between.

As mentioned, the same teams play again on Wednesday. This will also be the case for the other matches on Sunday. That’s because round 15, which was originally scheduled to be played in late June, has been postponed to Wednesday. The only exception is ÍF vs AB who played their 15th round match on 3 July.

August 22

HB Tórshavn – B68 Toftir 1-0 (1-0)
1-0 Thorður Hreiðarsson

HB got the 3 necessary points that they needed if they want to keep up the pressure on NSÍ, but it wasn’t convincing.

The goal came already in the 2nd minute of the match when Icelandic central defender Thórður Hreidarsson headed home at the near post from a corner.

Actually, HB were just a whisker from taking the lead in the first minute when Símun Samuelsen fired from 35-40 metres, but the ball hit the underside of the crossbar – and stayed out, before it was cleared for a corner... which produced the goal!

HB pressured B68 high up on the field in the opening minutes and looked hungry for more, but after 10 minutes, the HB domination wore off as B68 started getting forward. B68’s best effort was a fierce shot from Ahmet Keita from just outside the penalty area, but a meter wide. Apart from that, B68 never really threatened although they had plenty of possession. At the other end HB had decent chances, but the finishing lacked quality.

In the closing stages of the first half B68's Senegalese midfielder Ndende was shown the read card for a studs up tackle. The referee today was from Sweden. About once a year, referees from the Nordic countries are "guest-referees" in another Nordic country.

Although Andrew av Fløtum nearly doubled HB’s lead in the opening minute of the second half, it wasn’t too easy to spot that HB had a man in advantage during the second half as they in general played rather poorly, although they did create two or three opportunities that nearly produced a goal.

Símun Samuelsen had the best effort, but his thunderous shot hit the upright. Fróði Benjaminsen had a clear sight of goal later on, but his hook was straight on goalkeeper Vlada Filipovic.

At the other end B68 only once managed to test HB goalkeeper Tórður Thomsen who got his body firmly behind a shot from Keita who today had a new striking partner in fellow Senegalese, Ibrahima Camara, who has been waiting for months to finally get the papers in order.

If HB don't improve substantially on today’s play, the 5-point gap to NSÍ is more likely to grow instead of the opposite. But should NSÍ fail to beat EB/Streymur on Wednesday while HB beat B68, then the gap will be max 3 points and the title race wide open again…

FC Suðuroy - B36 Tórshavn 2-1 (0-1)
0-1 Klæmint Matras
1-1 Jón Krosslá Poulsen
2-1 Mamuka Toronjadze

FC Suðuroy are not out of it yet as they closed the gap to B71 in the lifesaving 8th place to only 2 points with a surprise win over B36.

B36 had taken the lead through a Klæmint Matras header from Hjalgrím Elttør's free kick 20 minutes through the match, but Jón Krosslá Poulsen restored parity within 5 minutes of the second half directly from a free kick.

12 minutes from the end of normal time Georgian midfielder Mamuka Toronjadze scored the winning goal for Suðuroy to give them real hope of avoiding relegation.

AB Argir - ÍF Fuglafjørður 1-4 (1-2)
0-1 Bartal Eliasen
0-2 Jan Ellingsgaard
1-2 Mortan úr Hørg
1-3 Øssur Dalbúð
1-4 Andy Olsen

After yet another a defeat at home, AB are running out of options, and relegation looks increasingly more likely as they now have to overtake two teams in order to stay up. ÍF took the lead 10 minutes from the end of the first half thanks to an easy finish from central defender Bartal Eliasen from a corner, and 3 minutes before the break, Jan Ellingsgaard doubled the lead with a fine shot.

However, AB still had time to pull a goal back before half time thanks to Mortan úr Hørg (who was a regular in the national team a few years ago, but who hasn’t been in contention for another cap for a couple of years).

But as ÍF restored the two-goal cushion only 7 minutes after the restart, it looked game over for AB. In the closing minutes Andy Olsen made it 4-1 with a fine looping shot.

Víkingur - B71 Sandoy 5-0 (1-0)
1-0 Hanus Jacobsen
2-0 Nenad Stankovic
3-0 Páll Klettskarð
4-0 Páll Klettskarð
5-0 Finnur Justinussen

B71 suffered their 3rd heavy defeat in succession and have now conceded 19 goals in those 3 matches, and their once 6-point buffer above the relegation line has decreased to only 2 points. Víkingur on the other hand have won 4 in a row and look strong to clinch one of the European spots. They’ll also fancy their 5th win in succession when they travel to meet B71 again on Wednesday. B71 will then be without they best player Símun Hansen who got another red card today.

Hanus Jacobsen fired Víkingur into the lead with a surprising shot from an acute angle within 10 minutes.

Serbian midfielder Nenad Stankovic made it 2-0 a few minutes after the break after combined well with Finnur Justinussen.

Páll Klettskarð then scored a brace in the space of two minutes around the hour-mark to make it 4-0. Klettskarð has now scored 4 goals in 4 matches since he joined Víkingur in the summer break.

At the death, Finnur Justinussen made it 5-0 on a penalty.