League

Home for Christmas
Spectators: 7700 (Terracing: 5775, Seating: 1771, VIP seats: 154) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Simen Brekken started the match with the kick off. Halsne FF's Julius Nystrøm proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 4th minute of the match, managed to save Halsne FF from getting a goal against them. Julius Nystrøm made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Vebjørn Bjørnstad in the 5th minute of play. Simen Brekken might have been able to make a better finish in the 6th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Egil Hagen. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Simen Brekken ran back to his position shaking his head. Adrian Strande received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 8th minute. Egil Hagen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Yngve Tønder fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 11th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Julius Nystrøm having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Thomas Egeland in the 17th minute of play forced Maria Mena's goalkeeper Egil Hagen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 17th match minute, Maria Mena was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by David Fiskerstrand to maneuver through the defense. After 19 played minutes Maria Mena got a freekick which was hit by David Fiskerstrand. Maria Mena's Vebjørn Bjørnstad got a good chance for a goal in the 24th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Julius Nystrøm showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Marcu Hrebenciuc, who was totally free with the ball in the 27th minute. Marcu Hrebenciucs short, quick shot in the 31stth minute got Julius Nystrøm to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. The crowd rose to their feet as Romualdo Gibert kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Julius Nystrøm. That made the score 1-0 in the 35 minute of play. If Vebjørn Bjørnstad had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 39th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 40th minute, Romualdo Gibert got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. 43 minutes into the match, Halsne FF's goal looked a bit too open when Vebjørn Bjørnstad came free, but Julius Nystrøm reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 1-0.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Marcu Hrebenciuc made a kick off. Julius Nystrøm made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Yngve Tønder in the 53rd minute of play. In the 55th minute, Marcu Hrebenciuc got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. When Maria Mena's Vebjørn Bjørnstad in the 58th minute got a chance for a shot 58th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Halsne FF's goalie prevented a goal. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Romualdo Gibert in the 59th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Julius Nystrøm saved Halsne FF from getting behind. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vebjørn Bjørnstad in the 60th minute of play forced Halsne FF's goalkeeper Julius Nystrøm to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Karsten Bergland in the 62nd minute of play forced Maria Mena's goalkeeper Egil Hagen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Thomas Egeland hit a great freekick 63 minutes into the match. In the 66th minute, Romualdo Gibert made a precise shot to the right of Julius Nystrøm. Halsne FF's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-0. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Adrian Strande during the 74th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. After a rather tough play, Halsne FF's Adrian Strande got a free kick in the 74th minute. Vebjørn Bjørnstad made a great header on Maria Mena's corner, it was just that Halsne FF's Julius Nystrøm managed to reach the ball for a save. Maria Mena's goalkeeper couldn't reach when Simen Brekken 78 minutes into the game got a good kick on the ball which found its way into goal just inside left pole. 2-1. A collision led to Halsne FF getting a freekick after 80 minutes play. Bjarne Wessel hit a great ball. If David Fiskerstrand had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 87th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 89 minutes into the match, Maria Mena's Marcu Hrebenciuc sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Julius Nystrøm narrowly saved just below the crossbar. In the 91st minute Romualdo Gibert shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Julius Nystrøm saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Erik Bredesen's late challenge caught a Maria Mena's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Erik Bredesen helped the player get up and apologised. In the 93rd minute, Erik Bredesen hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 95th minute, Vebjørn Bjørnstad left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Maria Mena fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 4-1. There were very few away supporters still in the ground by the end of the match. Most of them had left early, disgusted by the way their team had been torn apart. Maria Mena fully deserved thier win.