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 16 was the third last of the 2020 Toppserien season and for the second week in a row included thrilling top four matchups, but it wasn’t a great round for the Aussie contingent in terms of their team’s results.
At the end of the campaign, the top four teams qualify for the Championship play-offs which will decide the league winner, with the top two also qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The remaining six teams contest the relegation play-offs and the last placed team in this stage will be relegated.
Nikola Orgill played a full game at right back as her eighth-placed Kolbotn lost away to fifth-placed Sandviken 1-0 (highlights below). The result drops Kolbotn one position to second last – four points ahead of bottom team Roa – and they are headed for the relegation playoffs.
1-3 winners against top-four opposition last time out, third-placed Avaldsnes found the result reversed against them this week against second-placed Rosenborg.
Katrina Gorry may have been absent from the Avaldsnes match card this week but this didn’t prevent Clare Polkinghorne from leading the way. Polkinghorne scored her first Avaldsnes goal in the 33rd minute, allowing them to draw level at the time. Rosenborg would go on to reassert themselves with two further goals.
Karly Roestbakken performed admirably for 84 minutes at right back – despite occasionally looking troubled with a sore right foot – in fourth-placed LSK Kvinner‘s 4-2 away loss to ladder leaders Vålerenga. LSK fought back with two goals in the last 16 minutes, but left their run home too late in this outing after being 3-0 down early in the second half.
The results mean the title is most likely a two-horse race between this weekend’s top four winners Vålerenga and Rosenborg, but both Avaldsnes and LSK Kvinner retain their top four placings.
Round 16 results
(teams with Australian players in the squad are shown in bold)
| Klepp | 2 – 1 | Arna-Bjørnar |
| RØA | 1 – 3 | Lyn |
| Sandviken | 1 – 0 | Kolbotn |
| Rosenborg | 3 – 1 | Avaldsnes |
| Vålerenga | 4 – 2 | LSK Kvinner |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Vålerenga | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 33 | 11 | 22 | 35 |
| 2 | Rosenborg | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 31 | 14 | 17 | 34 |
| 3 | Avaldsnes | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 31 |
| 4 | LSK Kvinner | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 28 |
| 5 | Sandviken | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 22 | 2 | 26 |
| 6 | Klepp | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 28 | -10 | 18 |
| 7 | Arna-Bjørnar | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 16 |
| 8 | Lyn | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 28 | -8 | 15 |
| 9 | Kolbotn | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 26 | -9 | 12 |
| 10 | RØA | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 33 | -20 | 8 |
Round 20 of 22 saw a long sequence of success draw to a close for Emily Gielnik‘s fifth-placed Vittsjö GIK. They succumbed 4-0 away to Elise Kellond-Knight‘s former team (before she was injured early in the season), third-placed Kristianstads.
Remarkably both teams had unsteady starts to their 2020 campaign, with Vittsjö as low as second from bottom around the time of Gielnik’s arrival.
The loss sees Vittsjö retain their fifth place on the ladder, still eight points adrift of fourth-placed Linköping.
There is no finals series in the Damallsvenskan, but the top three sides in 2020 are rewarded with qualification to the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Conversely, the bottom two sides are relegated.
Round 20 results
| Örebro | 5 – 1 | Umeå IK |
| Eskilstuna United | 3 – 2 | Djurgarden |
| Kristianstad | 4 – 0 | Vittsjö |
| Linköping | 1 – 2 | Pitea |
| Rosengard | 5 – 1 | Uppsala |
| Växjö DFF | 0 – 3 | Göteborg |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Göteborg | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 45 | 9 | 36 | 48 |
| 2 | Rosengard | 20 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 54 | 13 | 41 | 44 |
| 3 | Kristianstad | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 43 | 26 | 17 | 42 |
| 4 | Linköping | 20 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 24 | 5 | 36 |
| 5 | Vittsjö | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 28 | 32 | -4 | 28 |
| 6 | Örebro | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 26 | 31 | -5 | 26 |
| 7 | Eskilstuna United | 20 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 23 |
| 8 | Pitea | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 30 | -10 | 22 |
| 9 | Växjö DFF | 20 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 32 | -17 | 21 |
| 10 | Djurgarden | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 20 |
| 11 | Umeå IK | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 40 | -20 | 19 |
| 12 | Uppsala | 20 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 20 | 48 | -28 | 10 |
Games resume in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild Kvenna on November 9th.
As can be seen on the ladder below, all teams have at least two games left to play.
There is no finals series in this league. The premiers qualify for the UEFA Women’s Champions League, while the bottom two sides are relegated.
With KR Reykjavik‘s Angie Beard back in Australia as reported last week, Thróttur Reykjavik‘s Laura Hughes is left flying the Aussie flag in the Úrvalsdeild Kvenna at the back end of the season.
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 |
It was an outstanding round for those following the fortunes of our Aussies in the Danish Elitedivisionen.
Round 12 of 14 saw Indiah-Paige Riley‘s Fortuna Hjørring topple ladder leaders Brøndby IF 3-1 at home, a game in which Indi was on the field in the first half.
Highlights courtesy @fortunahjorring, Facebook
The result leaves Fortuna in third place but only one point shy of the top two, so they have every prospect of challenging for the title in the last two rounds.
Meanwhile, Hannah Bacon was not listed on AGF Aarhus‘s match card in their second successive win, 2-0 at home over bottom side AaB. Despite the win, AGF are still in the relegation zone, second last and four points from safety.
Photo: @agf_kvindefodfold, Instagram
Round 12 results
| HB Køge | 2 – 1 | Thy – Thistedq |
| Nordsjælland | 1 – 5 | Kolding BK |
| AGF Aarhus | 2 – 0 | AaB |
| Fortuna Hjørring | 3 – 1 | Brøndby IF |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | HB Køge | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 14 | 18 | 26 |
| 2 | Brøndby IF | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 26 |
| 3 | Fortuna Hjørring | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 12 | 19 | 25 |
| 4 | Kolding BK | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 19 |
| 5 | Nordsjælland | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 18 |
| 6 | Thy – Thistedq | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 20 | -6 | 13 |
| 7 | AGF Aarhus | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 30 | -18 | 9 |
| 8 | AaB | 12 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 36 | -31 | 1 |
Follow all our coverage of Aussies and Ferns Abroad here, and Aussies in Nordic football here.
