Norsk Tipping-ligean Avdeling 4, Saturday 10th October
My final weekend and indeed final full day in Norway for this trip saw me take in more Norsk Tipping-ligean Avdeling 4 action as I made my first trip over to Jorpeland, which to get to it by bus from Stavanger required a trip under Horgefjord, through Ryfylketunnelen, which is NINE miles long & is currently the world's longest subsea road tunnel, & the deepest tunnel of any kind, so even before I had reached the game it was already an experience.
My choice of game for this round of fixtures in the division was at Sparebanken Norge Arena Ryfylke, for a game towards the bottom of the division, as Staal Jorpeland were hosting Vag, it was my first visit to their of course and the hosts were very gracious in giving me and club cap and scarf as a thank you for coming to their game, so that was another good reason for picking this one.
It was also quite an important game, especially for the hosts, in terms of strengthening their chances of staying away from the drop zone, but before the action from Jorpeland and the rest of the divisions action on Saturday, their was a game on Friday evening to start the weekend, involving sides in differing needs for the points, let's see what happened shall we.....
Friday 9th October
Flekkeroy 0 Odd 2s 1
Hosts Flekkeroy, or Floy as they are also known, were looking for the points to put pressure on the top two, they sat four points behind second placed Mandelskameratene and six behind leaders Madla who occupied the one promotion spot, so they knew that with only four games to go a win was pretty much needed, visitors Odd 2s were just three points above the drop zone and in need of points to get themselves away from the bottom three. Well, it appeared as if this one would end goalless and both sides picking up a point, however, that was until the 90th minute when Mikkel Tonheim popped up to net a late winner for the visitors and make it six points in less than a week, and take a giant stride towards safety, and hand the hosts a very damaging defeat, especially if the top two win at the weekend too.
Ok, lets now look at what happened on Saturday, starting at my venue today, Staal Jorpeland's Sparebanken Norge Arena Ryfylke.....
Saturday 10th October
Staal Jorpeland Vs Vag
It's certainly one, if not the most, picturesque ground I've been too in a part of the world that has many, and a nice modern new stand has been built in the last year or so as well, which is very useful when the weather isn't playing ball, although despite the not such great forecast, it turned out to be a very nice day, making the surroundings look even more spectacular. And, as I briefly touched on in the blog intro, this was an important game towards the bottom of the division.
Staal were only three points above the drop zone and had actually dropped to fourth bottom as a result of Odd 2s win the night before, so the hosts were in direct firing line of Hinna and Haugesund 2s, who were in the drop zone and looking to try and pull themselves out of it at Staal's expense. Vag were also still looking over their shoulders but were in a slightly more comfortable position despite this.
Vag were a further three points ahead of Staal and six clear of the bottom three, so a win here would all but secure safety and football in the fourth tier for next season, defeat would see today's opponents draw level with them and if results below them went against them too, make things very interesting down their for sure with three more rounds to come.
Staal's form heading into this one was mixed to say the least, but they had netted a big win last time out at Hinna in what was a huge six pointer down at the bottom, in fact over the last four games they had picked up seven points, very useful at this time of the season, Vag themselves though were in decent nick over the last few games, with the last five bringing four wins and a draw.
However, when the two sides met earlier in the season, Staal had netted a 1-0 win at Vag's Karuss Kunstgress, the hosts were certainly hoping for something similar today, but how would they cope against a side who had netted fourteen goals in their last five outings, only time would tell as they say.
The hosts should have been ahead early on, Gustav Stople cutting back onto his right foot before bending what looked like a lovely effort into the far corner, but visiting keeper Michael Crowe produced a wonderful save to tip the ball past the far post, and Crowe had to be smart to stop another close range effort from the home side, and this luck in front of goal was to be the story of the day for Staal.
The had plenty of openings but were lacking a cutting edge, Vag themselves also had plenty of attacks too, their best chance was a sitter as well, Salai Mahlaw bursting in down the left but his ball across goal was somehow poked wide of a gaping goal, however, in the 38th minute Vag did edge themselves in front, Daniel Roppestad broke clear down the right hand side and his lovely ball into the danger zone found Christian Wahlstrom who managed to beat his marker and apply a neat finish beyond home keeper Simon Amdal.
Staal then had work to do in the second period to turn this one around, and in first half stoppage time they made their task even more difficult when they went down to ten men, courtesy of a silly challenge from Jarand Veland, who was already on a booking & took out Mahlaw who was about to break down right, and he was duly shown a second yellow and sent for an early bath.
It was certainly a blow for the home side, but, despite these couple of late setbacks in the first period they came out all guns blazing in the second period, and were the better side even though they had a player less, but, yet again chances came and went and their lack of guile in front of goal was costing them, and once Vag had got through this and as the half entered it's final twenty minutes or so, they began to get more of the ball and more attacks against a now tiring home side.
And with ten minutes left it took a majestic ball from substitute Rahmanudin Manan to unlock the home defence, finding Wahlstrom who duly lifted a lovely finish over keeper Amdal for his second of the game, and all but seal the game, it was hard to see the ten man hosts coming back from that, and with Staal now feeling the affects of playing with a man light for the whole second half, and after all the effort they had put in, Vag were picking them off in the final few minutes.
In the 87th minute a ball through sent another substitute, Ole Fuglestad, clear in on goal, and he lifted over keeper Amdal beautifully for another decent finish, and then in stoppage time a third substitute, Mateusz Radgowski, fired home at the back post after a ball across the box had found him totally free, sealing what in the end looking like a comfortable victory for the visiting side, but it was anything but.
The score line was very harsh on the home side who for large parts of the game were the better side, but, lack of cutting edge up front cost them dear, and tiring legs after a second half with ten men ended up too much in the end and Vag were able to put more gloss on the score line, and take for them a very big win and pretty much seal their survival this season, something that cannot be said for Staal who are still in a battle down at the bottom.
Full time Staal Jorpeland 0 Vag 4
An enjoyable afternoon for me at least, sadly I could not bring Staal Jorpeland any luck, but they certainly made my day special with the free gifts, and also the spectacular views too, certainly a place I will come back to again in the future for sure, the scenery is unbelievably good!!!
Right, onto the remaining action on Saturday then, with another three games....
Varhaug 1 Madla 3
With the hosts in fifth and nine points behind today's opponents and league leaders Madla, the chances of promotion were almost non existant, but could they dent the visitors chances of promotion by inflicting defeat on them? Madla were of course coming into this having suffered a surprising loss at home last weekend to local rivals Brodd, and really didn't want another negative outcome as it could see them end the weekend off top spot as a result. Mathias Dessingue handed the visitors a 19th minute lead, but the hosts levelled just before half time through Arian Odegard, however, Madla were to go on and net a very important win as Sebastian Sandtorv restored their lead early on in the second period & then Jonas Halsne sealed the win with four minutes remaining and take them a step closer to their goal.
Brodd 4 Hinna 0
After Brodd's stunning win at league leaders Madla last weekend, it saw them really strengthen their grip on survival after it took them seven points clear of Hinna who occupied that final relegation spot, Hinna needed wins and help elsewhere to have any chance of survival so this was a must win game, like they all were now, but if Brodd could net a win it would pretty much guarantee their spot in the division next season, and almost consign the visitors to the drop if other results went against them. Well, it was to be another difficult afternoon for the visitors, they went behind after just six minutes when Vegard Aasen netted for the hosts, and it was two just past the midway point of the first half after Isak Hebnes, the scorer of the winning goal last weekend, netted once again. Martin Sveingard then made it 3-0 in the 66th minute before the scoring was completed five minutes from time courtesy of Magnus Bergesen, which all but seals Brodd's safety now.
Viking 2s 5 Vindbjart 1
Vindbjart has extra incentive to win at the Lyse Arena in Stavanger, as after Flekkeroy's defeat on Friday night meant that a win for the visitors here would see them leapfrog Floy into third spot and also take them as nearest challengers to the top two, taking them to just two points behind second place and four off the leaders if both slipped up this weekend, whereas Viking 2s were just above mid table in sixth with nothing to play for and were just chilling as their season came to it's conclusion, so the pressure was all on Vindbjart to get a result. Viking led by two at the break courtesy of Sondre Bakken's 13th minute goal & one from Romano Postema right on half time, giving Vindbjart a mountain to climb, and it was one that was to get bigger when Postema added another from the penalty spot just before the hour mark. Max Hagen then made it 4-0 in the 65th minute, Vindbjart did pull one back through Sander Svela's goal with twelve minutes to go, but Postema then completed his hat-trick late on to seal the deal and all but end the visitors promotion chances.
Let's see how the table looks after the weekend games so far, and ahead of the final two remaining Round 23 fixtures taking place on Sunday & Monday.....
Down at the bottom, with both Staal Jorpeland and Hinna losing 4-0, it remains the same as before, just the three points between them, Haugesund 2s could climb above Hinna and go just one point behind Staal if they win their bottom two clash at home to Akra on Monday, with anything other than a win for Akra resulting in the bottom side being officially relegated, although they looks inevitable anyway.
It does look like the teams going down will come from the bottom four places now, with teams above that looking more and more likely to have enough points to stay in the division now with just three more rounds to come. Vag & Brodd's wins today certainly all but cemented their status at this level for another year you would have thought.
Anyway that brings to an end a very enjoyable day over in Jorpeland, thanks once again to the club for their gifts, and the spectacular scenery will never been forgotten or topped for a while if ever, it also brings to an end my Norwegian adventure for this edition, so until next time, thank you and goodbye to Norway, and thanks once again for all who took the time to read, it's always very much appreciated.
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