FC Helsingør were especially the better side than the visitors from Nykøbing in the first half of today’s match, but too many missed chances ended up costing dearly, as Nykøbing turned the match around with two goals in the second half and could head home with all three points.
The first five minutes saw a slight advantage to FC Helsingør, who buzzed around the Nykøbing goal, but it was still the visitors who played themselves to the first big chance. A corner was placed precisely at the near post, where Mikkel Bruhn with difficulty managed to get the ball away from under the noses of two Nykøbing players.
The next five minutes were then Nykøbing who swarmed around the FCH goal, and it got tense in front of goal, but the FC defenders got in the way every time.
After 12 minutes Helsingør came to the first finish. Matheus and Jonas Henriksen combined nicely on the right wing and had the ball worked into the box. There Nykøbing’s defence cleared, and the ball fell to Patrick Olsen’s feet, who shot from distance. However, his shot went a good way over the goal.
After just over a quarter of an hour, it was Carl Lange who got a big chance. He received the ball at his feet just over the halfway line and carried it forward himself. On the edge of the box he beat his man and cut in in front of goal, where he beat another man with a neat dribble, but when he finally shot, the effort unfortunately lacked the same quality as the build-up and the ball again went a good way over the goal. Good build-up play by the young winger.
In the 21th minute came the breakthrough. TK took the corner, and the ball went all the way across the box. There stood Pascal Gregor, and headed the ball back across towards the far corner. Nobody got to the ball, and so Gregor was credited with yet another goal in the league.
1-0 FC Helsingør
Seven minutes later it was centimetres away from Nicolas Mortensen and Anders Holst extending the lead. Nicolas Mortensen blocked a pass from Nykøbing’s central defence. He carried the ball forward and played a perfect pass out to Carl Lange, who stormed forward on the left side. He laid the ball back across, where Mortensen shot. The goalkeeper Olsen in the NFC goal could only parry it, and it was quite close to Anders Holst being able to force it the last bit over the line, but on the goal line itself Nykøbing kicked it away.
The next few minutes were one long attacking run towards the NFC goal, and both Mortensen and Carl Lange had shots that, however, were not within the frame.
Instead it was Anders Holst who rattled the woodwork after 33 minutes. Patrick Olsen won the ball from an NFC player who slipped, and Holst drove the ball forward. When he came into the box, he took a clever touch to the right and shot towards the far corner. The stadium drew in a sharp breath as the ball screamed towards the top corner, but the shot had just a little too much on it and hit the crossbar, and the crowd let out an audible sigh. An excellent shot from the veteran.
After 38 minutes a well-playing Nicolas Mortensen was sent a high ball forward, which he brought down beautifully and shot at. Sebastian Olsen only just got the tip of his nails to the shot, which he tipped over the goal. The goalkeeper had come a little too far out of his goal, and was lucky not to concede again.
Just before the half-time whistle Matheus managed to get one shot away towards the Nykøbing goal, but his effort from distance was not hard enough, and so FCH had to go into the break with a 1-0 lead, which was at least one goal too small.
The second half was not more than three minutes old before FCH came to regret not having put the ball in the net. A counterattack from Nykøbing was driven all the way to the byline, where the ball was played across. Inside the box Lars Pleidrup stood completely free, and after one touch he was able to put the ball in the net with little pressure. Strange passive defending from the home side in that sequence.
1-1 Nykøbing
FCH tried to put pressure on the visitors, and especially Nicolas Mortensen caused plenty of havoc, but it never became truly dangerous.
After an hour it became alarmingly dangerous in front of FC Helsingør’s goal. Lars Pleidrup got in behind, and although he had two defenders around him, he managed to send a dangerous shot towards goal. Mikkel Bruhn came down with a brilliant reflex save, and the ball hit the post and bounced back into Bruhn’s safe hands. Huge chance for the visitors from Nykøbing.
After 70 minutes FC Helsingør conceded again. Christopher Thorsheim cut in from the right wing and sent a low shot towards the far corner before anyone in the FCH defence realised what was happening. Mikkel Bruhn could not get down to the shot, and suddenly the scoreboard showed 1-2 out of the blue.
1-2 Nykøbing.
Ten minutes from time, substitute Douglas was played through. He reached the box, but had to try the shot in a somewhat pressured situation, surrounded by a defender on each shoulder. Even so, he managed to get away a fine shot, which however just crept over the goal. Five minutes later, the big Brazilian was again close when the ball fell to his feet in a scramble right in front of the Nykøbing goal. But he had his back to goal and could not turn the ball in.
As the match moved into stoppage time, FCH put heavy pressure on the Nykøbing goal, but it was still NFC who got the biggest chance, when Nicolai Dohn was clean through on a counterattack. He tried to chip the ball over Mikkel Bruhn, who was far out of his goal, but the ball went past the post.
No more goals were scored, and FC Helsingør had to swallow a defeat at home which, after the play and chances, was not only undeserved, but also somewhat unnecessary.
FCH: Bruhn, Henriksen, Holm, Gregor, Bay, ”TK” Køhler, Olsen, Lange, Holst (´83 Basse), Matheus, Mortensen (70´ Douglas).
Referee: Jonas Hansen
