Hásteinsvöllur in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, home ground of IBV

With up to ten Australians competing in top level domestic Nordic competitions in 2020, Beyond 90 will be keeping readers up to date with how our players and the teams they are playing in are faring.

 

Round 15 was the fourth last of the 2020 Toppserien season and critically included a matchup between first & second on the ladder, as well as one between third & fourth. Decisive wins or dropped points were likely to be vital in shaking out the top four, which has been a close contest for weeks.

The round started with the third vs fourth game and Avaldsnes were 1-3 winners away from home against LSK Kvinner. This was a terrific result for Clare Polkinghorne and Katrina Gorry‘s team, yet it was one of those games where LSK looked clearly the better side for three quarters of the contest.

Photo: Støtt Norsk Kvinnefotball (Facebook)

Having just announced a two year contract extension, Karly Roestbakken played convincingly at centre back with Malin Brenn unavailable. The home side had one of their strongest first halves this season at the LSK Hall and led 1-0 at the break. 

Photo: LSK Kvinner

Polkinghorne played solidly for Avaldsnes, while Gorry was clinical with her passing game and movement but was subbed out in the 62nd minute. LSK’s intensity dropped a little at the back end of the game as Avaldsnes found their rhythm and came home with a wet sail, scoring all three goals in the last 18 minutes.

Elise Thorsnes, marked by Karly Roestbakken. Photo: Støtt Norsk Kvinnefotball (Facebook)

The win leaves Avaldsnes in third place, just one point shy of league leaders Vålerenga, who in drawing 1-1 at home with second placed Rosenborg missed an opportunity to stake a clear title claim. With LSK Kvinner now slightly off the pace in fourth place, the title would seem to be a three horse race.

Teagan Micah revealed last week that she had broken a finger, and in rotten luck for her Arna-Bjørnar team, so did their reserve goalkeeper at around the same time.


Video courtesy @abtoppfotball (Facebook)
 
Facing a total of nine to ten weeks on the sideline, Micah is now back in Australia, quarantining in a Brisbane hotel.

In the other Toppserien game with Aussie involvement, Nikola Orgill played a full game as Kolbotn drew 2-2 against Klepp, a result which keeps Kolbotn clear of the bottom two on goal difference.

Nikola Orgill is leftmost in this photo by Andreas Kristoffer Berge, http://Kvinneidrett.no/ @Fotballkollektivet (Facebook)

 

Round 15 results

(teams with Australian players in the squad are shown in bold)

LSK Kvinner 1 – 3 Avaldsnes
Sandviken 2 – 2 RØA
Kolbotn 2 – 2 Klepp
Lyn 4 – 0 Arna-Bjørnar
Vålerenga 1 – 1 Rosenborg
 
 

Ladder

Pos Team P W D L For Against GD Pts
1 Vålerenga 15 9 5 1 29 9 20 32
2 Rosenborg 15 8 7 0 28 13 15 31
3 Avaldsnes 15 9 4 2 27 14 13 31
4 LSK Kvinner 15 9 1 5 26 17 9 28
5 Sandviken 15 7 2 6 23 22 1 23
6 Arna-Bjørnar 15 5 1 9 12 23 -11 16
7 Klepp 15 4 3 8 16 27 -11 15
8 Kolbotn 15 2 6 7 17 25 -8 12
9 Lyn 15 3 3 9 17 27 -10 12
10 RØA 15 2 2 11 12 30 -18 8

 

 

Round 19 (of 22) pitted Emily Gielnik‘s fifth placed Vittsjö GIK at home against second placed Rosengard. They were up to the test, coming away with a 1-1 draw in a match where Gielnik played the entire game.

For Vittsjö, this is another good result and leaves them in ladder limbo, albeit at the right end of the table (eight points off fourth place and five points clear of sixth).

Photo: Henrik Eberlund

 

Round 19 results

Uppsala 0 – 2  Växjö DFF
Djurgarden 0 – 3 Linköping
Vittsjö 1 – 1 Rosengard
Göteborg 1 – 1 Örebro
Pitea 1 – 0 Eskilstuna United
Umeå IK 0 – 4 Kristianstad
 

Ladder

Pos Team P W D L For Against GD Pts
1 Göteborg 19 14 3 2 42 9 33 45
2 Rosengard 19 12 5 2 49 12 37 41
3 Kristianstad 19 12 3 4 39 26 13 39
4 Linköping 19 11 3 5 29 24 5 36
5 Vittsjö 19 8 4 7 28 28 0 28
6 Örebro 19 6 5 8 21 30 -9 23
7 Växjö DFF 19 6 3 10 15 29 -14 21
8 Eskilstuna United 19 6 2 11 28 30 -2 20
9 Djurgarden 19 5 5 9 16 28 -12 20
10 Pitea 19 5 4 10 18 29 -11 19
11 Umeå IK 19 5 4 10 19 35 -16 19
12 Uppsala 19 3 1 15 19 43 -24 10

 

 

Úrvalsdeild karla (

All games in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild were unfortunately cancelled this week. This was to be the final round – Round 18 – but as can be seen on the ladder, all teams have at least two games left to play.

KR Reykjavik‘s Angie Beard has already returned home to Australia in preparation for the W-League season, which starts on December 27:

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Grateful for my first overseas stint with KR Reykjavik. Happy to have landed back home today and start preparing for the @wleague 🤩

A post shared by Angela Beard (@angiebeard8) on

Thróttur Reykjavik‘s Laura Hughes on the other hand, seems to still be enjoying the sights of Iceland for now.

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

This country is unreal 🤩

A post shared by laura hughes (@laura.hughess) on


 Ladder

Pos Team P W D L For Against GD Pts
1 Breiðablik 15 14 0 1 66 3 63 42
2 Valur R 16 13 1 2 43 11 32 40
3 UMF Selfoss 16 7 1 8 24 20 4 22
4 Fylkir 16 5 6 4 22 29 -7 21
5 Thróttur 16 4 6 6 28 34 -6 18
6 Stjarnan 16 5 3 8 25 34 -9 18
7 Þór/KA 16 5 3 8 20 37 -17 18
8 ÍBV 16 5 2 9 16 39 -23 17
9 FH Hafnarfjörður 16 5 1 10 19 35 -16 16
10 KR Reykjavik 14 3 1 10 15 36 -21 10

 

 

In Round 11 of the 14 round Danish Elitedivisionen campaign, Indiah-Paige Riley played all 90 minutes of Fortuna Hjørring‘s 1-4 away win against bottom side AaB.

Fortuna Hjørring vs AaB, Round 11. Photo: Jess M. Madsen

Meanwhile, Hannah Bacon was an unused substitute in second from bottom AGF Aarhus‘s 1-3 away win against Thy – Thistedq (who sit one ladder position above Aarhus). This was just the second win of the AGF Aarhus season.

The AGF Aarhus huddle on the weekend. Photo: agf.dk

The results leave Fortuna in third place and just one point off second, while AGF Aarhus remain second last.

Round 11 results

Kolding BK 3 – 3 HB Køge
AaB 1 – 4 Fortuna Hjørring
Brøndby IF 0 – 0 Nordsjælland
Thy – Thistedq 1 – 3 AGF Aarhus

Ladder

Pos Team P W D L For Against GD Pts
1 Brøndby IF 11 8 2 1 22 12 10 26
2 HB Køge 11 7 2 2 30 13 17 23
3 Fortuna Hjørring 11 7 1 3 28 11 17 22
4 Nordsjælland 11 5 3 3 18 15 3 18
5 Kolding BK 11 5 1 5 23 16 7 16
6 Thy – Thistedq 11 3 4 4 13 18 -5 13
7 AGF Aarhus 11 2 0 9 10 30 -20 6
8 AaB 11 0 1 10 5 34 -29 1

 

Follow all our coverage of Aussies and Ferns Abroad here, and Aussies in Nordic football here.

Steffen Moebus
Steffen is a life-long Canberra resident and enjoys covering football in and around his home town, as well as Aussies participating in the Nordic leagues (Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark).