August 17, 2011: Round 17 of the Vodafone Division:

HB Tórshavn - ÍF Fuglafjørður 3-1 (1-1)
0-1 Bogi Løkin (pen)
1-1 Símun Samuelsen
2-1 Jón Krosslá Poulsen
3-1 Jón Krosslá Poulsen

HB snatched a late win to climb above the relegation-line while opponents ÍF drop below.

But it was ÍF who took the lead after only five minutes on a penalty from Bogi Løkin after Bartal Eliasen had been brought down in the penalty area.

But HB responded strongly and restored parity only four minutes later when Andrew av Fløtum’s long diagonal pass caught out ÍF’s left back who was overtaken by Símun Samuelsen who got clear with goalkeeper Jákup Mikkelsen and scored.

There was end to end stuff in the first 15 minutes, maybe with a slight majority of possession to HB, but with just as good scoring opportunities for ÍF. But as whole, the half was quite even.

Bartal Eliasen, usually a defender, but who played in ÍF’s attack today, was close with a header that went a metre over from close range, and six minutes from halftime he should have scored when he became clear in the penalty area, but Teitur Gestsson in the HB goal parried with his legs.

A few moments later Rógvi Poulsen went close for HB with a downward header, but it was straight on the goalkeeper.

HB started the second half very strongly and had a host of corners in succession and in one case the ball fell to a clear Símun Samuelsen who had the goal at his mercy, but he blasted the ball high over.

ÍF then took over and for a long period they put HB under real pressure where especially Dánjal á Lajuni looked impressive. With that sort of displays he will soon catch the eye of Faroe Islands coach Brian Kerr and be moved from the U-21 to the senior team.

But then, in the last minute of normal time HB were awarded a penalty as the referee deemed that Símun Samuelsen had been brought down. Although Jákup Mikkelsen saved the initial shot from Jón Krosslá Poulsen, who had come on after an hour, Krosslá Poulsen was quick to put the rebound into the back of the net.

But ÍF were not done yet and went extremely close to scoring in the four minutes of added time, but desperate defending and superb goalkeeping from Gestsson kept the ball outside the net, but HB were living extremely dangerously – right until Krosslá Poulsen killed the game with his second goal as he was played clear by Samuelsen on the left.

EB/Streymur - B36 Tórshavn 2-1 (1-1)
0-1 Jonas Flindt Rasmussen
1-1 Hans Pauli Samuelsen (pen)
2-1 Arnbjørn Hansen

B36 lost their first match of the season as they were beaten 2-1 by EB/Streymur who coud close the gap on the leaders, who are still B36, to only 5 points if they win their game in hand at home to ÍF Fuglafjørður.

B36 was the better side during the first half and took the lead just after the first quarter of an hour with a header from Danish defender Jonas Flindt Rasmussen.

But the lead only lasted for five minutes when Hans Pauli Samuelsen scored from the penalty spot after Arnbjørn Hansen had gone down in the area.

EB/Streymur improved much in the second hand and was the better team during most of those 45 minutes and with 10 minutes remaining their supremacy produced the winning goal as Arnbjørn Hansen slotted home from a corner.

As EB/Streymur have B71 Sandoy (away) and 07 Vestur (home) in their next matches while B36 take on NSÍ Runavík before they visit second place Víkingur, EB/Streymur could have cut the gap on the leaders even further.

07 Vestur - Víkingur 1-1 (0-0)
0-1 Dánjal Rói Olsen
1-1 Kaj Leo í Bartalsstovu

With B36 losing, Víkingur would have taken the lead in the table with a win today, but they failed to do so.

07 Vestur took the lead against the run of play with a goal from Dánjal Rói Olsen after a counter-attack midway through the second half.

Víkingur salvaged a point with less than ten minutes to go thanks to Kaj Leo í Bartalsstovu who had come on a few minutes earlier.

Víkingur is now a point adrift of leaders B36. These two meat in round 19 on 27 August in Sarpugerði, Víkingur’s home ground.

NSÍ Runavík - KÍ Klaksvík 3-3 (2-2)
1-0 Christian Høgni Jacobsen
2-0 Heðin á Lakjuni
2-1 Owngoal
2-2 Álvur F. Christiansen
3-2 Heðin á Lakjuni
3-3 Hjalgrím Elttør

KÍ fought back from 0-2 and 2-3 down to escape with a valuable point after a 3-3 draw with NSÍ. The home team took the lead in the sixth minute when forward Christian Høgni Jacobsen scored almost from the halfway line as he had spotted KÍ goalkeeper Gunnar á Steig off his line.

Heðin á Lakjuni, originally a KÍ player, then made it 2-0 after 25 minutes from the edge of the penalty area.

But KÍ were pulled a goal back 12 minutes later when defender Helgi L. Petersen turned the ball past his own goalkeeper, under pressure from Sørmundur Kallsø’s header.

And just before the half time whistle, KÍ equalized through Álvur F. Christiansen.

Heðin á Lakjuni restored NSÍ’s lead with his second goal of the match – this time with a header – shortly before the hour-mark.

But KÍ once more found the equalizer when Hjalgrím Elttør scored from a lose rebound with just over ten minutes remaining.

Isolated between the top 3 and the bottom 6, it could indicate lack of motivation when NSÍ twice throw away the lead.

For KÍ the point helps the above the drop line for now, but they could soon be there again, as they are only one point away from it.

B68 Toftir - B71 Sandoy 3-1 (1-1)
1-0 Remi Langgard
1-1 Mikkjal Hentze
2-1 Niclas Joensen
3-1 Eli Simonsen

Although B71 have cut the gap on the other five teams in the relegation zone with two wins in two matches, the gab grew again with today’s loss and their situation still looks hopeless, although they have improved a lot. But with the three next opponents being EB/Streymur (home), HB Tórshavn (away) and Víkingur (home), B71 could suffer 3 successive defeats, and then they will only have seven matches to make up at least eight points in order to avoid relegation.

Remi Langgard gave B68 the lead on the half-hour with a volley, but the joy was short-lived as Mads Hentze equalized for the visitors only four minutes later after a counterattack.

But B68 reclaimed the lead with a quarter of an hour remaining when defender Niclas Joensen headed in from a corner.

B68 further increased the lead seven minutes from time directly on freekick from Eli Simonsen who played his last match for B68 this time around as he’s moving to USA to study.