Fremad Amager hosted FC Helsingør on Wednesday afternoon in an eventful training match played on the artificial turf at Sundby Idrætspark.
It was FC Helsingør who got off to the better start, and put heavy pressure on Fremad Amager at the beginning of the match. And after just seven minutes FCH took the lead. Matheus Leiria, who played on the left wing just as he did against Falkenbergs, sprinted down the touchline and played the ball across to the opposite side, where Frederik Bay received it. He sent a cross into the middle, where Nicolas Mortensen struck the ball hard into the far corner. Great build-up, and a great goal.
1-0 FC Helsingør
The good spells from FCH continued for the next ten minutes only, and by the time the 25-minute mark was reached it was clear that Helsingør had eased off the accelerator a little. The Fremad players got more into the game, and created a couple of close attempts, where especially a long-range shot after a little over half an hour forced Aris Vaporakis in the FCH goal into a fine save, tipping the ball over the crossbar. But five minutes before the break, things went wrong. Fremad Amager’s number 2 had sneaked into the middle, and sent a doomsday strike at goal from over 30 meters out. The ball dipped in a beautiful arc, and went in.
1-1 Fremad Amager
The goal sparked life into the Helsingør players, who launched a final storm run before the halftime tea, and with less than a minute left in the half, it was Frederik Bay who did Fremad Amager the same favor, smashing the ball in with an equally beautiful long-range shot as Fremad had produced, when he hammered the ball into the far corner from 25 meters out.
2-1 FC Helsingør
At halftime, Lønstrup and Gellert, as usual, made several changes to the lineup, and switched to a 4-4-2 formation. One of the two strikers was Swedish Melvin Frithzell, and he needed only four minutes to extend the lead. Before the match, Lønstrup had commented that Melvin needs to get in better shape, but that he is a rattlesnake in front of goal. The Swede proved that to the fullest when the ball suddenly found its way to his feet in the box. A decisive and thunderous shot with the outside of his foot sent the ball unreachably past the Fremad Amager keeper.
3-1 FC Helsingør
Ricki Olsen had been substituted on for the second half, and he wanted to join in the fun as well. A build-up on the right side led to a scramble in the box, and when an angle suddenly opened up, he struck the ball decisively, sending it under the goalkeeper.
4-1 FC Helsingør
The match then seemed to be decided, but a little quarter of an hour later Fremad Amager pulled back into the contest, as a sharp through ball was beautifully chipped over a chance-less Adrian Kappenberger, who had taken over the FCH goal in the second half.
4-2 Fremad Amager
Shortly after, there was another reduction, as an opportunistic long-range shot from a Fremad player on the right side of the FCH box dipped into the far corner, hit the post and went in.
4-3 Fremad Amager
During this period of the match the play swung even more back and forth than it had done for the rest of the game, and there was plenty of rough stuff in the tackles, with a bit of shoving and scuffling after some of the free kicks. After 81 minutes, it was oddly enough an FCH player who conceded a penalty on another FCH player. Loan player Morten Hegaard, who was substituted on for Fremad Amager in the second half, brought down an onrushing Daniel Stückler in the box, and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Stückler himself stepped up and calmly converted the penalty.
5-3 FC Helsingør
After that, the teams apparently thought that the roughly 120 attending spectators from both Amager and Helsingør had had enough entertainment, and the rest of the half passed without further scoring. FC Helsingør thus took their second training victory in a row, in a match that at times more strongly resembled the ongoing handball European Championship than a football match.
FCH, 1. half(3-5-2): Vaporakis, Jørgensen, S. Henriksen, Gregor, Matheus, P. Olsen, Basse, Bay, Holst, Mortensen, Douglas
FCH: 2. half(4-4-2): Kappenberger, Bay, Gregor, Jørgensen, R. Olsen, Mohammad, P. Olsen, Holst, Akharraz, Frithzell, Stückler
Photo: Claus Birch, clausbirch.dk
