May 22, 2023
Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja (ÍBV) are located on the volcanic Westmann Islands off the South coast of Iceland. Although there are 15 islands, only Heimaey has a permanent population, and the islands came to international attention in 1973 when the eruption of the Eldfell volcano led to the temporary evacuation of the inhabitants. Eruptions between 1963 & 1967 saw the creation of the island of Surtsey.
Heimaey is 5.2 square miles and has a population of around 4,500 people, and an estimated 8 million puffins. Most of the island is taken up by the Airport that provides 5-6 flights per day to the mainland, and the Westmann Islands Golf Course. The Island’s football side had an average attendance of 526 in 2022, which represented an amazing 12% of the population. After visiting the island brewery and eating at one of the 17 bars/restaurants listed on Trip Advisor, perhaps there isn’t a great deal else to do on the island apart from watch the football !
The ground has one small covered stand where the TV cameras are located and an open stand opposite. The scenery is beautiful and similar to several of the grounds on the Faroe Islands. The Hasteinsvollur has an official capacity of 3,034, and IBV have won the Icelandic championship on three occasions, although the last triumph was back in 1998.
IBV had qualified 19 times for European football although only Glentoran, Hibernians ( Malta ), KF Tirana and HB Torshavn have been overcome. David James and David Moyes have both previously played for IBV.
The coach of IBV is Hermann Hreidarsson, who won 89 caps, but is perhaps more famous for having been relegated five times from the English Premier League, with Crystal Palace, Wimbledon, Ipswich, Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth.
The IBV squad includes Jamaican centre-back Richard King ( 11 caps ) whilst fellow centre-back Elvis Bwomono has 2 caps for Uganda. Midfielder Dwayne Atkinson has 3 caps for Jamaica, left wing-back Felix Fredriksson won 2 caps for Iceland and ex Notts County and Dinamo Minsk Slovenian midfielder Filip Valencic featured in these diaries whilst with Inter Turku in Finland 2020. Dutch goalkeeper Guy Smit is on loan from Valur, having once been on the books of NEC Nijmegen and Eindhoven FC.
IBV, who finished in 8th place in 2022, started
the day third from bottom in the 12 team division with two wins and 5 losses
from their 7 games played. However, only two of those matches had been at home,
where they beat champions Breidablik 2-1 and lost 0-1 to a goal in the 95th
minute to current league leaders Vikingur. A 3-1 win had been recorded at
Keflavik.
Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar ( FH ) are located in Hafnarfjodur, a coastal town 10km south from the capital Reykjavik and with a population of 30,000 is the third largest city in Iceland. They have won the Icelandic championship 8 times, the last of which was in 2016 and have played 73 matches in Europe, winning 21 of them. Their most notable scalp is probably eliminating Dunfermline Athletic in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup although they did draw 1-1 at Aston Villa in 2008/09.
Finnish centre-back Dani Hatakka has played for KuPS, SJK and Honka back home whilst Scot Steven Lennon has played for Glasgow Rangers, Partick Thistle, Lincoln City and Newport County but has been playing in Iceland since 2011. Keeper Sindri Olafsson has been called up to the Iceland squad but is yet to make his debut for the national side.
FH only escaped relegation last season on goal difference but started the day in 6th position with a 3-1-3 record. However, the three wins had all been at home, and against sides in the bottom 5 ( Stjarnan 1-0, KR 3-0 & Keflavik 2-1 ). The only point away from their Kaplakriki stadium had been a 2-2 draw at mid-table Fram.
Bet365 made IBV 11/8 favourites, with FH at 31/20 and the draw at 9/4. The match was being live streamed on both One Football and Eleven Sports.
The temperature at the 18.00 local time kick-off was 8 degrees with light rain which got progressively heavier as the game wore on.
IBV were in an all-white kit, whilst FH were in all-black. Their shirt had no sponsors on the front, nor any collars, so it looked like there was a team of referees on the pitch !
Perhaps surprisingly, Hasteinsvollur has a grass pitch, but it looked in poor condition with many large holes visible in one half, many in a line, and there were several bare patches near the touchline. This, plus the rain would make silky, passing football difficult.
Around 30 or so spectators were braving the elements by sitting in the open stand, and there were a couple of umbrellas raised against the rain, but the main stand looked fairly well populated. Cars and vans could be seen driving past on the road behind the open seats at regular intervals.
The home side opened the scoring in the 11th minute. A short throw-in was turned forward over the FH back-line and Hatakka made a mess of dealing with it. Ragnarsson outmuscled the Finnish defender to go clear on goal, and although Olafsson got a leg to the shot it bounced over the line and into the corner of the net.
FH equalised in the 18th minute. Lennon delivered an in-swinging corner, and IBV keeper Smit and several of his defenders were all drawn to it like a moth to a flame, but Gudbransson rose the highest to head into an empty net.
Both sides were battling hard in the conditions but chances were few and far between. Arnarsson sent a low 25-yard attempt, forcing Smit into a diving save, but the type you would expect the keeper to make.
Honours were even at half-time, with IBV’s Fridriksson being the player who caught the eye the most.
The visitors took the lead in the 52nd minute with a fluke goal. Gudbransson turned inside the IBV area but his shot was heading for the corner flag when it struck the nearby Lennon on head and looped into the opposite corner, leaving the keeper flat footed.
Two minutes later Asgrimsson slipped a pass behind King for Bjornsson to run onto but his left-footed shot was straight at Smit who saved with his chest.
IBV got back on level terms in the 62nd minute. Atkinson’s pass on the turn split the FH centre-backs for Hilmarsson to take a touch and smartly tuck left-footed past keeper Olafsson as he came off his line.
IBV were now starting to get on top. A flowing move came to nothing as Nokkvason chipped tamely to the keeper, Thordarsson went down in the area after receiving a pass from Valencic but failed to impress the referee, and FH’s Robertsson saw yellow after halting a dangerous run from Valencic. The Slovene was looking lively as IBV pressed for the winner.
FH response was to see a header from a corner bounce tamely to the keeper, and then another corner was scrambled away.
The turning point came 10 minutes from time. An FH move broke down, IBV swiftly countered and Ragnarsson passed wide to Nokkvason on the right as IBV had numbers in attack. However, the referee stopped play and after a short period of confusion sent-off Ragnarsson. Playing back the action, Hatakka had desperately been trying to stop Ragnarsson by holding him back. In his attempt to break free of the hold, Ragnarsson’s arm made contact with Hatakka’s face and the Finn went to the floor. It seemed rough justice that the IBV player was sent-off for trying to stop being fouled yet Hatakka only received the yellow card.
The momentum was now with the visitors and a cross from the left was volleyed left-footed by Gudbransson twelve yards out, but Smits made a low diving save and Bwomono gratefully put the ball out for a throw-in. When FH returned the ball back into the danger zone, Bjornsson was left free but his header was weak and directly at Smit.
As the game moved into added on time, it looked as if IBV would hold on for a point. However, Halldorsson crossed low from the left, Asgrimsson’s back-heel sent the ball in the path of Johannsson who shot from 15 yards. To sum up IBV’s luck, the ball struck the base of the post, rebounded into the back of the diving keeper and trickled over the goal line for the winning goal ! The unfortunate Smit was credited with an own goal and FH took the three points back to the mainland.
Highlights : https://onefootball.com/en/match/2353154
IBV : Smit – King, Bwomono, Magnusson – Hrafnkelsson ( Atkinson, Gunnarsson ), Nokkvason ( Hjaltested ), Hilmarsson, Fridriksson – Heidarsson ( Valencic ), Thordarsson, Ragnarsson
FH : Olafsson – Arnarsson, Hatakka, Gudmundsson – Thordarson, Robertsson, Gudbransson, Asgrimsson – Johannsson, Bjornsson, Lennon ( Halldorsson )
No comments:
Post a Comment