It became FC Helsingør’s first home defeat of the season, as BK Frem went back to Sydhavnen with a single point in the bag. FCH had taken the lead and had the most chances in the match, but Frem managed to equalize from one of their few chances ten minutes from time.
It had not been more than a minute before Jeppe Kjær and Nicolas Mortensen played FCH through to the first big chance. Jeppe Kjær found Nicolas Mortensen on the edge of the box and then cut inside centrally himself. Nicolas Mortensen played the ball in here, and Jeppe Kjær finished, but Marco Brylov in the Frem goal was where he needed to be and blocked the shot.
After eight minutes it came even closer. After a bit of ping-pong play in the box, Daniel Norouzi placed a perfect ball into the feet of Lucas Haren on the right side of the Frem area. Haren sent the ball across, and right in front of goal Nikolaj Hansen was ready amid a larger crowd of both teammates and opponents. However, the central defender was not able to direct his finish the right way, and the ball went wide of the goal.
Four minutes later Jonas Henriksen was close when a well-delivered corner from Norouzi found him in front of goal. But once again the finish was not quite precise enough, and the ball went over.
Frem were not on the ball very much in the first quarter of an hour, but when they did get it, they often advanced toward the FCH box, but the FCH defense and Christoffer Petersen were alert, and it never really became dangerous.
But after 19 minutes, that was no longer the case for the visitors from Frem. FCH won possession in their own box, and Thomas “TK” Kristensen played a good ball forward to Nicolas Mortensen in the middle. He quickly played on to Haren, who delivered a cross in front of the Frem goal. Here it was inches away from one of the smallest on the pitch, Jeppe Kjær, getting to the header, but the ball skimmed just over the top of his hair. But FCH kept fighting and won it on the left side just outside the box. Jeppe Kjær got the ball at his feet, and then there was no mercy. Kjær cut across the box and, between friends and foes, placed the ball inside the far post.
1-0 FC Helsingør
After 32 minutes Jeppe Kjær was close again. FCH won a free kick some way outside the box on the left side. Instead of setting the ball up, FCH took the free kick immediately, before Frem were in position. Jeppe Kjær was sent off across the box and shot again toward the far corner. But this time the ball just crept wide of the post. A neat bit of play by FCH, and close for Kjær.
Four minutes later it was agonizingly close to Kjær becoming the provider. He got the ball on the right side with a through ball, where he got away from two opponents. At the byline he sent it low across goal, where Nicolas Mortensen stood completely alone with the goalkeeper. But Mortensen’s finish was met by a fantastic foot save from Marco Brylov, and the score remained at 1-0.
The next ten minutes leading up to halftime were marked by a number of physical duels and a lot of midfield play that did not create many chances for either side. Thus FCH had to go into the break with a narrow 1-0 lead, though it could easily have been a goal bigger.
It was the visitors from Frem who came best out of the dressing room. They managed to push their press a little higher than in the first half and in 49. minute they had the half’s first shot, when Frederik Christensen shot on goal from a position just outside the box. But thankfully his effort went over the crossbar.
During the next ten minutes FCH put more pressure on Frem, and play was slowly but surely moved further up toward the Frem goal. But it was difficult to get through the tight Frem lines in the middle, and no major chances materialized.
After an hour FCH made things harder for themselves. Following a dead ball around Frem’s box, Frederik Bay was alone with a Frem player when the visitors launched a counterattack. The two battled heavily for the ball, and it ended with the referee giving the advantage to Frem. Frem got nothing out of the move up to the FCH box, but Frederik Bay already had a yellow card, and as the referee judged that he had stopped the move, Bay was shown a second yellow card and had to go for an early shower.
Dalton Wilkins was substituted on at left back, replacing Anders Holst, who was sacrificed on the altar of tactics.
The dismissal gave Frem some blood in their veins, and the visitors tried to create an overload by moving the ball around quickly. FC Helsingør brought on Ricki Olsen instead of Lucas Haren and turned up the physicality in the tackles, so although Frem had more of the ball in this phase, it never truly became dangerous, and whenever a ball was played into the FCH box, Christoffer Petersen handled it confidently.
But Frem repeatedly got FC Helsingør to rush their play, and the home team had trouble getting the game to flow. After 80 minutes it went wrong. A Frem counterattack came down FCH’s right side, and Frem’s winger got his shot away after beating his man. Christoffer Petersen made a fine save, but could not prevent Dominik Kis from putting the ball in on the rebound.
1-1 BK Frem
FC Helsingør tried to mount one last offensive while Frem lurked for counters. In stoppage time Jeppe Kjær was brought down five meters outside the box, but on the subsequent free kick Andreas Holm had just, just strayed offside on Ricki Olsen’s excellent cross.
That was how it ended, and FCH had to record their first home setback on the new ground, in an entertaining setting with a full 991 spectators.
FCH: Petersen, Bay, Hansen, Holm, Henriksen, Holst (Wilkins 59’), Norouzi, Kristensen, Haren (Olsen 69’), Mortensen (Christensen 81’), Kjær
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
