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.
This week featured an eye-catching hat-trick by Emily Gielnik for Vittsjö GIK in the Swedish Damallsvenskan, while dropped points by the top two Norwegian Toppserien teams give Katrina Gorry and Clare Polkinghorne‘s Avaldsnes a glimmer of a chance of taking out the premiership with one round left.
Both top two sides had a case of the wobbles in the penultimate round of the competition (Round 17) on the weekend. Ladder leaders Vålerenga suffered just their second loss of the season (3-2) to a resurgent Lyn, while Rosenborg managed to maintain their unbeaten record but could only eke out a 1-1 draw against plucky fifth-placed Sandviken.
This surprising turn of events, coupled with a strong 3-0 win at home for Avaldsnes in the rain over Klepp, brings Avaldsnes not only into a third-placed ‘medal position’ (a term used often by the Norwegian sporting press; the title leaders are referred to as being in the gold medal position) but also a mathematical chance for the title, at just one point behind the two pacesetters.
Polkinghorne played the full match against Klepp but Gorry again sat the game out – she may be recovering from an injury.
In the final round both leading teams would have to drop points against teams in ladder positions 8 and 7 respectively for Avaldsnes to top the ladder, should they win away to fifth-placed Sandviken.
It’s an unlikely proposition, but as they say, you have to be in it to win it.
In the other game featuring Aussies, Kolbotn pinched a late equaliser against LSK Kvinner in a familiar tale this season of LSK not capitalising on early dominance. Karly Roestbakken sat the game out, resting a sore foot for the NM Cup quarter-final on Wednesday morning (our time) against Rosenborg.
Nikola Orgill played 70 minutes for Kolbotn, chiming in nicely with overlapping runs from right back on several occasions.
The result doesn’t change either team’s ladder position.
NM Cup
Norway (NM) Cup quarter-finals were played midweek, with 1-0 victories and progression to the semi-finals for both teams featuring Aussies.
Elise Thorsnes scored for Avalsdnes in their win over Arna-Bjørnar, with Polkinghorne playing the full match as Gorry watched on from the bench.
Rosenborg Kvinner may be undefeated in the 2020 Toppserien but they fell to Lillestrom at the LSK Hall in the other quarter-final. A lively first half by the home side was rewarded with an early goal from Belgian international Justine Vanhaevermaet. A battle ensued in the second half as Roestbakken entered the fray on 72 minutes at right back, but LSK Kvinner were able to close out a thrilling 1-0 win.
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On to the next one🤩😎 #forzabirdsa #viosssammen #cupen2020 📸 VG, Bjørn Delebekk / NTB
Round 17 results
(teams with Australian players in the squad are shown in bold)
| Arna-Bjørnar | 0 – 0 | RØA |
| Avaldsnes | 3 – 0 | Klepp |
| Rosenborg | 1 – 1 | Sandviken |
| Lyn | 3 – 2 | Vålerenga |
| Kolbotn | 1 – 1 | LSK Kvinner |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Vålerenga | 17 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 35 | 14 | 21 | 35 |
| 2 | Rosenborg | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 35 |
| 3 | Avaldsnes | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 17 | 14 | 34 |
| 4 | LSK Kvinner | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 22 | 7 | 29 |
| 5 | Sandviken | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 23 | 2 | 27 |
| 6 | Lyn | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 23 | 30 | -7 | 18 |
| 7 | Klepp | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 18 |
| 8 | Arna-Bjørnar | 17 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 17 |
| 9 | Kolbotn | 17 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 27 | -9 | 13 |
| 10 | RØA | 17 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 33 | -20 | 9 |
The penultimate round of the Swedish Damallsvenskan saw fifth-placed Vittsjö GIK bounce back in style from last week’s 4-0 loss with a 4-0 win of their own. Emily Gielnik put sixth-placed Örebro to the sword with a hat-trick and an assist!
https://twitter.com/TheMatildas/status/1325921104515522562
The win leaves Vittsjö in fifth place with one game left.
Round 21 results
| Vittsjö | 4 – 0 | Örebro |
| Växjö DFF | 2 – 0 | Eskilstuna United |
| Uppsala | 1 – 4 | Kristianstad |
| Linköping | 0 – 7 | Göteborg |
| Pitea | 0 – 3 | Rosengard |
| Umeå IK | 0 – 0 | Djurgarden |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Göteborg | 21 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 52 | 9 | 43 | 51 |
| 2 | Rosengard | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 57 | 13 | 44 | 47 |
| 3 | Kristianstad | 21 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 47 | 27 | 20 | 45 |
| 4 | Linköping | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 30 | 33 | -3 | 36 |
| 5 | Vittsjö | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 31 |
| 6 | Örebro | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 35 | -9 | 26 |
| 7 | Växjö DFF | 21 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 32 | -15 | 24 |
| 8 | Eskilstuna United | 21 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 31 | 34 | -3 | 23 |
| 9 | Pitea | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 33 | -13 | 22 |
| 10 | Djurgarden | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 21 |
| 11 | Umeå IK | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 40 | -20 | 20 |
| 12 | Uppsala | 21 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 21 | 52 | -31 | 10 |
Games were due to resume in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild Kvenna on November 9th, but coronavirus concerns put paid to that idea and the round was again postponed.
As can be seen on the ladder below, all teams have at least two games left to play.
With KR Reykjavik‘s Angie Beard back in Australia, Thróttur Reykjavik‘s Laura Hughes is left flying the Aussie flag in the league at the back end of the season.
Here’s a recent Instagram post from Hughes (number 6) in the middle of a Thróttur pep talk.
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 |
Similarly to Iceland, the Danish Elitedivisionen round was postponed due to coronavirus concerns.
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.
