Lae City 1-3 ABM Galaxy ( att : 150 ) – 2026 OFC Champions League

August 12, 2026

These diaries have on three occasions covered matches in the OFC Champions League Qualifying stages, featuring sides from Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji and American Samoa.

For the 2026 edition being hosted by Fiji, seven associations ( Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu) were awarded one berth each in the group stage without this year having to hold an in-country play-off to determine the sides to qualify. The sides representing each nation in the group stages were respectively Rewa, Tiga Sport, Auckland City, Lae City, Central Coast, AS Venus and Galaxy.

The final place continues to be filled by the winner from the so called 4 “developing” nations ( Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands and Tonga ), with Tupapa Maraerenga from the Cook Islands being the side to progress this year. Tupapa Maraerenga had twice appeared in these diaries.

Since sides from Australia were no longer eligible to participate in Oceania competitions due to Australia joining the Asian Football Competition in 2006, the OFC Champions League had been won by sides from New Zealand every time, except in 2005, when Hekari United from Papua New Guinea, and 2019 when Hienghene Sports from New Caledonia, had been surprise winners.

Since Covid, Auckland City had won four consecutive titles, making it 13 titles in total.

This would be the first time in which the champions would not qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, as the Infantino inspired OFC Professional League with newly created professional teams would now take their place instead, reducing this competition to a second tier one. A side representing Auckland FC, who play in the Australia A-League, won the 2026 OFC Professional League.

Football In Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea ( PNG ) is the eastern half of the island of New Guinea plus some offshore Melanesian islands. The western part of New Guinea is part of Indonesia. The island is the second largest in the world, and is separated from Australia by the 150 kilometre wide Torres Strait, with the Solomon Islands to the east. The population of the country is estimated to be just under 12 million.

PNG was administered by Australia under a League of Nations mandate until independence was granted in 1976. Given the Australian influence, Rugby League and Cricket are the most popular sports in the country, with Football having a much lower profile.

English is the official language of business and government although the most widely spoken language is Tok Pisin, which is more commonly known as pidgin English.

I have never been to Papua New Guinea but my brother worked there for three years. Being a rugby player, he joined the PNG Barbarians but quit after two games claiming the locals took the opportunity to give the foreigners a good kicking !

Papua New Guinea were currently 168^th in the FIFA rankings although they hadn’t played any games since November 2025, but were currently on an unbeaten run of 6 games stretching back to November 2024, when a 1-2 defeat in Port Moresby to the Solomon Islands confirmed their exit from the qualification process for the 2026 World Cup.

The team are known as The Kapuls, which is Tok Pisin for Cuscus, a breed of Australasian Possums.

One footballer from PNG had previously been mentioned in these diaries, midfielder David Browne ( 3 caps ) played for HJK Helsinki in 2020.

The PNG National Soccer League was formed in 2006 and rebranded as the PNG Premier Soccer League in 2022. Port Moresby based Hekari United have won 10 titles, followed by Lae City with 7, which were all won in consecutive years between 2015 and 2022.

The 2025 PNG Premier Soccer League featured 11 sides who played a 20-game regular season, with the top four qualifying for the play-off semi-finals to determine the overall winners. Lae City went through the 20-game season unbeaten and were top by 10 points. However, they lost the semi-final play-off on penalties to fellow Lae side Morobe Wawens after a 1-1 draw, who went on to lose 1-3 to Kemera based Gulf Komara in the Grand Final. This was the first time the title had not been won by either Hekari United or Lae City.

The consolation for Lae City was they were declared minor premiers for topping the regular season table and given PNG’s spot in the 2026 OFC Champions Cup.

The 2026 season contains 12 teams and is currently at its half-way mark. Lae City were again at the top, although this time had lost one match ( 1-3 to mid-table Kula ) but still led the table by 6 points ahead of Port Moresby Strikers, with PNG Hekari FC ( a name change for Hekari United ) in third and Gulf Komara in fourth.

Lae City were formed in 2014 and as the name suggests are based in the northern city of Lae, the second largest in the country. Lae City had participated in the OFC Champions League on 4 previous occasions, reaching the quarter finals in 2018 and 2019.

The Lae City squad was entirely of PNG nationals, but the only current international was captain and keeper Ronald Warisan ( 32 caps ), although defender Philip Steven had 3 caps. Midfielder Nalau Moses was captain of the PNG Under 19s.

Football In Vanuatu

Vanuatu is an archipelago of more than 80 islands in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean, situated 1,750 km east of northern Australia, north east of New Caledonia, south-east of the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, and west of Fiji. The population was estimated in 2023 at being around 335,000, and the capital is Port Vila.

Vanuatu had been jointly administered by France and The UK under the name of the New Hebrides until independence was achieved in 1980, and the name of the country was changed. Football is the most popular sport on the islands.

The official languages are English, French and Bislama, an English based Creole language.

Vanuatu were currently 160^th in the FIFA rankings with their one notable victory being a 4-2 triumph over New Zealand in the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, although they have lost the other 14 meetings against the Kiwis !

The team are known by the uninspiring name The Men In Black And Gold…….

One footballer from Vanuatu had previously been mentioned in these diaries, defender Brian Kaltak ( 32 caps ) had played in three Central Coast Mariners matches reported on. Kaltak now plays for fellow A-League side Perth Glory.

Vanuatu has eight regional associations, each with their own league, with the Port Vila Football Association considered to be the strongest. The top four of the Port Vila Premier League qualify for the PVFA Top Four, the winner of which would be one of the two sides from Vanuatu to qualify for the OFC Champions League, back when there were two sides qualifying. The winners of each regional competition play in the VFF Champions League, which would produce the other qualifier for the Champions League. ABM Galaxy were the winners of both the 2025/26 PVFA Super League and the 2026 VFF Champions League.

Au Bon March Galaxy, to give them their full name, were founded in 2014 and have won the VFF Champions League on four occasions.

The ABM Galaxy squad was predominantly home based but also included a couple of journeymen Brazilians, namely winger Willian Dos Santos Medina and veteran play-maker Roberson Dos Santos Ribiero, the latter having been a member of the Galaxy teams that participated in the 2022 and 2024 OFC Champions Cups.

Galaxy also had two Solomon Islands internationals, keeper Michael Laulae ( 4 caps ) and defender Aengari Gagame ( 1 cap ). I hope Gagame fares better with referees than former Crawley Town player Tony Goodgame, who when asked for his name for a booking replied “It’s A Goodgame, ref” and was promptly sent off as the referee thought he was being sarcastic rather than being accurate ! However, given the way the commentators pronounced his name as “ga-gar-may”, he is unlikely to have this problem………….

Vanuatu internationals included defender Tasso Jeffrey ( 12 caps ), midfielder Claude Aru ( 14 caps ), defender Selwyn Vatu ( 13 caps ) and forward Thomas Maliwan ( 1 cap ).

Previous Meeting

ABM Galaxy and Lae City played each other in the 2021 OFC Champions League in Auckland, but the 2-2 draw did little favour to either side, with both failing to finish in the top two in their group

2026 OFC Champions League So Far

Home favourites Rewa, ABM Galaxy, Lae City and qualifier Tupapa Maraerenga formed Group B.

Lae City began with a 4-1 victory over Tupapa Maraerenga with Solomon Kamake, Moses, Rue Api and an own goal on the scoresheet. Tremaine Rimene-Albrett scored the consolation for Tupapa.

Galaxy caused a major surprise in their first game, beating hosts Rewa 4-1 with Medina grabbing a hat-trick in front of a crowd of 1,100. Andrew Malakai was the other goal-scorer for Galaxy.

Prior to the start of this game, Rewa collected their first points in the competition by beating Tupapa 4-2.

Matchday Information

The match was being played in the Four R Stadium, Govind Park in Ba which has a capacity of 13,000 and a grass pitch. It is the home of Super Rugby side Fijian Drua and Fiji Premier League side Ba.

The weather at the 19.00 local time kick-off ( 08.00 UK ) was dark but cloudy and dry, with the temperature 23 degrees

The match was streamed live on FIFA+ with a commentary in English.

Lae City were unchanged from the side that started against Tupapa but Galaxy made two changes with Sandy Wilson and Andew Vuti coming into the side at the expense of Malakai and Henry Namatak.

The referee was Anna-Marie Keighley from New Zealand.

Lae City were playing in a patterned kit of mostly blue with some yellow splodges, and yellow socks, whilst Galaxy had a shirt with red and white half hoops on the front and all red on the back, with red shorts and socks.

Match Report

Galaxy started well, confidently passing the ball around but overhitting the final passes. Medina was already looking lively and was involved in all of the good things Galaxy were doing.

In the 7^th minute, Roberson was bundled over by the corner flag by Gabby Yanum for a free-kick to Galaxy. Maliwan’s delivery was overhit and Vatu could only meekly head many yards wide.

The first corner of the game arrived in the 11^th minute for Galaxy after a left-wing cross from Vatu was headed behind by Langarap Samol, but the set-piece from Romain Luake went harmlessly off for a goal-kick.

PNG Under 19 international David Tita was fouled after making a good run into the Galaxy half, winning a free-kick close to the left-hand touchline. Galaxy keeper Laulae went for the free-kick from Samol but he badly misjudged it and the ball sailed over his head, and Charles Hayes had a simple header at the far post into the empty net. 1-0 against the run of play after 13 minutes.

Galaxy’s response to falling behind was for Medina to win a corner off Yanum, which was cleared, and when Maliwan crossed from the left wing, the volley from Vatu, was high, wide and not so handsome.

Tita made another strong run down left wing. but his cross from byline went straight to keeper Laulae.

In the 18^th minute, Wilson showed good feet to keep a move flowing but the danger ended with Vuti being a yard off-side

Two minutes later Roberson chipped ball over Lae City back line for Medina to try a run onto, but Warisan did well to come of his line and used his experience to shepherd the ball off for a goal-kick.

Roberson was now seeing a lot of the ball and played a pass to the feet of Medina inside the Lae area, who played a short pass to Luake, but shot from 12 yards rolled agonisingly just wide of the far post

Medina seemed to have been anointed as the Galaxy free-kick specialist, firstly sending a 30-yard free-kick well over the bar, then sending a second effort into the defensive wall. The latter free-kick came after Medina was chopped down by Samol a few yards outside the Lae area and he rolled around on floor. Lae City keeper Warisan stormed out of his area to scream something at the prone Brazilian and was promptly shown a yellow card, which was to be the only one of the game.

On the half hour, Medina spread play from right to left and after the ball was worked to Roberson, his 25-yard effort hit the bar with the keeper beaten and went over.

Two minutes later Roberson teed up Maliwan just outside the area, but the left-footed first-time effort lacked power, and Warisan made a routine save.

Tita then made another eye-catching run down the left for Lae City and won a throw-in near the corner flag, but the attack came to nothing.

Medina showed good chest control to bring down Maliwan’s long ball and then turned onto his left foot as Samol slid by, but the shot went a couple of feet wide.

Shortly after, a long ball from Jeffrey put Medina clear and the Brazilian coolly lobbed the Lae City keeper as he rushed off his line. There was a strong suspicion of off-side but with no VAR in this competition, the goal stood to make it 1-1 with 39 minutes played.

Lae quickly forced a corner which was overhit, shortly followed by Vatu winning a corner for Galaxy. After Warisan punched the corner away, Maliwan ran back into the Lae City area but went down far too easily when challenged and the referee waved play on.

Galaxy keeper Laulae’s dodgy performance continued as he came out of his area to gather the ball near the corner flag, but he was tackled by Kamake, who opted to immediately cross into the Galaxy, but no team-mate was up in support.

In first half added time Yanum collided into Medina, leading to a lengthy delay, but the Brazilian was okay to continue for the second half.

The score remained 1-1 at the interval but Galaxy had looked the more dangerous side.

Galaxy dominated the early proceedings in the second period as first Vatu cut back onto right foot but his 20-yarder drifted well wide, then Medina’s glancing header was saved, but offside flag had been raised.

Jeffrey, under pressure from Kamake, played a poor back pass which went off for a corner to Lae City, which was well defended

Luake was now getting into the action and he beat three defenders before being fouled. A minute later his free-kick from the right-hand touchline went beyond far post, Warisan went for it but missed it, and Gagame headed back across goal, but the ball was cleared.

Jeffrey then played a ball behind Lae City backline for Maliwan to run onto, but he was stopped by a superb tackle by Hayes at the expense of a corner. The set-piece was played long, and again Gagame headed back across goal, but Medina volleyed wide on the turn from the 6 yard line.

Maliwan then sent a weak long-range effort straight to Warisan.

After 58 minutes, Lae City should have again taken a lead against the run of play. A lovely through ball was played by Tita down the left-hand channel, and Kamake got to it before Laulae. The Lae City striker went round the keeper, but with the goal gaping he could only put the effort with the outside of his foot into the side netting. A golden opportunity had gone begging.

Three minutes later, a 35-yard effort from Vuti was pushed into the air by Warisan and caught at the second attempted in a piece of dog’s dinner keeping. It should have been an easy catch.

With 63 minutes on the clock, a good sliding tackle by Vatu prevented Moses being put clear into the Galaxy area.

The game turned a few minutes later. Aru played a forward ball which Samol should have dealt with, but he failed to cut-out the pass, and Medina ran clear and slipped the ball past the advancing keeper. 1-2 after 69 minutes

Laulae continued to put the Galaxy supporters’ hearts in their mouth as he dropped a cross which should have been meat and drink. Kamake won possession and worked the ball back to Tita, but the shot from the angle of the penalty areas went a few feet over the bar.

A minute later another long ball out of the Galaxy defence was headed on by Roberson, beating Samol in the air, and Medina set chase. Collecting the ball, he cut inside Sopo and produced a left-footed shot across goal into the far corner before Yanum could slide in to block. 1-3 in the 71^st minute.

Medina’s second hat-trick in two games appeared to have wrapped up the contest. Lae City briefly had a good spell of possession but rarely looked like creating a clear-cut chance, with just substitute Api’s 25 yard left footed attempt going a couple of feet over the bar to show for it.

Indeed, with full-time approaching it was Galaxy who looked the more likely to claim the next goal. A good low cross from left by substitute Joe Moses missed by everyone in the middle, and when Maliwan recovered possession his cross was blocked.

Maliwan then played a pass to Medina inside the Lae City area, but after beating Bomecge  Basananuc, he was crowded out by Samol and Hosea Sikoko. Medina was able to lay the ball back to Moses, who poked a left footed effort a few feet wide from 12 yards.

A patient passing move involving Vatu, Roberson and Aru saw Bong Kalo chip over Lae City backline for Vatu to run onto and cross first time left footed from close to the byline. Samol attempted a wild clearance but only succeeded in slicing wide of the goal and off for a corner. Warisan flapped at the corner, sending it as far as Medina just outside the area, who struck the bouncing ball left footed, but his effort was blocked inside the 6 yard box by Basananuc.

With the 90 minutes just about up, sloppy play by Galaxy gave away possession and Lae City streamed forward as Galaxy’s midfield trotted back. Tita released Yanum, who set-up Gordon Mark, but his shot from 12 yards struck the base of the post and bounced away to safety.

There was still time for Galaxy to break quickly with a 2 on 1. Medina unselfishly drew Basananuc and put Maliwan clear with just the keeper to beat, but his poor finishing on the day continued as Warisan bravely saved with his body before the two players collided, leaving the keeper requiring lengthy treatment after the ball bounced wide.

Eventually Warisan was carried off on a stretcher, but as Lae City had used all of their permitted substitutes, outfielder Tita was forced to don the gloves and the goal-keeping shirt, and Lae City would have play out the closing couple of minutes with just 10 players. However, Tita added to his growing reputation by making a confident catch from Moses’ left-wing cross.

With this victory, Galaxy became the first side to qualify for the semi-final, and a draw against back-markers Tupapa should be enough to avoid meeting Auckland FC until the final. Lae City now need a draw in their final game against hosts Rewa to also go through to the semis.

Galaxy played a lot of neat passing football, and with their two Brazilians in good form, they could be a good bet to reach the final, and maybe even win the competition !

Lae City : Warisan – Hayes ( Philip ), Steven ( Basananuc ), Samol, Yanum, – N Moses, Mark, Sopo ( Api ), Hatagao ( Sikoko ), Tita – Kamake

ABM Galaxy : Laulae – Wilson ( Kiletier ), Gagame, , Jeffrey, Vatu ( Malakai ) – Luake ( J Moses ), Vuti, Roberson, Aru ( Kalo ), Maliwan - Medina

 

 

 

 

 

Oxford City 1-0 Bedford Town ( att : 867 ) - 2026/27 National League North

 August 8, 2026

This weekend saw the start of the non-league seasons at step 1 to 4, and Fatbear decided to take in the National League North game between Oxford City and Bedford Town.

This was a match between sides that finished 17^th vs 18^th last season, with both sides getting the points they needed on the final day of last season to ensure their survival. Oxford City won 3-1 at Darlington and Bedford drew 1-1 at home with Scarborough Athletic, resulting in Bedford finishing one point clear of the drop, whilst Oxford City ended four points from danger.

Bedford did the double over The Hoops last season, winning 1-0 at home and 2-1 at Marsh Lane, and those six points could be said to have been a major contributor in them staying up !

Oxford City Squad Update

After these diaries had reported on The Hoops 0-2 home loss to Marine in February last season it was looking grim for Oxford City. However, some astute signings and loans resulted in a run of only two defeats in the final 13 games which led The Hoops to safety.

The close season saw many changes to the Oxford City squad, with the return of two players who had been on loan last season, keeper Jonny Maxted from Brackley Town, and left-back Evan Humphries following his released by West Bromwich Albion.

Eye-catching signings included striker Tyrone Marsh from today’s opponents Bedford Town, who scored 26 league goals last season, some of which were assists from left-winger Ellis Brown who had also joined from Bedford.

Former England and Serbian youth international midfielder Dejan Tetek joined from Aldershot, having played in the EFL for Reading, highly rated midfielder Scott Pollock signed from Brackley Town, ex-Crawley, Eastleigh & Newcastle Under 23s Guadeloupe centre-back Ludwig Francillette joined from Morcombe, and right-back Keegan Bloom joined from Banbury United.

Ex-Wealdstone, Maidenhead and Dagenham & Redbridge Sri Lankan winger Dillon da Silva ( 26 caps ) was previously with Sutton United, whilst striker Jamie Odegah had joined on a one-month loan from Luton Town, having had a short loan with Chelmsford City last season.

On the eve of the start of the season, The Hoops announced the signing of right-back Deago Nelson, who played in the same West Bromwich Albion Under 21 side as Evan Humphries last season.

The departures from Oxford City included defender George Burroughs to Chester City, striker Isaac Westendorf to Torquay, young midfielder Josh McConnell to Evesham, midfielder Lattrell Humphrey-Ewers to Slough Town, centre-back Aaron Harper-Bailey to Hednesford, veteran Antiguan forward Josh Parker went to Farnborough, and Tom Scott joined King’s Lynn.

Winger Jack Bearne and forward Ashley Hemmings had both signed for Gloucester City, whilst Jacob Roddy and Charlie Wiggett had been announced as having left the club but had not yet signed for a new club.

Oxford City’s pre-season friendlies began with three victories, beating Cymru Premier side Briton Ferry 4-0 at home, National League South Hemel Hempstead 2-1 away, and Birmingham City U21 3-2 away. However, the last three friendlies, all against step 2 National League South sides, had resulted in narrow defeats, going down 1-2 at home to Walton & Hersham, 1-2 at Slough and 0-1 at home to Chesham United.

In previous pre-seasons Oxford City had played one or two pre-season friendlies at lower local non-league sides, but unfortunately none were scheduled this season, which was disappointing………..

Bedford Town

Bedford had previously appeared once in these diaries, in the first game Fatbear attended when football resumed after the Covid Pandemic in September 2020, when they lost 0-3 at Thame United. Fatbear had seen them on one occasion prior to that, when they fell to a slightly surprising 1-2 defeat to Thame in December 2018.

Bedford Town were notorious FA Cup giant killers in the 1950’s & 60s and famously drew 2-2 at Arsenal, before folding in 1982 when the landlord terminated the lease on their ground. Since reforming in 1989, they experienced one season in Conference South in 2006/07, but had mostly been playing at steps 3 and 4 until they won promotion to step 2 after winning the 2023/24 Southern League Premier Division Central.

 Last season’s priority was survival in National League North, and the mission was accomplished ! Their average attendance was 948.

Home is the 3,000 capacity New Eyrie, which like Oxford City’s Marsh Lane has an artificial surface, and their nickname is The Eagles.

Bedford Town Squad Update

Like Oxford City, Bedford had a similar level turnover of players. There had been 12 departures, and in addition to Tyrone Marsh and Ellis Brown going to Oxford City, attacking midfielder Jevani Brown had joined Peterborough Sports, defender Ben Nugent had signed for Gloucester City, forward Shaun Jeffers joined Kettering, centre-forward Chris Wreh had signed for Leamington, left-back Sam Brown had gone to Rushden & Diamonds, ex-Chesham United midfielder T’Sharne Gallimore ( 27 caps for the British Virgin Islands ) was now with Hemel Hempstead, and keeper Charlie Patmore had signed for Aldershot.

Bedford had made an equal number of new signings, the most notable being ex-West Ham, Colchester, Barnsley, Luton and Leyton Orient midfielder George Moncur who joined from Ebbsfleet United. Keeper Laurie Walker had joined from Solihull Moors, and numbered Oxford City amongst his previous clubs.

Centre-back Festus Arthurs joined from King’s Lynn, midfielder Troy Perez-Duah was previously with St Albans City,ex-Northampton midfielder Peter Adimbola had joined from Banbury, keeper Aaron Flanaven was also from Solihull Moors, right-back Sonnie Davis joined after being released from Southampton Under 21s, midfielder Aaron Wilkinson was with Hemel Hempstead last season, winger Eno Nto signed from Northern Ireland side Harland & Woolf, and this week midfielder Callum Doyle joined from Oxford United Under 21s.

Forward Michael Gyasi had also joined from King’s Lynn and was then promptly sent to Kettering on loan for two months !

Striker Reece Evans and midfielder David Hicks both joined on one-month loans from Reading, whilst Peterborough United, Accrington Stanley and Halifax forward Jonny Edwards was on a season long loan from Hednesford.

On the morning of the game, The Eagles announced the return of ex-Wycombe Wanderers centre-back Anthony Stewart, who had been playing for Peterborough Sports last season. 

Two players to have previously appeared in these diaries were midfielder Ben Weyman and winger Noah Mosanya, both of whom had previously appeared in these diaries whilst with step 4 Hertford Town. Weyman spent last season at Real Bedford.

Pre-season results

Bedford’s pre-season also started with three victories, all at home, as step 3 Berkhamsted, step 4 Biggleswade FC and step 2 Walton & Hersham were all beaten 2-0. A first ever meeting with Real Bedford was played in Bedfordshire Senior Cup Final at The New Eyrie, which The Eagles lost 2-3 to their step 3 neighbours in front of a crowd of over 2,500, and they ran out of beer !

A Luton XI were then beaten 3-0 although an experimental side lost the final pre-season game, and the only one played away from home, 0-1 at step 3 Kettering Town

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Bedford to Oxford is 57 miles via Milton Keynes and the M40, and should normally take around one hour 20 minutes. Around 40 Bedford fans were behind the far goal and in good voice, whilst a fair number of their supporters were dotted around the ground.

Tickets for today’s match were £13 online or £16 at the gate. There were a whole range of reductions depending on ages, from seniors to children. The match was not segregated.

Oxford City have restarted producing printed programmes for this season, at a cost of £3.50, and free team sheets were also given out with the programme. Hopefully the programmes sold out !

 

Oxford City had made some improvements to the ground during the close season, with a footpath installed on the side of the driveway into the ground to reduce the risk of pedestrians being hit by traffic, a club shop had appeared just inside the turnstiles, and the hot food offerings were now from a large external building rather than through a hatch from the clubhouse. An ice-cream van was doing good business on a hot day.

 

The so called “away” bar, which can be used by anyone, had ran out of lager on tap, so bottles were on sale for £2, although there were no supply issues in the refurbished main bar in the clubhouse. A cup of tea cost £2.50.

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was sunny and 26 degrees.

Bet365 made Oxford City 19/20 favourites, with Bedford at 9/4 and the draw at 5/2.

The Oxford City starting XI featured 6 of their new signings, plus the two returning former loanees. In comparison, five of Bedford’s new signings were making their full debut.

Bedford were playing in what is apparently their third kit, which was a greyish brown with orange numbers and trimming, and frankly was fairly horrible ! The keeper was wearing a dark green shirt with black shorts and socks and was pretty close to a colour clash with their outfield players.

Oxford City were in their usual blue and white hoops but there was a change of design for the shirt this season, with the back of the shirt now being all blue with white numbers. The shorts and socks were blue.

Match Report

Bedford made a strong start, forcing three corners in the opening 90 seconds, the third of which bounced across the 6-yard line with no visiting attacker on hand to apply a finishing touch.

Da Silva then fouled former Barnet and Wealdstone left-back Joe Payne just outside the Oxford City area. Moncur’s delivery was punched away by Maxted, and when the ball was returned back into the City area, ex-Cambridge United and Luton centre-back Greg Taylor’s volley from beyond the far post was gathered by Maxted at the second attempt.

German born midfielder Edward Gyamfi then played a ball through the middle of the home defence and looked to have possibly put Evans clear, but Bloom did well to get back and play the ball back to his keeper.

After being under the cosh for the opening 10 minutes, Oxford City finally got into the game and won a corner. However, Darnell Johnson’s downward header went well wide.

The Hoops had weathered the initial Bedford storm and started to take control of the game. Payne fouled Da Silva close to the corner flag, and Ashby’s free-kick was met by the diving Marsh at the near post only for Walker to make a tremendous block. The rebound fell to Francillette, but off-balance the Hoops defender could only head the ball wide from 6 yards.

Ashby’s clever back-heel then looked to have put Taylor clear but the linesman’s flag was raised for off-side.

In the 19^th minute, a long ball out of the home defence by Francillette saw Taylor control on his chest and run clear for a one-on-one with Walker, but the Bedford shot-stopper superbly saved. The loose ball ran to Da Silva, but the Sri Lankan’s international’s left-footed effort was weak, and Walker was able to recover and easily save.

Marsh then got in to the act, showing good skill to escape from Gyamfi, but his 20-yard attempt lacked power and rolled wide.

A hydration break was taken after 23 minutes, and was greeted with some good-natured boos from the Bedford fans. When play resumed, Da Silva won possession just outside the Hoops area and ran deep into the Bedford half until being fouled 25 yards from The Eagles goal on the left-hand side. Oxford City quickly played the free-kick towards the byline and the cross from Brown was met by Humphries, whose effort looked to be heading for the top corner until hitting Greg Taylor close to the line.

Bedford looked to launch a counter-attack as Moncur fed Hicks, but a weak left-footed shot was saved by Maxted at his near post.

A lofted cross-field pass saw City’s Taylor get the better his Eagles namesake but his shot on the bounce from just outside the angle of the 6 yard box saw Walker make another fine save, pushing the ball away diving to his right, and a Bedford defender was able to hoof the loose ball clear before Hoops captain Josh Ashby could follow-up and put the ball into the vacant goal.

The first yellow card of the game arrived in the 33^rd minute when Payne pulled back Marsh as The Hoops centre-forward ran away from him.

Da Silva then collided with a Bedford player and with the visitors trying to move the ball wide, the referee stopped play, deeming Da Silva to have a head injury. After treatment, Da Silva had to leave the pitch for a minute, and Bedford sought to take advantage of temporarily having the extra man.

Nto went on a strong run down the right wing and sent a good cross into the Oxford City area but Castiglione’s header from 12 yards saw Maxted dive to make a regulation save.

When back to their full quota, Oxford City responded with a nice move involving Bloom, Ashby and Marsh until Da Silva hit the deck far too easily just outside the Bedford area, and the referee waved play on.

Bedford then finished the half strongly, with Nto getting to the byline and his pull back found Hicks, but the Reading youngster could only shoot over the bar under pressure from close to the penalty spot. Hicks appealed for a corner but was ignored by the man in yellow.

Oxford City then fashioned another nice passing move until a dreadful cross from Da Silva ended the danger.

The last action of the half saw Eto win a corner off Humphries but centre-back Ryan Doherty pushed Johnston whilst going for a header to give Oxford City a free-kick. The home side broke quickly through Brown and Da Silva, but the low cross from Marsh was cleared.

It was goal-less at half-time, but it might have been 4-2. Bedford keeper Walker had made three top saves to keep the scores level.

After being fairly anonymous in the first half, Oxford City’s Tetek started to make his mark on the game, controlling the midfield, and almost immediately in the second period his astute pass released Marsh, who won a corner. Ashby’s delivery was cleared, and when the ball was played back into the mixer, Francillette went down, and when no foul was given, he attempted to play the ball whilst lying on the floor, but Bedford were able to clear and break. However, Moncur’s 20-yard effort was parried away by Maxted, but as the shot wasn’t particularly ferocious perhaps Maxted could have made a straightforward catch ?

Nto then went on another good run down the right wing and sent a low cross along the 6-yard line, but not for the first time in the match, no Bedford attacker was up in support.

Nto continued to look Bedford’s most dangerous player, this time getting past Humphries to release Moncur, but The Hoops left-back did excellently to get back to win the ball as Moncur attempted to feed Evans.

With 53 minutes on the clock, Bedford won a free-kick 25 yards out but Moncur’s blast was charged down by Ashby. Shortly after, a Bedford corner was headed away by City’s Taylor back helping out his defence, but The Eagles were able to regain possession, and a cross by Payne to beyond the far post was met by Doherty, but his header from a tight angle was a routine save for Maxted.

A minute later the referee insisted that Nto left the field for some reason, presumably a blood injury, and the flying winger needed to change his shirt to one without a number. Nto was out of action for longer than a minute but the Hoops were unable to capitalise.

The home side started to collect yellow cards, first Taylor for throwing the ball away to prevent Bedford taking a free-kick, then Marsh was belatedly shown a card after a free-kick was awarded to Bedford, presumably for dissent ?

In the 61^st minute Evans went down in installments inside the area after a challenge by Francillette but again the referee waved play on, then almost immediately after Nto produced a pathetic dive after pushing the ball around Humphries near the touchline, and again the excellent referee, Brandon Scaife, was not fooled, but issued no sanction for the obvious simulation.

Oxford City substitute Odegah instantly caught the eye, exchanging passes with Marsh to get to the byline but his cross was cleared. Da Silva had now moved to the left side, and did well to get to the byline but his dangerous cross was headed away.

The Hoops were regaining the ascendancy and a great cross from Odegah found Taylor unmarked near to the penalty spot, and although the former Bristol Rovers and Oxford United striker stooped, he could only direct his header just wide of the post. It was to be his last contribution as he was promptly substituted !  

Taylor’s replacement, Alfie Potter, then linked up with Da Silva, who charged to the edge of the Bedford area but lashed his shot a few feet wide, which prompted the second drinks break.

In the 73^rd minute Bedford captain Castiglione floated a cross from the left to beyond the far post where Gyamfi fell spectacularly in slow motion to the floor. The referee was having none of it and play continued.

Bedford then decided to replace Moncur but to prevent any time-wasting the referee started counting to hurry the former West-Ham from the pitch.

Potter won a corner for the home side, which was met by a diving header by Johnson which was blocked and cleared. The Hoops recycled possession and a deep cross was met by Francillette, rising the highest at the far post, who was able to squeeze his header between the keeper and the post for the opening goal. It was 1-0 with 77 minutes played.

The home side were looking for a second, and Francillette’s header from a corner crashed back from the bar, and Da Silva fired the rebound over the bar.

It was now Evans turn to try and deceive the referee with a dive just outside the Oxford City area, but again the official was spot on in ignoring the appeals.

The next yellow card was shown to Oxford City’s Potter, for a cynical trip on Gyamfi, and with the clock ticking down, the home side appeared to settle for their one goal lead. Bedford now had plenty of possession but lacked the guile or cutting edge to create any decent chances, with the final pass often going astray or the cross being overhit.

One cross did find substitute Ryan Cole beyond the far post but his header back across goal was grabbed by Maxted. When Lewis Franklin played Nto into space on the right, his cross was glanced across goal and well wide by Evans. The Eagles striker should/could have done a lot better.

The game’s comedy moment when Cole and Bloom tangled and the ball went off for a throw to Bedford. After Bloom finally managed to get free, Cole took the throw and aimed it straight at Bloom still only a couple of yards away, and the ball hit the Hoops full-back on the head. The referee awarded a free-kick to Oxford City !

Cole then partially redeemed himself with a good run down the left but his cross was too close to Maxted who made a comfortable catch.

Five added minutes were announced, so there was still time for Oxford City to collect their 4^th yellow card of the game, this time to Ashby for scything down Franklin inside the Bedford half.

The game ended with two awful crosses by Bedford after which the referee thankfully blew for full-time.

Overall, this was a deserved victory for Oxford City, who arguably could have won by a greater margin but for a fine performance by Walker in the Bedford goal.

Bedford played well in short spells, have possibly the best goal-keeper in the division, and look to have a solid defence. However, on the evidence of today, it is hard to see who is going to score their goals. Nto looked impressive but they need someone to get on the end of his balls into the penalty area.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScbnbiJBzoY

Oxford City : Maxted – Bloom, Francillette, Johnson, Humphries – Da Silva, Ashby, Tetek, Brown ( Odegah ) – Taylor ( Potter ), Marsh

Bedford Town : Walker – Franklin, Doherty, Taylor ( Cole ), Payne ( Mosanya ) – Nto, Hicks ( Stewart ), Moncur ( Weyman ), Gyamfi, Castiglione - Evans

 

CFR Cluj 0-5 Tromso ( att : 6,729 ) – 2026/27 UEFA Conference League

 August 6, 2026

The draw from the UEFA Conference League Play-Off resulted in Brighton and Hove Albion being drawn against the winners of the Third Qualifying Round tie between CFR Cluj and Tromso. Fatbear decided it would be an opportunity to spy on Albion’s potentials opponents !

By finishing third in the Romania SuperLiga, CFR Cluj were exempt to the Second Qualifying Round of the Conference League where they were drawn against Armenian side Alashkert. A 1-1 draw was played out in the first leg in Yerevan, and Cluj cruised to a 3-0 home victory in the return, in front of a crowd of 5,465.

Tromso’s third place in the 2025 Eliteserien qualified them for the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa League, where they were perhaps surprisingly eliminated by Czech side Hradec Kralove. The Czechs grabbed a 1-0 away win in front of 5,082 spectators in Tromso, and although the Norwegian side scored first in the second leg with Larsen’s acrobatic close range finish after Innvaer’s strong run to level the tie, Hradec responded with three headed goals to progress 4-1 on aggregate. Tromso therefore dropped down to the Conference League.

Norway were 14^th in the UEFA coefficients used to determine the number of sides each country had this year in each UEFA club competitions, whereas Romania were 21^st.

Football In Romania

These diaries covered Universitatea Craiova’s first leg in their First Round Champions League tie against Levski Sofia last month, which they lost 0-1 in Bulgaria. This was these diaries 6^th match report on games involving Romanian sides, in addition to 6 match-day reviews/round-ups on the  Romania SuperLiga. However, CFR Cluj had not been featured in any match reports, although they had mentions in the 5 weekly round-ups.

The report on the Universitatea Craiova vs Levski game gave details on the format of the Romanian SuperLiga.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2026/07/levski-sofia-1-0-universitatea-craiova.html 

The 2026/27 season in Romania had already started, and after their 3^rd place finish last season, CFR Cluj had made a disappointing start, with one win and two losses in the three games played so far. Both defeats had come away from home, going down 1-2 at Otelul Galati, and 1-3 at Rapid Bucharest, although a 5-0 home win had been registered over FC Voluntari, who had been reduced to 10 men after just 12 minutes.

CFR Cluj

The club were founded in 1907 in the city of Cluj-Napoca, the second largest city in Romania, located in the north-west of the country in the province of Transylvania. Cluj-Napoca is located around 460km north-west of the capital, and similar distances to Belgrade to the south-west and Budapest to the north-west.

When the club was founded, Cluj-Napoca was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only became part of Romania in 1920, and around 50,000 people, 14% of the population, today are ethnic Hungarian.

After becoming part of Romania, the club changed its name from Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club, which from Hungarian translates as Cluj Railway Sport Club, to Căile Ferate Române Cluj, or Romanian Railways. Although the state railway carrier was dissolved in 1998 into four autonomous privatised companies, the football club retained the CFR initials in its name.

CFR have won the Romanian title on 8 occasions, with the first being in 2007/08, and there were 5 consecutive successes between 2017/18 and 2021/22, which was the last title won. CFR were runners-up in 2023/24 and 2024/25, and the Romanian Cup has been won 5 times, the last time in 2024/25.

Home is the Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium, named after a former player, coach and club doctor, but is commonly referred to as the CFR Cluj Stadium. It has a capacity of 17,408 and a grass pitch. CFR Cluj’s average home attendance last season was only 3,159, the third lowest in the SuperLiga, and down from 4,499 from the previous season.

 

There are two top flight sides in Cluj-Napoca, so CFR Cluj are not to be confused with Universitatea Cluj, with whom there is a long-standing rivalry !

CFR Cluj’s colours have traditionally been white and burgundy, leading to one of their nicknames being The White and Burgundies, with The Railwaymen being another popular nickname.

CFR Cluj have a decent record in Europe, with their best performance being in 2012/13 when they finished third in their Champions’ League Group with 10 points, after a win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, two wins over Braga, and a draw in Istanbul with Galatasaray. This remains the best performance by a Romanian team in the Champions League, although of course Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup in 1986 beating Barcelona on penalties in the final in Seville.

CFR have also won matches against Roma, Lazio, Celtic ( twice ) and Basel ( three times ), whilst draws were played against Chelsea, Roma, and Lazio.

In the 2025/26 UEFA Europe League, CFR eliminated Hungarian side Paks 3-0 on aggregate, then Lugano 1-0, before being eliminated 1-4 on aggregate by Braga. Dropping down the UEFA Conference League, Cluj lost 2-7 on aggregate to Swedish side Hacken.

CFR Cluj Squad

The CFR Cluj squad didn’t contain any players who had represented the national side within the past 12 months. Indeed, the only current internationals were Mauritanian defender Aly Abeid ( 76 caps ) and Kosovan winger Meriton Korenica ( 6 caps ), who was the joint highest valued player according to Transfermrkt at €3M.

Also rated at €3M was right-winger Andrei Cordea ( 5 caps ), who had returned to Romania after a short spell in Saudi Arabia.

Foreign players in the squad included ex-Jablonec and Rio Ave Croatian defender Renato Pantalon, who hopefully wouldn’t be caught with his pants down,  veteran German right-back Cristopher Braun had played for Botosani and Rapid Bucharest after moving from OFI Crete, Serbian striker Stefan Drazic had played in Belgium, China, Hungary and Cyprus before joining Cluj, Portuguese left-back Simao Rocha was ex-Pacos de Ferreira, Croatian midfielder Karlo Muhar had played for Lech Poznan, Kayserispor, CSKA Sofia and in Saudi Arabia, whilst veteran Damjan Djorkovic had played for Bologna, Cesena, Livorno, Ajaccio, Furth and sides in Turkey, Saudi Arabia in addition to FCSB and Rapid Bucharest, and doesn’t appear to be any relation to Novak !

Midfielder Alin Fica had been with CFR since 2020 whilst keeper Octovian Valceanu had played for several sides in Romania before joining CFR last season. Midfielder Adrian Paun ( 1 cap ) had played in Isreal, forward Andres Sfait had briefly been with Saleritarnia, whilst Portugal born midfielder Mario Camora had 10 caps for Romania.

The coach was Portuguese Antonio Folha ( 26 caps ), who had played for Porto, Standard Liege and AEK Athens as a player.

Football In Norway

These diaries have covered 5 matches from Norway’s Eliteserien, with the most recent being the Valerenga vs Molde game in June last year.

There are 16 sides in the Norway Eliteserien, who play each other twice for a 30-game season. The Champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League play-off round, with the runners-up entering the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League. The Cup Winners go through to the Europa League play-off round whilst the third placed side enter the Europa League Second Qualifying Round. The team finishing in fourth place enter the Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round. The bottom two sides are relegated to the Norway First League, known as the OBOS-ligaen, whilst the side finishing 14^th face a play-off against the winner of the First League promotion play-offs.

Norway is one of Europe’s 12 summer leagues and the 2026 season is half way through, with Bodo/Glimt leading the 2025 champions Viking Stavanger by one point but from one game more played. Tromso were in third place a further three points behind but 9 points clear of Lillestrom in 4^th place.

Tromso IL

Tromso is located inside the Arctic Circle on the island of Tromsoya and the municipality has a population of around 80,000, the 12^th largest in Norway. The journey by road is just under 1,750 km and would take nearly 22 hours, with the vast majority of the trip being through Sweden.  The flight takes 1 hour 50 minutes, which Fatbear has taken as flights to Svalbard needed to clear customs in Tromso before flying on to Longyearbyen. Therefore, Fatbear has been to Tromso Airport and seen the city from the air !

Tromso Idrettslag were founded in 1920 but clubs from northern Norway were only allowed to participate in the Norwegian Cub in 1963, and only in 1972 play in the top division. Tromso were promoted to play in the 1986 first division and played there until relegation in 2001. However, the stay in the second level was just for one season, as were the 2014 and 2020 seasons when they also played in the second tier.

Tromso have finished as runners-up on two occasions, in 1990 and 2011, but they won the Norwegian Cup in 1986 and 1996, which Wikipedia claims makes Tromso the most northerly team on the planet to win a national trophy !

Home is the 6,691 capacity Romssa Area, which has an artificial pitch, and the team’s nickname is Guten, which translates as The Boys. Tromso colours have traditionally been red and white shirts with white shorts and socks.

Tromso’s average home attendance this season was currently 5,164, the 10^th highest in the Eliteserien, and up from the 4,958 on 2025. In their last outing, Tromso won 6-2 at Aalesund.

Tromso have enjoyed some success in Europe, first coming to wider attention in the 1997/98 Cup-Winners Cup when they beat a Chelsea side including Vialli, Zola, Wise, Leboeuf, De Goey, Clarke, Petrescu and Hughes and coached by Ruud Gullit. However, the 3-2 win was played in a blizzard, and the Chelsea All-Stars avoided further embarrassment by winning the return 7-1 !

Tromso eliminated Galatasaray from the 2005/06 UEFA Cup, and beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 in the Group Phase. A 1-1 home draw was played against Athletic Bilbao in the 2009/10 Europa League play-off round but they were eliminated 3-4 on aggregate.

The 2013/14 Europa League play-off round saw Tromso beat Besiktas 2-1 at home but lost the return 0-2 to lose the tie 2-3 on aggregate. However, Besiktas were kicked out of the competition due to the 2011 match-fixing scandals in Turkey, and Tromso were re-instated. Tromso though lost 5 of their 6 group matches, including home and away defeats to Tottenham Hotspur ( 0-2 & 0-3 ), with the only point coming from a 1-1 home draw with Sheriff Tiraspol.

In the 2024/25 Conference League, Tromso recorded home and away 1-0 victories over Finnish side KuPS but disappointingly exited the competition to Kilmarnock. Although the first leg was a 2-2 draw in Scotland, a 0-1 home reverse in the return saw the Scottish side progress.

Tromso Squad

The Tromso squad had two current internationals, Mauritanian keeper Abderrahame Sarr ( 8 caps ) and Cape Verde forward Ieltsin Cameos ( 1 cap ). Cameos was the top scorer last season with 13 goals.

Veteran midfielder and captain Ruben Janssen was an ex-international ( 39 caps ), and had played in Germany for Kaiserslautern and for Dutch side Groningen.

The highest valued player at €10M according to Transfermrkt was Under 21 international midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl, who was this season’s joint top scorer so far with 7 goals, alongside midfielder Heine Asen Larsen. Swedish Under 21 full-back-back Alexander Warneryd had found the net 5 times this season.

Other foreign players in the Tromso squad included Danish keeper Jakob Haugaard, who had played for Stoke City, Wigan Athletic and AIK Stockholm, ex-Varnamo Swedish midfielder David Edvardsson and ex-Orgryte Swedish midfielder Isak Dahlqvist.

Forward Troy Nyhammer and midfielder Sander Innvaer had both previously played for Haugesund and appeared in these diaries in the relegation/play-off game in December 2024 against Moss FK.

The coach was Jorgen Vik, a former Norway Futsal international.

Matchday Information

The distance between Tromso and Cluj-Napoca is around 3,400 kilometres by road and ferry. There are no direct flights between the two cities, so unless flying on a chartered aircraft, the journey could take anything from 7 to 12 hours depending on the stopovers. It looked like around 20 Tromso supporters had travelled.

The weather at the 19.30 local time kick-off ( 17.30 UK ) was sunny and 33 degrees.

Tickets for the match were between 40-45 Lei ( £6.50 - £7.35 ), with VIP tickets 140 Lei ( £23 ) and 310 Lei ( £50 ) for the Business Lounge.

Bet365, who live streamed the match, made Tromso 17/10 favourites, with Cluj at 27/20 and the draw 11/5.

CFR Cluj were playing in all burgundy but with a broad white band down the front of their shirts, whilst Tromso were wearing a change kit of all dark blue

Tromso made four changes to the side that started the defeat to Hradec Kralove with Mathias Tonnessen, Lars Larsen, Dahlqvist and Nyhammer coming into the starting XI. Cameos and Innvaer dropped to the bench whilst Hjerto-Dahl was rumoured to be about to sign for Premiership Hull City for €11.5M and Tobias Guddal had been sold to Sparta Prague for €4.5M

Cluj made three changes to the team that took to the field against Alashkert with ex-Grasshoppers and Aston Villa Portuguese keeper Andre Moreira replacing Valceanu, Camora replaced Rocha, and Bruno Costa was in for Djokovic.

The referee was Patrik Kolaric from Croatia

Match Report

Nearly three minutes had been played before the Bet365 live stream became available, and almost immediately after there was a goal to report ! 

Warneryd went on a mazy run into the Cluj area. His cross took a slight deflection, enough for Lars Larsen to only be able to head upwards, but when the ball was falling, Heine Larsen hooked the ball home from the 6-yard line ahead of Abeid and Camora. Frankly, the two defenders could have done a lot better and were not brave enough. 0-1 in the 5^th minute.

Tromso’s lead could have been doubled a minute later as Jenssen ran through the middle of the Cluj half and offloaded to Heine Larsen on his left, but the left-footed shot was sliced wide from 12 yards.

The first Cluj were seen as an attacking threat came in the 9^th minute when a long ball found Cordea, but Tonnessen defended well and won the ball. Fica then played a ball through the left-hand channel and Korenica kept the ball in play and laid the ball back to Camora, but the cross was hit too long and sailed harmlessly beyond the far post.

Muhar then ran onto a flick and into the Tromso area, but his low shot across goal went narrowly wide.

However, Tromso soon scored again. A short pass from Janssen put Heine Larsen in oceans of space as a huge gap in the heart of the Cluj defence opened, and Larsen’s left footed side-footed shot from just inside the D nestled into the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner. It was now 0-2 with 19 minutes played.

Cluj responded with an in-swinging left-footed free-kick from Cordea which Heine Larsen, back helping out in defence, headed off for a corner.

The Cluj defence was struggling to cope with the visitors’ slick attacking moves and a third goal was soon added. Edvardsson played a diagonal ball towards the far post which Dahlqvist controlled, and with Camora unable to close him down, drilled across goal into far corner from just outside the angle of the yard box . There was a VAR check to see if Jenssen had been offside in the build-up, but Abeid had played the Tromso midfielder onside so the goal stood. 0-3 after 28 minutes.

Jenssen tried his luck from distance but Moreira dived to hold the 25-yarder. For Cluj, Muhar ran down left-hand channel but his low cross was cut out.

A comedy moment arrived in the 32^nd minute when Isak Vadebu pushed Korenica in the chest and the Kosovan went down holding his head. The battle between these two players continued two minutes later as Korenica was tackled by Vadebu when about to shoot from 8 yards out. The ball trickled through to keeper Haugaard, and Korenica stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes with an apparent injury. However, a miraculous recovery occurred and he was good to continue, and was soon fouling Vadebu when the young Tromso defender made a headed clearance.

Four minutes before half-time Nyhammer was allowed to run down the right wing and then across the 18- yard line, and his left footed effort hit both posts before going into the net. It looked like a hammer blow to Cluj, but a VAR check showed Heine Larsen to be in an offside position, and although not in the direct eyeline of keeper, his jump to get out of the way of the ball was enough for the goal to be chalked off.

Haugaard’s leisurely evening was disturbed when he needed to leap and catch a long ball just inside his area ahead of Drazic

In first-half added time, Tromso centre-back Skjaervik was unexpectedly marauding in space on the right wing but his floated cross was headed away by Pantalon.

The half-time statistics showed Cluj had 57% of the possession but in truth they had been outplayed, and had managed just one shot, which was off target. Tromso had impressed with their short, quick passing, and a desire to swiftly break.

Cluj changed their keeper for the start of the second half although Moreira had not been at fault for any of the three goals, nor the disallowed one. Muhar was also hooked, with Uruguayan Francisco Barrios taking his place

Cluj were unable to get into the second half, with the only action in the opening 10 minutes being Nyhammer’s shot from the edge of the area which Valceanu comfortably saved.

Nyhammer was the recipient of the first yellow card of the game, taking a heavy first touch after being put clear by Heine Larsen and then slid into Valceanu as the Cluj keeper had bravely come off his line to dive on the ball. Bruno Costa soon levelled the yellow card score though, after a clumsy challenge on Edvardsson when trying to win a header on edge of the Tromso area

Matter got worse for Cluj. Lars Larsen’s cute chip gave Heine Larsen a one-on-one with the keeper but Valceanu was able to block the first attempt, and the follow-up from the rebound was blocked by Braun. Nyhammer then had an effort blocked by Abeid but the loose ball was lashed home in Carlos Alberto style by Dahlqvist to make it 0-4 with 61 minutes on the clock.

Cluj now couldn’t get near the ball as Tromso confidently pass it around, The Railwaymen had appeared to have run out of steam !

Substitute Cameos moved clear down the left and his low ball found Nyhammer unmarked 10 yards out, but the first-time shot hit Valceanu’s legs.

A drinks break was taken after 70 minutes, but the refreshments didn’t seem to have any benefit to Cluj as Cameos slipped a pass through for Dahlqvist to put the ball past the advancing keeper for his hat-trick. There was a lengthy VAR check for offside but goal stood. 0-5 after 73 minutes.

With the game and almost certainly the tie settled, Tromso took the foot off the gas a little and Cluj ended the match on the front foot. Substitute Lorenzo Biliboc sent a long range left-footed effort over the bar, then poor defending by Tromso allowed the ball to fall to Fica but the shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Substitute Paun had a shot deflected wide for corner, which after being cleared, Sfait’s 30 yarder bounced through to Haugaard for an easy save. Drazic then shot wide after a flick from Fica.

Three added minutes were played but Tromso were not unduly troubled. There was still time for Camora to be shown a yellow card for diving in on Mads Mikklesen.

The second leg now looks to be a formality barring a record-breaking comeback from Cluj, so Brighton fans should be able to sample the Paris Of The North and try to see the Northern Lights ! 

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlZmq2SWXL4

CFR Cluj : Moreira ( Valceanu ) – Braun, Abeid, Pantalon, Camora – Bruno Costa ( Paun ), Muhar ( Barrios ), Fica – Cordea ( Sfait ), Drazic, Korenica ( Biliboc )

Tromso IL : Haugaard – Vadebu, Tonnessen, Skjaervik, Warneryd ( Innvaer ) – Dahlqvist ( Mikklesen ), Edvardsson ( Grundt ), Jenssen, L. Larsen – Nyhammer ( Braut ), H. Larsen ( Cameos )