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.
It was Matilda vs Matilda in Norway as Karly Roestbakken‘s team faced off against Teagan Micah‘s side, but there was no Aussie involvement in Iceland and Denmark, with games postponed in Iceland and Indiah-Paige Riley not on the match card for her new Danish team’s Round 1 game.
Aussie involvement in Round 6 of the Toppserien began on Saturday morning our time, with Clare Polkinghorne and Katrina Gorry‘s Avaldsnes winning narrowly against bottom team Røa Dynamite Girls in a game that was untidy at times, while Nikola Orgill‘s Kolbotn had an outstanding result against title contenders Vålerenga.
Avaldsnes welcomed Elise Thorsnes back from suspension and she was the difference between the teams in their game, scoring in the 16th minute.
Orgill is back on the Kolbotn training paddock and is hopefully nearing a return to action.
https://twitter.com/Beyond90AU/status/1292020147180298240
Photo credit: Andreas Kristoffer Berge, Kvinneidrett.no Facebook page
Coming off their first win last round, the Kolbotn result is particularly heartening for Orgill’s team. Kolbotn opened the scoring early after a defensive error by Vålerenga and then defended stoutly until conceding in the 86th minute.
On Monday morning our time, Roestbakken’s table topping LSK Kvinner entertained Micah’s Arna-Bjørnar in the LSK Hall to finish the round.
https://twitter.com/Beyond90AU/status/1292645681371332611
The home side jumped to an early lead in the 10th minute with left back Emilie Woldwik taking the ball at speed from the left by-line close to the 6 yard box and belting a shot into the top of the net.
The away side was unlucky not to have a LSK handball in the box noticed by the referee, but equalised just after the hour when Kristina Erman broke away from her defender on a corner kick and had a free header inside the six yard box.
LSK immediately lifted their tempo, resulting in them retaking the lead inside five minutes when inspirational captain Emile Haavi received a ball at the top of the box, drove forward, and smashed a left foot shot past Micah into the right side of the net. The Lillestrøm side at 2-1 up were then able to close out the game.
Both the LSK Kvinner winning goal, and Vålerenga’s goal to equalise against Kolbotn, were nominated as candidate goals of the round by the official Toppserien account (first and second goals respectively below).
https://twitter.com/Kvinnefotball1/status/1292771862469017601
It was so good to see Micah safely between the sticks for Arna-Bjørnar in this game after perching herself on this remarkable rocky outcrop during the week. (!!!!)
Another solid performance by Micah in goals for Arna-Bjørnar saw her continuing her fine season, although she wasn’t called upon for the spectacular this week (image above notwithstanding).
Roestbakken may have found a home for LSK Kvinner at centre back, playing a second successive 90 minutes there. She made a couple of vital last ditch challenges and impressed with some searching long balls.
Round 6 results
(teams with Australian players in the squad are shown in bold)
| RØA | 0 – 1 | Avaldsnes |
| Vålerenga | 1 – 1 | Kolbotn |
| Klepp | 1 – 0 | Lyn |
| Sandviken | 1 – 3 | Rosenborg |
| LSK Kvinner | 2 – 1 | Arna-Bjørnar |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | LSK Kvinner | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| 2 | Rosenborg | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| 3 | Vålerenga | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 | Avaldsnes | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | Sandviken | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Klepp | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 8 |
| 7 | Kolbotn | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 6 |
| 8 | Lyn | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | -7 | 4 |
| 9 | Arna-Bjørnar | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 3 |
| 10 | RØA | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 14 | -10 | 0 |
Emily Gielnik is slowly increasing her match time in each performance for Vittsjö GIK in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. After a couple of promising results, the team came crashing back down to earth this week in their 3-0 Round 9 away loss to Umeå IK, with Gielnik entering the game just on the hour.
https://twitter.com/Beyond90AU/status/1292299683180634112
It was a costly loss for Vittsjö, with their opponent leap-frogging them from the bottom of the table, leaving Vittsjö pushing up the rest of the ladder.
Round 9 results
| Uppsala | 1 – 9 | Rosengard |
| Umeå IK | 3 – 0 | Vittsjö |
| Pitea | 1 – 5 | Göteborg |
| Eskilstuna United | 3 – 0 | Vaxjo DFF |
| Djurgarden | 0 – 1 | Örebro |
| Linköping | 0 – 3 | Kristianstad |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Göteborg | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 4 | 19 | 23 |
| 2 | Rosengard | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 5 | 22 | 22 |
| 3 | Linköping | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 16 |
| 4 | Kristianstad | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 15 |
| 5 | Eskilstuna United | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 11 |
| 6 | Pitea | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 16 | -5 | 11 |
| 7 | Örebro | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 11 |
| 8 | Uppsala | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 22 | -8 | 10 |
| 9 | Umeå IK | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 9 |
| 10 | Djurgarden | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 14 | -4 | 8 |
| 11 | Vaxjo DFF | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 17 | -12 | 8 |
| 12 | Vittsjö | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 7 |
The Urvalsdeild Kvenna was postponed this week, but that didn’t stop Laura Hughes‘ Thróttur Reykjavik from celebrating their 71st club anniversary, having been founded by firefighters on August 5, 1949. Hughes can be seen third from left of the front row in the below tweet.
https://twitter.com/throtturrvk/status/1290984948606828544
Like Teagan Micah in Norway, KR Reykjavik’s Angie Beard has made the most of her break in the last week or so by seeing the local sights:
Round 8 results (from last week)
| Þór/KA | 2 – 1 | KR Reykjavik |
| ÍBV | 3 – 2 | UMF Selfoss |
| Stjarnan | 5 – 5 | Thróttur |
| Valur R | 3 – 1 | FH Hafnarfjörður |
| Fylkir | 0 – 4 | Breiðablik |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Breiðablik | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 28 | 21 |
| 2 | Valur R | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 13 | 19 |
| 3 | Fylkir | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | UMF Selfoss | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | Þór/KA | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| 6 | ÍBV | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 9 |
| 7 | Thróttur | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 20 | -6 | 7 |
| 8 | Stjarnan | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 7 |
| 9 | KR Reykjavik | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 7 |
| 10 | FH Hafnarfjörður | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 | -13 | 3 |
The Danish Elitedivisionen commenced this week, with Indiah-Paige Riley‘s Fortuna Hjørring kicking things off with a Round 1 loss (we like to think it was because Indi was not listed on the team sheet).
https://twitter.com/Beyond90AU/status/1292297924366331905
Other insights into how Indi is gearing up for her first appearance in the Elitedivisionen can be gained on this Youtube interview by Christina Trajceska of The Ladies League, and at this Q&A on Fortuna Hjørring’s Facebook page:
Round 1 results
| Nordsjælland | 0 – 4 | AGF Aarhus |
| Fortuna Hjørring | 0 – 2 | Thy – Thistedq |
| Kolding BK | 1 – 2 | Brøndby IF |
| HB Køge | 7 – 2 | AaB |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | HB Køge | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| 2 | Nordsjælland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Thy – Thistedq | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Brøndby IF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Kolding BK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 6 | Fortuna Hjørring | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 7 | AGF Aarhus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
| 8 | AaB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 0 |
Follow all our coverage of Aussies and Ferns Abroad here.
