Just Look at That

A few people have asked to see some more of the scenery from the Faroe Islands - and on this footy-free day, I am more than happy to oblige!  I've chosen one pic from each day so far.  Enjoy.  (Pssst - NSÍ v B68 tomorrow!)

Looking towards Gásadalur

Sandavágur

Funningur

Statue of Effersøe in Tórshavn

Eiði

Saxsun

The bridge connecting the islands Eysturoy (on the left) to Streymoy

Another busy day on the roads in Eysturoy

Klaksvík is an important centre of the Islands' fishing industry

Tjørnuvík

The sea stacks Risin and Kellingin

Random Transport of Delight

A Moment of Randomness in the Faroe Islands

There are three youth team fixtures this evening at grounds I have not yet visited.  There hasn't really been a choice for my itinerary so far, so it seems only right and proper to go back to random basics.

Roll camera one.

They are playing their counterparts from EB/Streymur.


UPDATE 8.00pm


Well, if they are playing their counterparts from EB/Streymur, it's not on this pitch ...

It looks as if renovation is under way at MB!  Under the circumstances I did what any sensible groundhopper would do.  I made my way to a supermarket and bought chocolate for comfort eating.  Tomorrow is known to be a footy-free day, so I hope you will join me again after NSÍ's game against B68 opens the third round of premier league fixtures on Wednesday.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Winners are ... KÍ

Hopperational details
Date & Venue: Sunday 17 April at the Injector Arena, Klaksvík
Results and Competitions:
KÍ 3  B68 Toftir 1 (Premier League, top tier)
KÍ Kvinnur 9  HB Kvinnur 0 (Women’s 1.deild, top tier for women)
Hopping:  Two matches but only one venue.


Pre-match entertainment

Scenic drives around the northern islands, with a rainbow en route.

These matches in one sentence each
KÍ were helped on their way to the top of the table by a goalkeeping error for the game’s second goal.
KÍ Kvinnur demonstrated why they are the irresistible force in Faroese women’s football with a demolition of their opponents from Tórshavn.


So what?
Newly-promoted KÍ are one of three teams to have won both their games but they have a superior goal difference and therefore head the table.  B68 are one of three teams yet to win a point.  In today’s other games which completed the second round, EB/Streymur go third with a win at ÍF and B36 are second after their home win over B71.
KÍ Kvinnur have won all three of their games and head their table too.  They have won the league in every year beginning with 2 and looks like they will get their twelfth in a row this year.

The drama unfolds 
This match was played in near-ideal windless and fairly mild conditions!  B68’s defender Niclas Joensen was given an early yellow card for a mistimed tackle as Bárður Heinesen threatened.  KÍ’s keeper Gunnar á Steig was then called into action to make a save from a free-kick as both sides tried to take the initiative.  B68’s Hjalgrím Elltør unsuccessfully tried an outrageous curling free-kick from near the half-way line after 20 minutes.  The sparring continued - a quick B68 corner caught the home defence asleep and led to a headed chance for Ndende Guéye but KÍ immediately countered and only a late block prevented a shot on target at the other end.  Joensen was kept very busy.  The home supporters in a crowd of around 500 applauded every attempted through ball and were warm and encouraging to their team.  My scene-setting clip is taken from the first few minutes of the game.   KÍ are in blue.





Gradually KÍ began to create the better chances.  Bárður Heinesen span away from his marker in midfield and passed to Nenad Stankovic, who was unlucky as his dipping shot bounced up off the bar.  One of several crosses from the right by Henry Heinesen produced a chance for Elltør, but he snatched at the shot and sent it wide.


The deadlock was broken after 39 minutes.  B68 defender Oddur Hgaard and keeper Torður Thomsen failed to deal with a bouncing ball through the middle - I cannot say from where I was standing at the other end whether either or both were at fault - but Bárður Heinesen nipped in to score.  1-0


Both sides had one more chance before half-time.  Joensen headed over from a corner and Elltør brought a good save from Thomsen.  1-0 at half-time


Thomsen was called into action again a few seconds after the restart, but KÍ really should have gone two up.  However, a second goal did arrive after 54 minutes.  A disputed free-kick was given for handball (harsh, I thought).  Høgni Madsen shaped to cross but instead fired it in to the near post.  The photo shows that Thomsen had it covered but somehow he contrived to let it creep in.  2-0

After this, KÍ continued to make chances.  Henry Heinesen created a chance for Kristoffur Jacobsen, who shot over.  Elltør finally got the goal he had been threatening, with a low shot to the corner after 76 minutes.  Cue wild celebrations!  3-0  They nearly added a fourth when Jacobsen pulled the ball back for Jógvan Isaksen whose shot was saved by Thomsen at full stretch.

B68 did get a consolation goal after 81 minutes.  Joensen won the header from a corner and in the ensuing melée Ibrahima Camara got the goal.  However, KÍ saw out the final few minutes to hang on to the points.  Final score 3-1

Sadly, very few people stayed on to watch the top-tier women’s game, which followed on the same pitch.  The first clip is taken from the opening minutes with the score at 0-0.

KÍ Kvinnur dominated from start to finish.  Maria Thomsen has been credited with the first goal, though I thought Sofía Purkhús got the last touch.  It turns out to be important in deciding which of them has a hat-trick.  Thomsen, Purkhús, Sigrid Jacobsen and Rannvá  Andreasen caused all sorts of problems with their combination play up front, and how Jacobsen did not score today she will never know.  She had at least four good chances.  The attackers were supported by a dominant central midfield performance by captain Malena Josephsen, and assured central defensive displays by Paula Mikkelsen and Bára Klakstein.  HB struggled to clear their lines, even from goal kicks, so they were faced with wave after wave of KÍ Kvinnur attacks.


Here’s the chronological record.  I can't really say the drama unfolded, as in TV terms this was about as dramatic as the test card.


Purkhús just fails to get the last touch on Thomsen’s through ball but it goes in anyway.  1-0
Josephsen sets up Purkhús to score.  2-0
Thomsen passes from the left for Andreasen’s first.  3-0
Thomsen’s second, as caught on camera.  4-0





Andreasen’s second, an easy finish after a poor clearance.  5-0 at half-time
A curling shot from 20m by Andreasen to complete her hat-trick.  6-0
Andreasen lays the ball off to Purkhús who finishes.  7-0
Josephsen deservedly gets herself on the score sheet with a well-crafted approach and finish.  8-0
Thomsen completes her hat-trick within a minute 9-0


To be fair to HB, they made KÍ work harder in the second half, but they never closed down Josephsen.  Gunn Mohr Hentze was their most impressive player, with some neat touches going forward, but there was an enormous difference in class and confidence between the two teams.  Home keeper Randi Wardum had very little to do - the first two shots from HB were not until the second half and then they were off-target.  If I have not mentioned the entire KÍ team it is only because the others must have had relatively little to do - they had no weak links in the side.


What I learned today
I encountered single track tunnels today for the first time in my driving experience.  If the passing places, every 100m or so, are on the right, then you have to pull in and wait for oncoming traffic to pass.  This is an example of something that is best NOT left to chance, I guess!

Something random
Sadly, I will miss this but let's hope it tours to London.

Learn Faroese through football
Litið lot  Gentle breeze
Álop  Attack


What Next?
NSÍ play B68 on Wednesday, but I am in search of a youth game on Monday afternoon too. 

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.

A Víkingur Victory

Hopperational details
Date & Venue:  Friday 15 April 2011 at Sarpugerði, Norðragøta
Result:  Víkingur 3 NSÍ Runavík 2
Competition: Meistaradeildin
Hopping: Fourth game of the tour


Pre-match entertainment
A walk along the cliffs from Elduvík, part way towards Oyndarfjorður, with a pastry-based reward at the end.  If you look closely, you can see the path!  This used to be the Sunday morning route to church for the good citizens of Elduvík until they very sensibly built one of their own.

This match in one sentence
Víkingur, a goal down at half-time, hit three second-half goals and then restricted NSÍ to one further late consolation score.

So what?
Both teams have a win and a defeat for the season - this was the first match in the second round of games in the 2011 fixture list.  Víkingur are fifth and NSÍ are sixth (both have a GD of zero but the former have scored one more goal) but that will change over the weekend as the other matches of the round take place.


The drama unfolds 
Not a lot happened in the first twenty minutes, and the first clip duly shows not a lot happening, but the scenery is as nice as ever round here.  This match was played in relatively calm weather conditions.





The second clip reveals that Víkingur have been working on corners and set pieces this week, and my furtive excerpt will now become required watching for other coaches in the division.





They also had a goal disallowed when they caused confusion in the defence with a quickly-taken free-kick, and it took a great tackle from  NSÍ’s Jens Joensen to deny Símun Hansen a shooting chance.  Hansen had lost his marker on the half-way line and was bearing down on goal.  However, NSÍ had chances of their own and after 41 minutes they took one - Jann Martin Mortensen shot in from the right and the score stayed that way till the interval.  0-1 at half-time

The lead lasted only four minutes.  Sølvi Vatnhamar was in the right place at the right time to poke home his second goal of the season, and the home side took control of the game.  1-1


They took the lead with a cracking goal six minutes later, as Kaj Leo í Bartalsstovu’s long low shot found the net.  2-1  After only another four minutes, they scored again as Finnur Justinussen touched in a cross from the left.  3-1  A triple substitution soon followed for the visitors, perhaps a sign of some frustration from the bench.


The two-goal margin allowed Vikingur a degree of comfort but they had some defending to do as  NSÍ poured forward.  A deflected consolation goal for Jens Joensen came in the second of four added minutes and meant that there was a somewhat frantic finish.  Final score 3-2

Something random
An Englishman with a notebook at four different Faroese top-tier matches?  Well, I might have been an agent or a coach, and that has been the most common reaction from locals who realise that I am a visitor either when they see my WBA woolly hat or my camera.


This led to two conversations today which have helped me understand how the game is run and viewed over here, so thanks to Phil (a member of the coaching staff at B68 - I hope I heard his name correctly as he introduced himself!) and Martin (an EB/Streymur supporter).  I will share their insights in a future summative article in the blog nearer the end of the trip.


Learn Faroese through football
Friggjadagur  Friday
Verja  Defence
Trý stig  Three points


What Next?
Provisional plan for Saturday:
1300  2.deild menn (3rd tier) - FC Hoyvík II v FC Suðoroy II
1500  Meistaradeildin (Top tier) - HB v 07 Vestur
1910  3.deild menn (4th tier) - Giza v B36
The first two take place at the Gundadalur complex in Tórshavn, but on different pitches, and the last one is in nearby Argir.

A Groundhopper's Lament

All groundhoppers have their own "rules".  Among mine is that I don't count a ground unless I have seen a competitive match there.  So when I found out that EB/Streymur were a club from a recent amalgamation, I saw an opportunity for another hopping venue, because a former ground is still used by the club's younger teams.  The EB stands for Eiðis Bóltfelag who struggled as a club to get out of lower divisions.  They merged with their neighbours from Streymnes, also relatively unsuccessful, built an impressive new facility, and have been rewarded with success.  They won their first match of the new season, as I reported a few posts ago.  They have played Manchester City in the Europa League and are the current Faroese Cup holders.

When I saw their ground at Eiði on Monday morning, I have to admit that something obsessive in me took over.  I instantly took a liking to this place, and needed to have it as an allowable item on my list come what may.  I came back on Wednesday afternoon and hung around for a couple of hours in the hope of a youth team fixture (as I knew Wednesday was the most likely day).  No luck, and now a friendly email exchange with the new club has confirmed my worst fears - the leagues for the younger players that the ground hosts do not start until May.

I will probably have to come back here sometime, I just know it.  So there you are, it has NOT been added to my lifetime list, but I took some photographs anyway on my walk.  Enjoy from all angles.

Looking the other way from the same point as the previous pic

Earlier today, I came across the ground of the now-defunct club at Vestmanna.  Looks like there would be a lot of work to do to get the game back into the town.  Vestmanna is best known as a breeding site for a gazillion seabirds, so there is an ideal investment opportunity here for a soccer-loving Arab or Russian oil-producing ornithologist.

Never mind!  It's Víkingur v NSÍ Runavík tomorrow.  The hosts lost their first match 2-1 at EB/Streymur as I mentioned, and it will be my first sight of NSÍ, who opened their season with a 2-1 home win over reigning champions HB. Thanks, as ever, for your interest and encouragement.