Monday 29 October 2012

Viborg Not Vibrant Enough for a Win






Hopperational details
Date & Venue
Saturday 27 October at the Energi Arena
Result
Viborg 2 Fredericia 2
Competition
Danish 1st Division (second tier)
Hopping
Second game of the trip and 488 on the lifetime list
Pre-match preparation
4th plays 6th and the home side are the division's biggest scorers.
This match in one sentence
An entertaining draw in which the visitors had several late chances to take all three points.
So what?
No change in league positions after the full round of weekend matches, but both sides are in the top six which are separated by only four points.
The drama unfolds



Presumably as a result of subliminal advertising, I entered the world of European pre-match sausage action with my first "Pølse med Brod".  (I am usually a pie man but the Vikings are not sold on them.)  They were very tasty both at the time and at regular intervals thereafter, if you get my drift.  I initially wasn't sure whether to eat the skin or make a pair of gloves with it, so I looked around for reassurance on Danish sausage etiquette.  I'd taken a miniscule portion of the two sauces on offer which gave me away as a foreigner.  Mind you I think the bloke I was observing ate the styrofoam tray too so this may be misleading.

With a small contingent of Fredericia supporters led by a multitasking tuneless drummer with a megaphone, the match kicked off with the man in the moon watching from above.  After 6 minutes, Viborg's Patrick Nielsen was left unmarked after a throw-in routine on the left flank, and his good cross was headed just wide by Mikkel Rask.  After 13 minutes there was a mad goalmouth scramble at the other end.  My first scene-setter clip is from halfway through the first half, with the match still scoreless.


Fredericia took the lead in the 30th minute.  A defender's slip let a visiting attacker in for a shot, but he hit the post.  The rebound fell to Anders Jacobsen whose first shot was saved but the second was unstoppable.  This was rather against the run of play.  0-1

The Nielsen throw-in move was repeated but this time his cross was over-hit.  The same player then showed nimble footwork in the box to win a corner, but his next contribution missed the target.  He was very much in the game though, and rightly went on the win the man-of-the-match accolade.  He was in the right place at the right time to get on the end of a right-wing cross in first-half stoppage time.  Defenders looked at each other - the defensive header had flicked the ball on rather than cleared it.  Draft plans for half-time team talks, if they existed, were binned.  1-1 at half-time

Viborg were fired-up for the start of the second half and were soon in front.  Full-back Jonas Thorsen showed ambition and footwork (neat or nimble, take your pick) and got to the byeline - the ball ended up in the far corner from an impossible angle and was credited to Thomas Dalgaard.  2-1

The home side only held the lead for around 15 minutes, though, before they too showed their defensively charitable side.  They failed to deal with a corner, and the ball worked its way through to Jesper Christiansen at the far post who had the presence of mind  and chest to force it over the line.  2-2

There were other chances - Fredericia's keeper flapped at a couple of crosses, but they could also have scored.  They had three decent chances in stoppage time alone.  The best was a backheel from Pierre Kanstrup to Jesper Luth whose shot was well saved.  Nikolaj Hagelsklaer also fizzed one just wide.  Probably a fair result to an entertaining game.  I have one more second-half clip for the annals of history.  Final score 2-2



The programme


Lær Dansk Gennem Fodbold (Learn Danish Through Football)
Bedst hos  best player
Mål  goal
Målmand  goalkeeper
Tilskuere  attendance
Oprykning  promotion
Nedrykning  relegation
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Four more goals for the total, but nothing else of fundraising significance.
What Next?
Esbjerg v Sonderjyske in the Danish top tier (Superliga) on Sunday.


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