April 29 & 30, 2011: Round 05 of the Vodafone Division:

ÍF Fuglafjørður - HB Tórshavn 3-0 (0-0)
1-0 Bartal Eliasen
2-0 Bartal Eliasen (pen)
3-0 Bogi Løkin

HB was the better team during most of the first period and after 20 minutes, forward Jógvan Andreas Skeel Nolsøe was played clear by an ÍF back-pass that went wrong, but the effort was blocked by Jákup Mikkelsen in the ÍF goal.

A few minutes later, Skel Nolsøe slid to curl a pass forward and into ÍF’s penalty area where Símun Samuelsen went down after defender Høgni Zachariassen had made contact. The referee pointed promptly to the penalty spot, but Fróði Benjaminsen missed with one of the worst shots he has ever taken. It lacked both power and precision and goalkeeper Mikkelsen had no problems getting his palm behind the ball, even if it was going wide of the post. (With that miss, the “miss-percentage” of penalties went up to 25%. That seems high, but often they have been in the high thirties and even in the forties).

At the other end ÍF had very little to offer during the first half.

But that changed from the start of the second half where ÍF was the much better side and seized the HB goal, although they didn’t create clear-cut chances. But with the majority of possession, the chances were going to come sooner or later.

It came halfway through the first half. After a corner to ÍF, Benjaminsen tried to clear the ball, but at the same time hit an ÍF-player that went down. The referee pointed to the spot once again. You might not be surprised that HB goalkeeper Heðin Stenberg blocked Bartal Eliasen spot-kick with his legs (to bring the “miss-percentage up to 33%), but Eliasen was quick to score on the rebound, however.

Just a couple of minutes later, ÍF were awarded another penalty as the referee deemed Icelandic defender Thorður Hreiðarsson had caught the legs of Dánjal á Lækjuni. This time Eliasen scored safely from the spot to make it 2-0 (and bring the miss-percentage down to 30%)

ÍF thereafter retreated, but were mostly in full control, as HB found it difficult to create anything. A header from Benjaminsen and a free kick from a favourable position – which went off target – was all HB had.

As HB had few men at the rear, ÍF took advantage in stoppage time as they countered through Karl á Løkini who played the ball to his elder brother Bogi, who, clear with the goalkeeper, easily scored to make it 3-0 and his father Abraham Hansen, ÍF’s coach, a happy man!

HB’s next three matches are against EB/Streymur, Víkingur and B36 Tórshavn. The champions are under pressure…

B36 Tórshavn - EB/Streymur 1-0 (0-0)
1-0 Lukasz Cieslewicz (pen)

B36 jumped to the top of the table as they beat favourites for the title, EB/Streymur. Polish B36 forward Lukasz Cieslewicz scored the winning goal on a penalty 10 minutes through the 2nd half. The penalty had been awarded for a handball in connection with a corner.

KÍ Klaksvík - NSÍ Runavík 1-2 (1-0)
1-0 Kristoffur Jakobsen
1-1 Christian Høgni Jacobsen (pen)
1-2 Christian Høgni Jacobsen

Newly promoted KÍ suffered their first defeat of the season as NSÍ came from a goal down to grab the winner inside the last five minutes of the match.

Kristoffur Jakobsen gave KÍ the halftime lead midway through the half, but Christian Høgni Jacobsen restored parity 10 minutes after the interval on a penalty that had been committed against himself.

The end of the match offered end-to-end stuff.

In the 86th it was Christian Høgni Jacobsen who scored the winning goal for NSÍ with a head after free kick from Einar Hansen.

NSÍ, KÍ and EB/Streymur are now all equal on points in second place of the table – 1 point adrift of leaders B36. KÍ take on B36 next Sunday.

B71 Sandoy - B68 Toftir 0-5 (0-2)
0-1 Jónleif Højgaard
0-2 Ibrahima Camara
0-3 Niclas Joensena
0-4 Ibrahima Camara
0-5 Stig-Roar Søbstad

B71 is no match for any team in the Vodafonedivision at the moment, and this time they were beaten 5-0.

After B68 had taken the lead after a quarter of an hour by Jónleif Højgaard, the rest of the match was one-way traffic. Senegalese forward Ibrahima Camara doubled the visitors lead shortly before half time. The minute earlier Dánjal Pauli Højgaard had missed a penalty for B68.

The last few minutes before half time were dramatic. On the stroke of half time Icelandic defender Helgi Finnbogason was sent off for retaliation – a headbut according to B68’s website. This was Finnbogason’s second red of the yet young season. With 10 men, the floodgates were open and defender Niclas Joensen made it 3-0 from a corner five minutes after the break.

Camara then scored his second of the afternoon before Norwegian forward Stig-Roar Søbstad scored his first goal for B68 to make it 5-0 with a quarter of an hour remaining. B71’s faith looks sealed already after 5 rounds: Relegation looks inevitable.

Víkingur - 07 Vestur 1-1 (1-1)
1-0 Símun Hansen
1-1 Tór-Ingar Akselsen

Surprisingly – to most – 07 Vestur managed to take a point away to Víkingur who ambitiously have proclaimed that they are aiming for the title.

And – to most – the match went as expected as Víkingur took the lead after only three minutes through Símin Hansen.

But 07 Vestur seemed unaffected by the early goal and equalized a quarter of an hour later through Tór-Ingar Akselsen.

The second half was an even one with chances to both sides, but neither managed to score. In the dying minutes, the frustrated Víkingur defender Atli Gregersen was given the red card.

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On Wednesday the quarter finals of the cup competition will take place:

07 Vestur - KÍ Klaksvík
Vikingur - B68 Toftir
ÍF Fuglafjørður - AB Argir
NSÍ Runavík - EB/Streymur

(Only AB Argir are a 2nd level team)