RECAP: WEEKEND NORWEGIAN ACTION Arch Bell - Sunday, October 18, 2009
Hunter Freeman and Start sputtered at home versus Aalesund in the Eliteserien while Jay Needham and Alta once again prevailed versus Mjondalen in 1. Division action.
Start 0 - 1 Aalesund
It could have been alot worse for Hunter Freeman and Start who were beaten decidedly by visiting Aalesund on Sunday afternoon at Sor Arena in Kristiansand.
Freeman started at his customary position on the back line for the hosts and went the full 90 minutes. Fellow American Clarence Goodson did not join the native Texan in defense so Goodson watched this one on the bench as did native Californian and Aalesund reserve goalkeeper Adin Brown.
Start head coach Knut Torum's squad started off slowly and had to fend off numerous chances created by the Aalesund attack. Start goalkeeper Kenenth Hoie was called on to make several solid saves keeping the hosts even.
A free kick sent into the area by Freeman late in the first half was one of Start's best chances of the game but Rolf Daniel Vikstol's resulting header missed the target.
The game's lone goal arrived in the 60th minute when Glenn Roberts scored off a long ball from Ville Jalasto. Roberts took advantage of a lapse in the Start defense to squeeze himself between the defender and the ball before sliding a shot under Hoie.
Freeman had a chance at equalizing in the 75th minute but his shot from 12 meters out was blocked by the visitors' defense helping secure the crucial three points.
The victory pushes Aalesund up the league standings to seven points clear of the relegation playoff spot ensuring that the club will play in the Eliteserien next year.
Start drop back to ninth with 37 points on the campaign as they head north next weekend to face Tromso.
Molde 4 - 0 Stabaek
Mikkel Diskerud saw his first club action since the FIFA Under-20 World Cup but it did little to help Stabaek who got drilled by Molde at Aker Stadion on Saturday evening.
Diskerud came on as a second half substitute and played the final 30 minutes of the match. Stabaek head coach Jan Jonsson brought in the US U-20 international to replace Daigo Kobayashi.
Molde's Brian Waltrip is still recovering from a fractured ankle and did not suit up.
The two teams entered the match with each riding a streak. Molde had dropped their previous three while Stabaek had run off a three match win streak of their own setting up the showdown for the silver medal in this year's Eliteserien.
The match took a twist that favored the hosts in the 13th minute when Stabaek's Johan Andersson picked up a second yellow card after fouling Mattias Mostrom.
Andersson's foolish play reduced the visitors to 10 men which changed the tone of the match putting Jonsson's squad on the defensive against one of the most lethal offenses in the league.
Molde hit pay dirt in the 37th minute when Mame Biram Diouf scored off of Magne Hoseth's corner. The future Manchester United man perfectly flicked a header towards the side netting giving the home fans a preview of what was to come.
The second half saw Molde assert their dominance over their disadvantaged foes as the second goal came in the 59th minute when Mostrom played a counterattack all on his own. The Swedish defender raced down the field for 60 meters before launching a shot that smacked into the back of the net.
Mostrom added more fireworks ten minutes later when he fed Pape Pate Diouf with a ball outside the area who then curled a shot inside the right post to essentially put the match away.
The Diouf brothers capped of the goal scoring barrage in the 87th minute when Mame took a pass and raced down the right side before feeding Pape who had an easy shot to cap off the scoring.
The victory for Molde pushes them one week closer to locking down the silver medal with 50 points while Stabaek remain third with 47 points.
Diskerud and company return home next weekend to face Bodo/Glimt.
Brann 1 - 2 Valerenga
Valerenga continued their hot streak to end the season with a victory on the road in Bergen against Brann at Brann Stadion.
Goalkeeper Troy Perkins was stellar in goal for Valerenga player/coach Martin Andresen going the full 90 minutes and giving up just one goal.
The victory for the visitors ruined Brann's chances at making at late run towards a top three finish in the Eliteserien.
Brann are still four points behind Stabaek in the last spot to claim a Europa League berth with just two weeks remaining in the season.
A sleepy first half was interrupted in the 32nd minute when Valerenga's Luton Shelton scored the game's first goal. Harmeet Singh slung a pass into the penalty area which was served in low but Shelton did the dirty work to bend down and send a glancing header just inside the left post to stun the home crowd.
Brann answered in the 64th minute when team leading scorer Erik Huseklepp and Petter Moen played a nifty give and go to level the score. Moen fed a ball to Huseklepp down on the end line who then sent a ball right back to Moen who fired a shot past Perkins.
The game looked as if it would end in a tie until one minute from full time when Valerenga found the game-winner.
Morten Berre gathered in a cross in the area and attempted a header at goal which went astray only to see Bengt Sæternes push the ball into the net with his chest.
The entire Brann team vehemently protested the call but the referee nevertheless ruled that Andresen's squad had scored thus dashing the European hopes of the home fans.
Valerenga head back to Oslo next weekend for their final home match of the season when they face Sandefjord. Perkins and company now sit in sixth place with 40 points.
Alta 3 - 1 Mjondalen
Jay Needham and Alta's yo-yo season continued with a solid thumping of Mjondalen at Finnmarkshallen Arena in Alta on Sunday afternoon in 1. Division action.
A sore hamstring had been severly hampering Needham for the last two weeks but the native Texan got the thumbs-up prior to game time and started on the back line for head coach Aasmund Bjorkman.
The switch to defense was a change for Needham who had been spearheading the Alta attack from the central midfielding position for the last several months.
Bjorkman elected to have the former SMU Mustang anchor a defense which was plagued by lapses and mental errors and in last week's loss at Tromsdalen. Needham ended up going the full 90 minutes in the win.
But the best sign for the home fans was a return to the goal scoring ways of striker and team leading scorer Vegard Braaten who got Alta on the scoreboard first in the sixth minute.
Needham fed a pass to Magnus Andersen who managed to pluck a ball through two Mjondalen defenders which was chest-trapped by Braaten who wheeled and fired a shot into the back of the net.
The hosts doubled the margin in the 19th minute when Andersen got a goal of his own. Aziz Idris slid a pass through the visitors' defense to Andersen who easily beat Mjondalen goalkeeper Anders Rotevatn for the score.
Bjorkman's squad wrapped up their scoring with another first half effort, this one coming in the form of a penalty kick.
Diomande Alassane's run into the area resulted in a shot by the forward from the Ivory Coast which struck the arm of a Mjondalen defender. Braaten was given the nod to take the kick and calmly converted from the spio giving Alta a three goal lead.
Needham almost scored his third goal of the season late in the second half but his free kick from just outside the area scraped to the top of the crossbar.
Mjondalen ruined the shutout in the 90th minute courtesy of Milos Tanasic headed in a cross sent in by Martin Strange.
The victory once again puts Alta back into the discussion of obtaining the final promotion playoff position after Sarpsborg went down in defeat to Kongsvinger on Saturday.
Alta are four points behind Sarpsborg with two matches left as Bjorkman's squad head to eighth place Lov-Ham next weekend while Colin Burns' future club host 13th place HamKam.
Notes
Goalkeeper Tyrel Lacey was a surprise non-starter for Lyn who fell at home 0-1 to Stromsgodset.
Matthew Allen watched from the bench as the backup goalkeeper for Sandefjord who drew at home 2-2 with Lillestrom.
Connor Tobin did not see any time in Nybergsund's 3-2 defeat at Lov-Ham.
Goodson wasn't on the bench he was in the stands as his manager kept him out as punishment for missing a training session one hour after Goodson retuned from international duty for the USA. Goodson said he hadn't been notified. Start lost a match they would likely have won with him on thee field. The manager appologized to the fans on Monday for 'mistakes' he made that cost the team the match. Didn't say what they were....
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