AB One Day I Will See You Again

Hopperational details
Date & Venue: Saturday 22 April at Vika Stadium, Argir
Result:  AB 2  FC Suðuroy 3
Competition:  1.deild (second tier)
Hopping:  The final match of the trip, the twelfth game watched at the tenth stadium.


Pre-match entertainment
An astonishing boat trip to the bird cliffs at Vestmanna.  Although it is not the optimum time of year for spotting the feathered friends, the sheer scale of this place was amazing.  The boat fought against powerful currents as it skirted the cliffs and went into some of the clefts.  This is definitely a must-do-again excursion if and when I come back to these islands.  The still photos just don't do justice to the experience.

This match in one sentence
Heartbreak for AB, back level from two goals down, as they conceded a late goal while pressing for a winner themselves.


So what?
Both teams had won their opening two games of the season.  AB were top of the table but now drop to fourth, FC Suðuroy rise one place to second and are one of three teams with three wins from three.

The drama unfolds 
FC Suðoroy had the better of the early exchanges.  AB keeper Predrag Markovic had to make two good saves, and then AB seemed to be disrupted by an injury to Tróndur Sigurðsson, whose cries of pain were clearly heard as he fell with what looked like a knee injury.  However, both teams were tending to overhit their final pass and it was not until the 25th minute that there was a real near-miss.  AB’s Hallur Fláaberg narrowly missed with a shot that was still rising as it whistled over the bar.  Here's a scene-setting clip from the first half.




FC Suðoroy took the lead after half an hour.  A shot from distance was pushed out by Markovic and Palli Augustinussen showed good awareness in turning the ball square to David Asare who had a simple tap-in.  0-1


The ball was spending more time in the air in this game, and FC Suðoroy tried some real Route One stuff on occasion.  The AB coach Samal Hentze was loud in more than one language, using English as a common foreign language to get a message through to certain players.  They certainly threatened to equalise - a free-kick from Alex Mellemgaard brought a header from Gunnar Haraldsen and a smart save from Stanislav Kuzma in the Suðoroy goal.  However, after 40 minutes Henning Joensen’s shot was saved by Markovic only for Asare to control the rebound and fire home his side’s second.  0-2  There was time for Mellemgaard to send another free-kick just over, and for the yellow-clad referee to wave the matching card three times in quick succession, but there was no more scoring before the whistle.  0-2 at half-time

Whatever Hentze said in the dressing room was pretty effective.  His side had a goal back before he had even reached his seat in the dugout.  Another free-kick from Mellemgaard, and this one went straight in.  1-2


After 55 minutes, controversy.  Kuzma was adjudged to have brought down an attacker as he dived at feet.  He looked very unhappy indeed about the decision, and I have to say I agree with him (I was not far away).  The only other reason I can think of is that he was deemed to have handled just outside the area, but there was no card shown.  Milan Kuljic scored from the spot.  2-2

From then on, AB, playing with much more confidence, tended to take the game to their opponents without creating gilt-edged chances, as shown in the second clip.  They made good use of the flanks and forced a number of corners, but the visiting defence looked solid enough.




The ref waved the yellow card four more times.  The match was petering out towards an honourable draw, when, with two minutes to go, FC Suðuroy caught AB on the break and John Poulsen fired home.  2-3


There was time only for Mellemgaard to pick up a second yellow card for kicking the ball into the hoardings in frustration.  Hentze will not be happy about that.  Final Score 2-3


Closing credits
Firstly to staff at the Hotel Streym in Tórshavn for the room overlooking Nolsoy, the breakfasts, the advice on Faroese pronunciation and the daily football chat.  Each room has its own one-liner, which I loved.  I won’t spoil the others, but this was mine.

Equally important, thanks to the people behind www.faroesoccer.com, without whom I would have had several wasted journeys.  I also acknowledge that they have been my principal source of players’ names for my reports.  The “official” Faroese FA site was slow to get off the mark for the new season, and club websites are still variable.


The two books I used the most were the Bradt guide to the Faroe Islands, written in an engaging style by James Proctor (such as describing trees in a certain cemetery as being straight from an episode of Scooby-Doo) and Ronaldson’s Directory of Faroese Football, which is accurate up to 2009 and helped me physically find a couple of the more tucked-away grounds.

I didn’t make as much progress with the language as I’d hoped.  I spent six months learning some Icelandic in the 1990s and although the language is structurally much the same, the pronunciation is quite different.  However, the experience helped me to read some newspaper reports - slowly!  Almost everyone that I needed to communicate with spoke English to some extent.  If you want to try, there are courses and software available, and all I would say is start in good time.  If you are of a certain age and took Latin at school (because of certain structural features of the language), or were taught the fundamentals of English grammar in a traditional way, then you will have an advantage.  I do sometimes wonder whether this is part of the reason that English players do not travel well abroad.


Learn Faroese through football
Úrslit  result
Áskoðarar  attendance


What Next?
Atlantic Airways to Stansted.  I have had a fabulous and inspirational fortnight, and am sad to be leaving.  Thanks to all of my original blog readers, and to those who have joined my random world in the last fortnight.  I am working on a final summative article to draw together what I have learned and to help anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps.  That will follow next week when my feet are back on the ground.

HB pencil in champion status again

Morning games in progress on both lower and upper pitches at Gundadalur.
The grassed national stadium is adjacent too.

Groundsharers HB (L) and B36 (R) have a stand each for the upper pitch

Hopperational details
Date & Venue: Saturday 16 April at Gundadalur, Tórshavn
Results and Competitions:
Lower pitch (1300):  FC Hoyvík II 1  FC Suðuroy II 7
in the 2.deild (third tier)
Upper pitch (1500):  HB Tórshavn 5  07 Vestur 0
in the Meistaradeildin (top tier)
Hopping:
These two pitches (adjacent to a third, the grass arena of the national stadium) are distinct entities so qualify as two entries on my lifetime list.  A hop to a possible third fixture at nearby Argir was thwarted - the fixture information for this 3.deild (fourth tier) game turned out to be spurious.


These matches in one sentence each
It made no difference when all the Hoyvík players turned up as they were soundly beaten by Suðuroy.
07 Vestur learned their second lesson of the week as their spirited start was brushed aside in no uncertain terms by the reigning champions.


So what?
This was one of the first round of games in the 2.deild, so Suðuroy are top and Hoyvík are bottom, as no other team had the same margin of victory or defeat.
HB are up to second in the table until tomorrow afternoon, but they are bound to be overtaken by one, two or three teams as the second round of games is completed with three fixtures tomorrow.


The drama unfolds 
The game on the lower pitch kicked off ten minutes later than advertised.  The team in black (which turned out to be Hoyvík) started the game with nine men and a 4-3-1 formation, with a long distance between the 3 and the 1.  They kept a clean sheet for 20 minutes while other players were arriving.  The ball broke kindly in the penalty area for the opening goal, and Hoyvík gifted a comedy second as they tried to play out from the back five minutes later.  Their 11th player was waved on in the 35th minute just in time to admire a splendid shot from distance putting Suðuroy three up.  Hoyvík got one back almost immediately and the half-time whistle was blown with a glimmer of hope for the home side.  Half-time 1-3

The national stadium in the background

This was extinguished within a minute of the restart as a thumping header from a corner bulged the net, and Suðuroy went on to get three more before the end of the game.  Final score 1-7


Brian Kerr, manager of the Faroe Islands national side, walked past to take a seat at the upper pitch in readiness for HB’s game against 07 Vestur.

He presumably slumbered like the rest of us for the first 20 minutes where the most notable incident was the referee having to have a word with the HB physio.  The spongebearer said something to an 07 Vestur player as Paeter Jørgensen was stretchered off, and the ref saw fit to intervene.  The player was back on the pitch two minutes later.

07 Vestur competed well in this first phase of the game.  The newly-promoted team showed the champions scant respect as they did their share of attacking.  My first clip is a scene-setter culminating in a booking for Hanus Thornleifsson for diving.  Good call from where I was standing.

A few minutes later a fast break by Badara Diedhiou put Clayton Nascimento in on goal, and it needed a sharp intervention by the home defence.  However, the champions have character of their own, and this happened.

Hendrik Rubeksen was the scorer.  1-0


07 Vestur were still positive.  Sigtór Petersen combined with Nascimento, who put Jovan Panic in for a shooting chance on 43 minutes, but then the champions delivered a killer blow.  Their next attack immediate and incisive and Jón Poulsen had plenty of time to smack home a shot.  HB never relinquished any element of control again.  2-0 at half-time


The third goal came from the penalty spot after 56 minutes.  Fróði Benjaminsen did the honours after 07 Vestur’s keeper Hans Jørgensen was deemed to have brought down an attacker.  I am really not sure why the card was only yellow, especially given subsequent card-flashing events.  3-0

Benjaminsen's penalty to make the score 3-0

I remain as bemused as the players by the double red card moment that reduced both teams to ten men on the hour mark. HB’s Røgvi Holm and 07 Vestur’s Panic were sent off.  Ten minutes later the visitors’ day got worse as Sigtór Petersen picked up his second yellow card and HB added two more goals.


Firstly, a neat routine from a corner saw the ball played to the edge of the area rather than crossed into the box and Simon Samuelsen found the net.  4-0  In stoppage time, Rubeksen got his second of the match from a direct (deflected?) free-kick. The third clip is typical of the second half pressure exerted by HB once they had the numerical advantage.   Final score 5-0

Rubeksen's second goal hits the back of the net

What I learned today
Here is the result of my survey on players’ nationalities.  I looked at the starting eleven for all ten top-tier sides in the first round of games.


The Faroe Islands supplied exactly 80% (88) of the players.  10% (11) are from other European countries, of which Serbia supplied three, Denmark, Iceland and Hungary two each, and one each from Poland and Georgia.  Just over 8% (9) are from five of the African nations, Senegal supplying the most (4) with Ivory Coast (2) and one each from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.  Finally, there were two Brazilians to complete the starting 110.


Learn Faroese through football
Miðja  Midfield
Gult kort  Yellow card
Reytt kort  Red card
Regn  Rain


Something random

When I saw this, I thought about how the sentence might be completed ...


a) Liverpool accent
b) promising career as a pundit
c) tough job at Ipswich


What Next?
Table-topping KÍ are at home to B68 on Sunday afternoon.