So today, or should I say this evening, I attended the Viking v Sandnes Ulf derby at the Viking Stadion in Norway's top division, the Tippeligaen. The two teams are only separated by about 6 miles so this really is a derby game. I was standing in the end where all the 'Vikinghordene' supporters stood, basically the supporters club of Viking, and they have this area especially to stand in and sing songs, a good idea and one that English clubs should take note of. The rest of the stadium is all seated so this area is the only standing area. With this being a local derby, a sunny warm evening and it being May 16th (the day before national day in Norway, so it's a tradition that one round of the Tippeligaen is played on May 16th) the match was a 16,508 sell out, which is around double what Viking would expect for a normal home game. A great atmosphere was building prior to kick off and as the teams came out flares were let off in front of the end I was standing in, so I couldn't actually see anything for about two minutes!!! As the smoke cleared and my lungs cleared (after coughing for ages) the players and the pitch re emerged into view. Viking were starting the match 3rd in the league and were the only unbeaten side in the league whilst Sandnes Ulf were finding life much harder and were bottom of the league after a poor start to their season. But this is a derby game and form goes out of the window. The occasion seemed to effect Viking more in the first twenty mins or so as Sandes Ulf came out with the care free attitude that they had nothing to lose as no one had given them much chance of getting a result here. Sandnes did fire a warning shot after about ten minutes when a ball was hooked just wide from outside the box, but they didn't have to wait too long for the opener. On 14 minutes a ball played down the wing seemed to look miles offiside but no flag was forthcoming and Viking half stopped allowing the ball to be squared across by Marius Helle to Steven Lennon who fired a first time effect beyond the keeper Austbo and into the net to give the away side a shock lead. Viking continued to struggle to create anything up front and apart from a few balls into the penalty area they never really threatened Halldorsson's goal. The only shot on target they did have was a weak long range effort from full back Haugan which went straight into the arms of Halldorsson. Sandnes could of added to their lead had it not been for a fantastic flying save from Austbo to tip an effort round the post just before half time. No doubt the Viking fans behind the goal would of expected that the second half would all be up there end as Viking were to attack towards their fans in the second half. However the second half was only two minutes old when Viking's half time team talk went out of the window. Viking defender Ingason missed a header leading to a ball to be played through the heart of the Viking defence by Marius Helle and like a parting of the red seas they allowed Sandnes player Diego Rubio to take aim and fire past the onrushing Austbo and give the away side a 2-0 lead. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Viking for a few minutes as they were taken aback at how easily Sandnes had doubled their lead. Gradually though they started to put the Sandnes back four under pressure although like the first half didn't really threaten the goal to much. However on 57 minutes a lifeline for Viking as first a cross was cleared back out to former Sandnes player Steinthor Thorsteinsson and his ball back into the mixer was headed back across Halldorsson by Vidar Nisja into the corner of the net to send the fans wild and brought belief back into them too that their side could grab something from this game. After this it was virtual one way traffic as Viking had wave after wave of attacks but Sandnes were just about keeping them out. There was a big moment of controversy when Viking had the ball over the line following a mad scramble in the penalty area, but the officials thought otherwise and waved play on. Sandnes were just playing on the break but it was mainly defending for them as Viking laid siege to the opposing goal. On 71 minutes they finally drew level when a ball from Andre Danielsen into Vidar Nisja was firstly mis-kicked by the player but he composed himself to poke the ball past Halldorsson and level the match up at 2-2. You can imagine the carnage in the packed terrace area at this point and people were hugging and jumping on each other, it was fantastic and a great atmosphere indeed. Viking had three or four great chances to score the winner but they just could not find a way past the keeper Halldorsson and with about four minutes had two stonewall penalties turned down by the referee, a Mr Tore Hansen, who has to have had one of his poorest performances in the middle, as he made so many wrong decisions throughout, to the dismay of the home fans and the Viking bench, who let their feelings be known, resulting in referee Hansen sending Viking manager Kjell Jonevret to the stands, which went down like a led balloon in the home areas. Sandnes attacked down the right and flashed a ball across goal near the end as well but it was Viking who looked the likely to score the next goal. A clash in the goalmouth in stoppage time kind of summed up the referee's performance in a nut shell when Indridi Sigurdsson bumped into the keeper accidentally sending him into the goal net, sparking a push and shove match with some of the Sandnes players. After this had calmed down the referee decided to book Sigurdsson and also Kenneth Sola, one of the Sandnes players involved. Why Sigurdsson was booked is anyone's guess. The referee blew for full time soon after and was duly booed and whistled off the pitch. Manager Kjell Jonevret pulled his players away from the referee as he didn't want any of them shaking referee Nelsen's hand, such was his fury at the official. So a mad crazy game ended in a 2-2 draw, leaving Viking in 3rd place and Sandnes Ulf one place off the bottom. Viking remain unbeaten and will perhaps on reflection be satisfied they are still unbeaten and 3rd with 21 rounds still to go. A magnificent game and a great spectacle it must be said and thoroughly enjoyable.
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