Norwegian 4. divisjon avdeling 1, Wednesday 8th April
My third game in Norskland for 2026 saw me jump up a couple of levels to the Fourth Division and Section One, the fifth tier in Norway, as Sola hosted Eiger at the Sola Stadion although the game was actually being played on the 3G pitch next to the main stadium for some reason, which is called the SR-Bank Mini Arena, which is basically a 3G facility inside a cage.
It did also mean I'd be right next to the action, the main stadium they normally play at has a running track around it so in that sense playing on the 3G would be better for feeling closer to the action, the action would see two sides coming into their second games of the season having lost their opening matches, Sola were defeated 2-1 at Vardeneset at the end of March whilst Eiger was thrashed 7-1 at home by Vidar 2, a side who have won both their games so far netting twelve in the process.
Sola had been in the Third Division (the Norsk Tipping-ligaen avd. 5) last season until they were relegated, so they were looking to not only bounce back from their opening day loss but also try and get back on track and give themselves a springboard to hopefully a season where they can give themselves a shot at getting back into the next level, although with only the side finishing top having this chance, that would be a tall order.
Eiger themselves had finished 7th out of 12th in this division last season although they had finished way above the relegation play off zone although having conceded 78 goals in their 22 games, this campaign had kind of continued in that vain having conceded seven on the opening day, so they were certainly looking for an improved performance in this contest and hoping to pick up some points too.
Well, it did start well for the visitors who did take the lead on the quarter hour mark and it was helped by some lacklustre defending by the hosts who had started the game slowly, Vetle Jondal stole the ball of a defender before passing to Aleksander Kjellmann, he then returned the ball to Jondal before he curled a lovely effort into the far corner despite home keeper Sverre Joa getting a hand to it.
However, that was as good as it was going to get for the visitors, it only took the hosts seven minutes to level proceedings as going behind seemed to wake them up somewhat, playmaker Rolf Hesby sent a threw ball into the path of Erik Helgevold and the latter sent the ball beyond visiting keeper Fabian Andersen who also got a touch on the way but was unable to stop it from finding the net.
And thereafter in the first forty five minutes Sola were the ones looking most likely to go in front, skipper Benjamin Munkvold fired a rocket of a free kick from miles out which glanced off the bar, and then late in the half the ball fell to Hesby who somehow struck his close range effort against the post, meaning the game was locked at 1-1 heading into the break.
The opening exchanges of the second period saw both sides trying to gain the upper hand, but you always felt Sola were going to get in front at some point, and midway through the half they finally managed to get their noses in front, Hesby giving the ball to Monkvold to fire an unstoppable effort from outside the box beyond the dive of Andersen into the bottom corner.
And with fifthteen minutes remaining Sola increased their lead and it was another crisp strike, this time from Edvin Paulsen, firing a rocket into the bottom corner, before they added a fourth goal in the 86th minute as a long ball from the back by centre half Dennis Zhilivoda was chested down by Hesby into the path of Endre Tendenes who fired home beyond Andersen.
A rampant hosts then added two more in stoppage time to cap off a fine evening, a lovely cross from Munkvold was perfect for Jonas Nordtun to head home at the back post, and with the final action of the half they made it six when Hesby, who was involved in everything positive for the home side, laid a ball off to Yousif Al-Mansoori before the substitute cut into his left foot and fired a powerful effort beyond Andersen and into the net.
A great way for Sola to bounce back from their opening day defeat then, and turning their goal difference from a small negative to a larger positive, as for Eiger though that's two losses in two and thirteen goals conceded, a very tough start for them for sure.
Full time Sola 6 Eiger 1
There were no other games in the division this evening, but let's take a quick look at the table after this evenings result in Sola:-
The result actually sees Sola go up to third in the standings after improving their goal difference as well as getting points on the board, whilst Eiger remain at the foot of the division due to their poor goal difference which got even worse after this evenings loss, early days though as said in all these Norwegian blogs thus far.
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