FC Helsingør had to fight hard for the win, as Fredricia were beaten in their own den on Sunday with 2-1. It was especially on fight and a strong defensive effort that FC Helsingør were able to emerge victorious from the match. But Jeppe Kjær’s two quick goals in the first half were the foundation the defensive effort had to protect.
It was therefore not more than three minutes before FC Helsingør were on the scoreboard. Philip Rejnhold had moved out to the right side of the pitch, where from the halfway line he sent a long ball forward toward Jeppe Kjær, who ran away from his marker from the correct side of the offside line. Kjær got up into the box, closely chased by Fredericia’s defence. When Jeppe got into the box, he took a quick touch inward and struck the ball high into the net, with no chance for Elias Rafn in the Fredericia goal.
0-1 FC Helsingør
Three more minutes passed before FC Helsingør scored to 2-0. Kevin Stuhr launched a long goal kick that sailed over three men high up the pitch who were ready to contest the header. The ball bounced once and then dropped in front of Jeppe Kjær, who had started running. Kjær took the ball with him and ran away from his marker. Goalkeeper Rafn came out to block Kjær’s angle, but Kjær calmly chipped the ball over Rafn, who could only watch helplessly as it sailed into the goal.
0-2 FC Helsingør
We had to go all the way to the 14th minute before FC Fredericia got their first big chance. Fredericia carried the ball forward centrally, and after a bit of duelling around the box, Kristian Kirkegaard found Christian Tue Jensen in the middle of goal on the edge of the box. Tue Jensen let fly, but Kevin Stuhr pulled out a brilliant save, and with a tiger leap he tipped the ball around the right post.
There then followed a period in which Fredericia got the game shifted a little further up the middle and got a better grip on the ball centrally. That gave the home side a couple of half-chances, and they also earned a couple of corners from the effort, with a single shot wide of the post from a rebound as the only finish. FC Helsingør looked to send Jeppe Kjær away on yet another counterattack, and also worked themselves into a couple of corners, though without creating any shots.
After 35 minutes of play, Fredericia sent a good attempt toward FCH’s goal. It was once again Christian Tue Jensen, who after a bit of scrappy play in FCH’s box got the ball laid back to him, which he finished well. His hard shot went toward the far corner, but just crept over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, FC Fredericia’s Anders Holvad then played a good pass into the feet from the left side. Holvad shot from a good position, but despite being relatively unpressured, he sent the shot wide. A big chance for FC Fredericia, who had been on top in this period.
Five minutes before halftime, Raphael Nwadike from Fredericia was brought forward through the middle and dribbled past two FCH players centrally, but his shot just outside the box went straight into the gloves of Kevin Stuhr.
And with the half’s last kick, FC Fredericia finished again. Christian Tue Jensen received a good cut-back pass in a position on the left side of FCH’s box, and he finished decisively with a firm strike. But once again Kevin Stuhr was in the right place, and he managed to punch Jensen’s good shot up into the air, after which he himself could calmly gather the ball as the referee blew for halftime at the same second. FCH could therefore go into the dressing room with a fine 2-0 lead, but also with warnings that Fredericia were not beaten yet.
The second half had barely begun when Fredericia got the first big chance. A good ball was played across the box where it was centimetres from Tue Jensen being able to put the ball in, but his shot was blocked, almost on the line. The linesman, however, had signalled that a Fredericia player centrally was offside, and any goal would therefore not have counted.
Then followed just under ten minutes with plenty of close duels and lots of running from box to box, but it was not until the 54th minute that FC Helsingør produced the next shot. Jeppe Kjær got the ball on the left side after a good move from Frederik Juul centrally, and Kjær played the ball inside centrally to Teddy Bergqvist, who finished from the edge of the box. However, his shot was just a little too close to the goalkeeper, who could gather the effort.
Shortly after the hour mark, it was close for the home side. Fredericia played the ball nicely around outside FC Helsingør’s box, and although FCH closed well in the lines, a Fredericia player still managed to get free on the right side of the box, from where he sent a dangerous ball toward the far post. Kevin Stuhr could only watch, but luckily for the Helsingør side the ball skimmed just past the post.
Shortly after, Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard did a lot more than just watch, as Fredericia’s Argon Mucoli dribbled past two men and was completely free on the left side of FCH’s box. Mucoli shot hard toward the far post, but from close range Kevin Stuhr pulled off yet another fantastic save and punched the ball wide of goal. A great save by the veteran goalkeeper.
After 72 minutes of play, Carl Lange and Andreas Smed replaced Davis Boysen and Jeppe Kjær, both of whom had finished their game. FC Fredericia tried again and again to set something up, but FC Helsingør stood well in the lines and repelled most of it. After 77 minutes, the coaching staff took Frederik Bay off and sent Hans Christian “Kritte” Bonnesen onto the pitch for a comeback after his long injury break.
That did not change much about the pattern of the game, which still featured a lot of possession for Fredericia, and an FCH side looking for the counterattack that could seal the match.
In the 83th minute, Frederica then had their biggest chance so far, when the ball after a scramble in the box dropped to the feet of a Fredricia attacker, who from the edge of the six-yard box hammered the ball hard toward the roof of the net. But Kevin Stuhr somehow managed to punch it over with a reflex save of the highest class.
And when Fredericia shortly after had a breakaway that Kevin Stuhr, naturally one is tempted to write, saved safely, it seemed as though the game was over. But as we entered the 90th minute the home side still managed to reduce the deficit. Fredercia took a short throw-in, and from the right corner the ball was played centrally to Henry Onurah, who dribbled once and then struck the ball flat into the far corner.
1-2 FC Fredericia.
That made the five minutes added by the referee suddenly feel very long for FC Helsingør, but apart from a free kick into the box that Kevin Stuhr claimed safely, Fredericia did not create many chances. Instead, the final action of the match for the home side was a red card for Argon Mucoli, who just before the referee blew the final whistle completely recklessly kicked Anders Holst down from behind on the knee, and rightly received a straight red card for a nasty, nasty tackle.
But FC Helsingør held on and could therefore go into the international break with a 2-1 victory, which first and foremost was secured by a superb defensive performance, especially from Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard, who played what was probably his best match for FC Helsingør to date.
Now 14 days of international break await, during which the players can recover after many matches in a short time, and where they can enjoy a more than acceptable start to life in 1. Division.
FCH: K. Ellegaard, F. Bay (’77 HC Bonnesen), P. Rejnhold, J. Henriksen, A. Holst, E. Just, O. Kjærgaard, F. Juul Christensen, D. Boysen (’71 C. Lange), T: Berqvist, J. Kjær (71’ A. Smed)
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
