July 2, 2022
After last week’s delve in to the Eliteserien with Haugesund’s exciting 4-2 victory over Viking, they have again got the early Saturday afternoon kick-off slot, this time away at FK Jerv.
Jerv play in Grimstad, which with a population of 24,000, is the smallest town hosting a side in the Eliteserien. After finishing third in the OBOS ligaen in 2021, they won promotion via the play-offs, where they beat Brann Bergen after a penalty shoot-out to earn their first ever year at the highest level of football in Norway
Their home ground is the Levermyr Stadion, which has a capacity of 3,300 and a natural grass pitch. Their first choice colours are yellow shirts with blue shorts, and according to Google translate, Jerv is the Norwegian word for Wolverine.
Jerv have perhaps unsurprisingly struggled so far in their first adventure mixing with the elite in Norway, going into today’s fixture second from bottom, just two wins and one draw from 10 games, and just 5 goals scored. They began the season with strong home form, with two 1-0 home wins, over Stromsgodset and Kristiansund, followed by a 1-1 draw with Tromso. Since then though they have lost 5 games on the trot, including home reverses to Odds BK ( 0-1 ), Sarpsborg 08 ( 0-5 ) and Ham-Kam ( 1-2 ). However, they have won two matches in the Norwegian Cup against lower league opposition, but their last 16 tie against Odds BK was postponed, with the game re-arranged for July 6th.
Jerv have the lowest average attendance in the Eliteserien this season at 2,516, with their largest crowd being on the opening day against Stromsgodset for their first ever match in the top division, when 2,843 were present.
The Jerv squad contains one player who has previously been mentioned in despatches in these diaries, namely Dutch winger/striker Rodney Antwi who was with Bulgarian Parva Liga side Tsarsko Selo Sofia in 2020. Antwi subsequently moved to Egyptian side Wadi Degla before signing for Ukrainian side Inhulets Petrove, and is now on loan at Jerv following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Burly striker Willis Furtado has 1 cap for Cape Verde and has previously played for Raith Rovers, Stenhousemuir and Airdrie. He was Jerv’s top scorer in 2021 with 10 goals. Jerv have 4 players from Denmark, namely 20 year old forward Aral Simsir who is on loan from FC Midtjylland, captain and ex-Aalborg midfielder Mathias Wichmann, and defenders Mathias Haarup and Daniel Arrocha.
Also in the Jerv squad are ex-Cercle Brugge and Teplice Guinea Under 20 midfielder Amadou Diallo and ex Schalke II and Unterhaching German forward Felix Schroter.
Haugesund faced a 360km journey around the southern coast to Grimstad, which takes approximately 5 and half hour by road. They followed up their excellent 4-2 victory over Viking last weekend with a 1-0 win at third level Sotra to reach the last 16 of the Cup, with Martin Samuelsen grabbing the only goal of the game.
Tickets for the game ranged from 200-250 NOK ( £16-£20 ) and the weather at the 16.00 local kick-off time was dry, mostly sunny, and 18 degrees. The flags were fluttering in the blowing wind. Despite the bright weather, the floodlights were on at kick-off. The pitch has an Athletics track around it, and the food and drink stalls were visible behind one of the goals.
Bet365 made Haugesund 6/5 favourites, with Jerv at 21/10 and the draw 5/2. The match was live streamed on One Football, Eleven Sports and Bet365.com.
Jerv made one change from their previous starting line-up with Arrocha coming in for Wichne in defence. Haugesund also made one change, with Walstad keeping his place after impressing after coming on as a substitute against Viking.
It took Haugesund less than two minutes to register their first shot on goal, a long cross-field pass was controlled on his chest by Walstad behind the right-back, but his shot from a tight angle was pushed onto the corner of the post and cross-bar by keeper Ovreveit for the first corner of the match.
However, it was Jerv who had the better of the early phases. Diallo showed good skill to push the ball past his marker but go around on the other side to retain possession, and in the 9th minute Diallo’s shot from just outside the area was blocked, but the ball fell for Furtado to shoot left-footed, but his effort was deflected narrowly wide off Walstad with the keeper stranded.
In the 12th minute Ugland’s curling free-kick was swung beyond the far post where the stretching Sandberg could only divert a few feet wide. Two minutes later Haarup was found in space on the left but his 20 yard shot was high and wide.
Haugesund were struggling to get into the game as the home side enjoyed a good spell, but with just over 20 minutes played Eskesen delivered a dangerous cross from the right, but Arrocha was alert to divert for a corner before Ndour could pounce.
Neither side were then able to get a grip on the game, and although Haugesund had the majority of the possession, they were unable to create any chances as the two midfields cancelled each other out. However, Haugesund finished the half strongly and created several moments of danger. First, Njie made inroads down the left, and his low cross was flicked forward by Sande, and although the ball hit Haarup, it fell to Eskesen, but his shot from close range was crowded out for a corner. Walstad then got to the by-line and pulled the ball back to Njie, who shot well over from a good position.
Eskesen produced another threatening cross, but unfortunately it was inches too high for the unmarked Njie 6 yards out, before the half ended with the best move of the match, which saw Eskesen set-up for a great chance after good interplay between Krygard and Sande, but the midfielder could only shoot over the bar from around 15 yards.
The match remained score-less at the interval, but with 63% of the possession, Haugesund had looked better as the game progressed, and Jerv were perhaps a little fortunate to go into the break on level terms.
The start of the second half was not a great spectacle, with Jerv in particular being guilty of sloppily giving the ball away. The game was scrappy, and the yellow cards started to mount up. Against the run of play, Jerv had their best chance so far and after Haugesund gave the ball away near half-way, Jerv had a 3 on 1. Unfortunately for them, the pass to Diallo forced him wide, and his shot from a narrow angle hit keeper Selvik to go off for a corner.
Both sides made their first changes in the 68th minute, but the introduction of Simsir for Jerv had the greater impact. Haugesund struggles were perhaps epitomised by substitute Soderlund’s clever dummy, but his two team-mates were not on the same wavelength, remaining motionless and failing to anticipate the move.
Jerv fashioned an even better chance in the 73rd minute. Simsir skinned Walstad, leaving him on his back-side, and his pass to Norheim gave the home side a golden opportunity, but the Jerv midfielder could only sweep over the bar from the centre of the goal-mouth 8 yards out.
Simsir was soon involved again, running onto a long-ball, but his attempt to find Hustad was intercepted before the striker could run clear on goal. Furtado then beat two defenders down the right-wing, but his low cross was defender for a corner.
Haugesund’s response was for Samuelsen to make a decent run on the left and tee-up Soderlund, but the shot was weak and easily defended. Ndour then was able to turn on a half-cleared corner but his shot went a few feet wide.
With the game looking likely to end in a stalemate, Simsir burst into the Haugesund area only to fall to the ground as Krygard moved to challenge, but the referee rightly decided the on-loan Dane had dived, and brandished the yellow card for simulation.
As the game moved into added on time, Samsir received the ball on the left wing, and attempted to pass to substitute Schroter. The ball should have been cut-out by Walstad but he missed it, allowing the German striker to gather, cut inside past the unfortunate Walstad to thump home left-footed from 16 yard for a dramatic last-gasp winner.
Haugesund were unable to respond, and Jerv held on for 3 important points. Although they remained second from bottom, the gap to the other struggling sides, who include Haugesund, has narrowed.
After their entertaining performance over Viking last week, Haugesund were disappointing. Their 5 game unbeaten run came to an end, to leave them in 12th place.
FK Jerv : Ovretveit – Arrocha, Sandberg, Kolskogen, Harrup – Ugland ( Wichne ), Wichmann, Norheim – Furtado, Hustad ( Schroter ), Diallo ( Simsir )
FK Haugesund : Selvik – Therkildsen, Baertelsen, Reese, Walstad – Sande ( Samuelsen ), Krygard, Zafeiris, Eskesen – Ndour, Njie ( Soderlund )
Highlights : https://www.eliteserien.no/video?v=Jerv---Haugesund-1-0&videoID=e3cf3afc95914bfcb6f720f3e471dd91&c=&offset=81&a=1
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