Aussies in Nordic Football – Season 2020 Wrap 7

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.

The weekend featured a landmark game by Emily Gielnik in Sweden as she more than rewarded Vittsjö GIK for her first 90 minute appearance. Three Matildas were playing in the Round 7 Avaldsnes vs LSK Kvinner game in Norway, and Angie Beard was named in the Icelandic Urvalsdeild Kvenna team of the week.

It was an important second win for Teagan Micah‘s Arna-Bjørnar last weekend, defeating Lyn Lightning 2-1 at home, which allows them to leap-frog their opponents on the ladder and move out of the relegation zone (the bottom two teams are relegated at season’s end).

Arna-Bjørnar dominated the first half and were rewarded with a goal in the 37th minute after a tremendous Rikke Nygard drive from outside the Lyn box hit the top left corner of the net.

In best sweeper-keeper fashion later in the half, Micah advanced 30 yards to tackle Lyn’s most dangerous player Camilla Linberg after she broke away from her defenders.

The home side extended their lead in the 52nd minute after a sharp passing move around the Lyn box resulted in a goal to Meryll Abrahamsen, but Lyn were looking more and more dangerous.

Linberg was able to get Lyn back into contention just four minutes later with a slick move around her defender on the by-line, blasting the ball past Micah in the six yard box from a narrow angle. However, Micah’s game management skills in the dying minutes of the game, as well as a late low save that she scrambled to regather, ensured that Arna-Bjørnar came away with the three points.

The Nordic football game of the weekend (for those with an Aussie interest) was undoubtedly in Norway with the matchup between Avaldsnes at home – fielding Matildas Clare Polkinghorne and Katrina Gorry – and Karly Roestbakken‘s table-topping LSK Kvinner.

Roestbakken once again started at centre back for the third successive game, with Malin Brenn – who started the season in that position – still on the injured list. Polkinghorne and Gorry adopted familiar centre back and centre midfield roles respectively.

The teams were 0-0 at half time, with chances at either end in an open game. The Lilleström side looked the more dangerous of the two in the first half with their switches of play, plus their left side combination of Woldwik and Haavi. Indeed, LSK had two successive chances cleared off the Avaldsnes line at the half hour mark. These missed opportunities would prove telling as the match wore on. Avaldsnes looked more convincing than in their previous game, especially after a formation adjustment late in the half saw them compete more effectively in midfield.

An LSK Kvinner midfield turnover five minutes into the second half saw an Avaldsnes shot hit the LSK crossbar, and the home side took the lead on the hour as a ball that arrived onto the LSK penalty spot fell at the feet of Ylinn Tennebo, who turned and slotted it into the bottom corner of the LSK net. This was a good period for the home side, throwing numbers forward to good effect.

In the last few weeks LSK Kvinner have found another gear late in games when they needed it, but that was not the case in this game as they were handed their first defeat of the season. Avaldsnes are to be credited for the way they attacked the game in the second half and for not dropping their endeavour or shape once they took their 1-0 lead.

All three Aussies played out the full 90 minutes in this absorbing and historical fixture, which also marks Avaldsnes’ first ever victory over LSK Kvinner.

Nikola Orgill was not on the Kolbotn side of the match card as they went down 3-1 at home against Sandviken. Scoreboard damage was all done by the 40th minute, after the visitors dominated field position and possession.

At 3-0 down after 32 minutes, Kolbotn pinched one back and then went about trying to restore the possession balance, but not even the addition of four sets of fresh legs with 25 minutes to go could swing the balance further back their way.

Round 7 results
(teams with Australian players in the squad are shown in bold)

It was a busy four day period for Emily Gielnik and her Vittsjö GIK team in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. Their Round 10 game last Thursday resulted in a 0-2 loss at home to ladder leaders Göteborg, with Gielnik in her first start playing 64 minutes.

Sunday’s Round 11 game, however, was a glorious Game of Gielnik, as she led Vittsjö GIK to a 0-2 victory in their Round 11 away game to Växjö DFF. Gielnik was on fire, scoring in the 3rd minute on a breakaway run and heading in her second goal with two minutes of normal time to go in the game. She was substituted as stoppage time commenced but the score remained 0-2 in a confidence boosting game for both Gielnik and her team. Both sides were sharing bottom of ladder positions before this game but the win sees Vittsjö GIK advance up the ladder, leaving Växjö last.

Footage of Gielnik’s two goals is available via the below Vittsjö GIK Facebook post.

Round 11 results

The Urvalsdeild Kvenna was back in action this week after a COVID-induced break.

Laura Hughes‘ Thróttur Reykjavik took on ÍBV at home, having never won in 19 encounters against them. The trend didn’t change here despite the fact that ÍBV sit only one ladder position above Thróttur, with the home side losing 0-2.

The game was streamed live, as it was broadcast on Iceland TV. The action was end to end on the short artificial surface and the teams were stretched for much of the game. This made for a taxing experience for Hughes, who played out the full 90 minutes. The refereeing seemed lenient on physical challenges, so the encounters at times were bruising. As players who like to play in the the thick of the action, Hughes and Angie Beard will undoubtedly return from Iceland fitter and tougher players than they already are.

Beard’s KR Reykjavik did not have a weekend fixture, but played Monday night (Iceland time) against second placed Valur Reykjavik, losing 0-1 at home. She lined up in central defence for this game, with her impressive performance earning her a place in the league’s Team of the Week.

https://twitter.com/Beyond90AU/status/1295910917700345856

Round 8 results (from last week)

In Denmark’s Elitedivisionen, Indiah-Paige Riley was yet again not on Fortuna Hjørring‘s match card in their Round 2 away game to AGF Aarhus. However, this time her team took care of business, coming away with a 2-0 victory and Fortuna’s first win of the season.

https://twitter.com/alisonforman/status/1294693023905992704

Round 3 will be played midweek on Thursday morning, with Round 4 on Saturday evening (Australian time).

Round 2 results

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