Bend It Like A Faroese Corner

Hopperational details
Date & Venue: Wednesday 20 April 2011 at Við Løkin, Runavík
Result:  NSÍ 1 B68 0
Competition: Meistaradeildin (top tier of Faroese football)
Hopping: 8th venue of the trip, 9th match watched


Pre-match entertainment
Quick photo-opportunity visits to a couple of other grounds that I won’t be properly “hopping” to on this tour (to be featured in a future post), some scenic driving (albeit on a foul, wet and windy day), but most bizarrely, finding these items on sale in a service station in Gøta:

My knowledge of the language remains limited, but this is quite clearly a footy magazine featuring Gareth Bale being displayed next to a magazine of erotic writing aimed at women.  Someone will have to explain the connection to me, and probably to Harry Redknapp.  Here's a taldjur, or oystercatcher, to take your mind off this issue.  It's the national bird.

This match in one sentence
B68 failed to score in the first-half and therefore left themselves facing both NSÍ and the wind in the second.


So what?
This was the first game in the third round of matches so league table positions are meaningless until Thursday evening.  For the moment, NSÍ are fourth, and B68 stay eighth but still without a point this season.


The drama unfolds 
The strong wind was this time blowing from end to end, making it likely that this would be a game of two halves.  Both teams struggled with the conditions.  B68, in the red, had the wind behind them in the first half.  The NSÍ goalkeeper, András Gángó, frequently had to take goal-kicks with the ball beginning to roll back towards him.  On a couple of occasions, the linesman allowed him to place the ball a few inches forward of the six-yard line - by the time he had completed his run-up, the ball was in the correct place for the kick.  The trajectory was akin to that of a golf drive, with the ball holding up in the air before falling near-vertically, sometimes still in the defending half.  The first video clip sets the scene.





Nothing much happened in the first quarter.  I filmed B68’s first corner, which was not until the 28th minute.


On the half-hour mark, NSÍ’s Helgi Petersen had the best chance of the game, but his shot was wide.  Overall in the first period, the home team coped well enough with B68’s attempted attacks and they would have been happy with the score at the interval.  0-0 at half-time


NSÍ began to impose themselves in the second period.  B68’s keeper Tórður Thomsen saved well from Petersen, and then he dealt with a cross by Jónhard Fredricksen.  He had been played into space by the impressive midfielder Abdul Ismail, whose strength and distribution was a feature throughout.  At this precise moment of writing, I have just put him into the lead for man-of-the-match on the club website vote.  He was tied with the scorer (see below) until then.


B68 steadied the ship and the next chance did not come until the 60th minute, but Christian Jacobsen’s flicked header from a long throw drifted wide.  Two minutes later they hit the near post with a corner - all corners from that end were inswinging whether you wanted them to be or not.  The goal came on 68 minutes, a cool finish from Jacobsen.  1-0




B68 threw on substitutes including Ibrahima Camara, who had scored in both previous games.  He immediately caused problems with his pace and power.  One of two chances of an equaliser came with nine minutes to go.  Ndende Guéye burst from defence, played a one-two, and had a clear sight of goal, but his low left-foot shot went just wide.  The other chance was from a free-kick, but turned out to be more of a danger to passing seagulls as it went high into the sky.  The final clip is also from the second half.  Final score 1-0




Learn Faroese through football
Mikudagur  Wednesday
Venjari  Manager or Head Coach
Linjudómara  Linesmen
Aelingur  Showers (as in rainfall, not as in changing rooms)
Luftpútufar mitt er fult í álli  Nothing to do with football, but Monty Python fans will understand


What Next?
Tomorrow’s hop will be to Fuglafjørður, where ÍF are at home to table-topping KÍ in one of the four games taking place to complete the third round of fixtures.