August 26-28, 2011: Round 19 of the Vodafone Division:

August 26

Víkingur - B36 Tórshavn 0-2 (0-1)
0-1 Heini í Skorini
0-2 Ingi Højsted

After Víkingur had opened stronger, B36 got into their strides after the first quarter of an hour and the rest of the half was a quite even affair – but with a goal for B36, however. It came after 25 minutes when Víkingur failed to connect with a long ball from the B36 defence which allowed midfielder Heini í Skorini to get clear of the defence to score the opening goal.

Finnur Justinussen then had a couple of attempts for Víkingur, but in one case the effort went just wide of the post while his other attempt was straight on B36 goalkeeper Meinhardt Joensen, when Justinussen should have properly tested the keeper instead.

Víkingur got a glorious opportunity to level the score ten minutes after the break when the referee awarded a penalty as the deemed that defender Jonas Flindt Rasmussen had fouled forward Justinussen. But Víkingur squandered the opportunity as Sam Jacobsen blasted the ball over the goal. (That was the 13th missed penalty out of 44 in the league so far).

Although it for the most was Víkingur who were pressing forward in the second half, their play was simple and lacked creativity to really threaten B36. But it lead to a couple of opportunities for Justinussen who just wasn´t as sharp today as he usually is.

At the other end Víkingur’s Hungarian goalkeeper Geza Turi had to be at his best to stop the shots from í Skorini and Lukasz Cieslewicz.

After four minutes of added time B36 made it 2-0 on a counterattack as they took advantage of Víkingur’s gamble, when Cieslewicz surged down the left hand side to square the ball for a clear Ingi Højsted for an easy finish.

With eight matches to go, B36 are looking good for the title after today’s win as they won’t have many stiffer tests than this.

August 27

HB Tórshavn - B71 Sandoy 5-0 (4-0)
1-0 Símun Samuelsen
2-0 Fróði Benjaminsen (pen)
3-0 Tróndur Jensen
4-0 Símun Samuelsen
5-0 Rógvi Holm

HB took a gigantic step towards salvation with an easy win over rock bottom B71 today, and if NSÍ Runavík don’t beat B68 Toftir on Sunday, the 4th spot in the table, which gives access to European football next summer, could suddenly be within reach. However, it’s still tight between no. 5 and 9, and if the “wrong” teams win and HB lose, then HB is sucked back into the relegation zone.

HB opened the scoring after 5 minutes after a long throw-in which after a couple of extended headers ended in front of Símun Samuelsen who fired the ball into the back of the net.

Fróði Benjaminsen and Andrew av Fløtum had had opportunities to double the lead in the next few minutes before Benjaminsen in collaboration with Samuelsen after 20 minutes made it 2-0: Benjamin scored from the penalty spot as the referee deemed Samuelsen to have been brought down as he entered the penalty area. But it looked like a very cheap penalty and looked more like a dive.

A couple of minutes later, 18 year old midfielder Tróndur Jensen made it 3-0 with a shot from 25 metres which B71 goalkeeper Símun Rógvi Hansen should have saved as he did get his palm behind the ball, but failed to tip it over the crossbar.

The misery continued for B71 as they went further behind five minutes later as Samuelsen scored from close range after a rebound from goalkeeper Hansen who had saved the initial effort.

- Less than 30 minutes played and the match was effectively over, and the rest of the 60 minutes had little to offer.

B71 had a couple of opportunities in the latter stages of the first half to pull a goal back, but the finishing was lacklustre.

The 2nd half was a bit more even, although HB still had more of the possession. B71 had a couple of opportunities while HB had about the same at the other end. But only the home team managed to score, but with great help from the visitors as a B71 defender from a corner powerfully headed the ball straight on the head of HB’s Rógvi Holm and into the net for a 5-0 lead.

Whether HB’s 5-0 win was because of an improved HB-team or whether the win was just a bit fluky because of some big B71 errors is a bit hard to tell, but HB won´t have it as easy when they visit B68 Toftir next time, which isn’t before 11 September because of the international qualifiers coming up. HB is actually the worst away-team of the lot, with only 5 points!

EB/Streymur – 07 Vestur 2-1 (1-1)
0-1 Clayton Soares
1-1 Owbgoal
2-1 Arnbjørn Hansen

EB/Streymur again left it late this round as they scored the winning goal with eight minutes left of the clock.

07 Vestur took the lead a couple of minutes before the half hour mark through Brazilian Clayton Soares who took advantage when goalkeeper René Tórgarð came 30 metres out of his goal in an attempt to head a long 07-vestur pass, but failed.

But the joy was short-lived as parity was restored two minutes later. The goal was credited as a Kingsley Amunike owngoal after Hans Pauli Samuelsen’s shot from a tight angle.

With the wind in their back, EB/Streymur poured on the pressure from the start of the second half. But eventually the pressure wore off.

However, in Arnbjørn Hansen EB/Streymur have a goal scorer who is always capable of scoring, and he did that again today to secure EB/Streymur the vital three points to stay in the title hunt. With a game in hand at home against ÍF Fuglafjørður, EB/Streymur trail leaders B36 Tórshavn by eight points, so they cannot afford to slip up.

With his goal today, Hansen climbed to the top of the top scorer list where he is equal with four others: Christian Høgni Jacobsen (NSÍ), Klæmint Olsen (NSÍ), Lukasz Cieslewicz (B36) and Finnur Justinussen (Víkingur) - all with 12 goals.

ÍF Fuglafjørður - KÍ Klaksvík 0-1 (0-0)
0-1 Høgni Madsen

KÍ Klaksvík earned the massive three points at stake to take them 5 points clear of their opponents ÍF in 9th place and heading for relegation, although they have a game in hand away to EB/Streymur.

Høgni Madsen, originally an ÍF-player, scored the winner with a cracking shot from long distance with a quarter of an hour to go.

August 28

NSÍ Runavík - B68 Toftir 2-1 (1-1)
1-0 Árni Ferederiksberg
1-1 André Olsen (pen)
2-1 Klæmint Olsen

NSÍ Runavík finally won a match again after failing to do so since their 6-4 win over 07 Vestur on 19 June in round 12.

Forward Klæmint Olsen, who hadn’t scored since that same game, scored the winning today midway through the second half when he poked in via the post after Árni Frederiksberg had done most of the heavy lifting.

It was also the same Frederiksberg who had given NSÍ the lead after 10 minutes after combining well with Christian Høgni Jacobsen. But André Olsen equalized for B68 on a penalty after some 30 minutes. This was Olsen’s 5th goal on penalty this season in addition to one “real” goal. He has also missed a penalty in round 8.

With his winning goal Klæmint Olsen climbed to the no. 1 spot in the top scorer list; one goal in front of four men with 12 goals.

With the three points, NSÍ opened up a seven point gap on HB Tórshavn in fifth spot. NSÍ should therefore be able to defend their Europa League spot to the end of the season. But that spot is only theirs if EB/Streymur don’t win the league as EB/Streymur therefore will qualify to the Europa League through their cup triumph.