FC Helsingør suffered their first defeat of the season when Fredericia won 1-0 in Helsingør. FCH had for long periods more than usual difficulty breaking down the compact Fredericia defense, which stood very deep on the pitch, so in that sense the defeat was difficult to argue with.
However, it was the home side from FC Helsingør that started best. High pressure was applied to the Jutlanders, and after six minutes Mikkel Basse had a good chance. A corner was flicked on by Andreas Holm and headed back into the box by a Fredericia defender. The ball dropped to Basse at the edge of the box, but the midfielder could not quite direct his shot and the ball went over the goal. A fine start by FC Helsingør.
A few minutes later Andreas Holm rose highest on a corner, but his header slipped over the crossbar. In this phase FC Helsingør looked both the better and the more dangerous side.
After 12 minutes of play, the first Fredericia chance came. A cross from Christian Sørensen was headed out of the box, but somewhat unfortunately it landed with a Fredericia player, who delivered another cross to a teammate on the edge of the box. The finish, however, slipped just past the post without really troubling goalkeeper Bruhn.
After Fredericia's chance they came more into the game. There was plenty of fight in midfield, but not the biggest openings. We had to go all the way to the 27th minute before the next big chance arrived. A Fredericia corner went all the way over both defenders and attackers and reached the far post, where Patrick Olsen, to everyone's relief, managed to clear the ball out of the box from under the nose of a Fredericia player.
Fredericia soon had another corner, which was also cleared out of the box, but this time the ball fell to Fredericia's Anders Holvad, who struck it first time. His terrific shot, however, went just over the crossbar, and the biggest chance of the match so far luckily stayed out.
FCF were now making their presence felt, and in the 33th minute a long ball found Andreas Oggesen, who had made a good counterattack run. Oggesen shot, but from a little too far out, and the ball went wide of the post.
FC Helsingør were not able to push the game forward in this period, and three minutes later things went wrong. Christian Sørensen cut in from the left side of the box and shot. The attempt was blocked, but it went straight back to Christian Sørensen, and at the second attempt he did not miss, but placed a secure shot between Mikkel Bruhn's legs.
1-0 FC Fredericia.
The goal stirred things up a bit among the home side. Frederik Bay was brought down at the edge of the box, and TK stepped up to take the free kick. His shot was excellent, right by the post, but FCF goalkeeper Nybo got all the way over and saved for a corner. A superb free-kick attempt from Christian Kjøhler, but no team came closer, and the referee could blow for halftime with the visitors holding a narrow lead.
From the start of the second half it was FC Helsingør who came best out of the dressing room. The home side tried to press high and play a little more directly. But Fredericia stood well in their lines, and the Helsingør players had difficulty finding holes in the defense. The closest they came was substitute Nicolas Mortensen after ten minutes, but he could not keep his shot within the frame.
And as had also been the case in the first half's game pattern, FC Fredericia gradually worked their way more and more into the match. After 64 minutes Victor Torp was played free at the edge of the box, cut toward the middle and shot hard toward the left side of goal. But Mikkel Bruhn punched the ball away with a fantastic save.
FC Helsingør pressed and pressed, but the chances were not exactly queuing up. Nicolas Mortensen had another opportunity around the 78th minute, but again he could not direct an otherwise fine cross on target. Helsingør tried moving Pascal Gregor and substitute Daniel Jørgensen up into Fredericia's box, and although that gave a bit more weight in the aerial duels, it never really became dangerous.
FCH kept lumping long balls into the box, and in stoppage time Mikkel Bruhn even came up for a corner, but it did not help. Time ran out for FC Helsingør, and so the home side had to record their first defeat of the season against a very defensive Fredericia side that knew how to time its visit.
FC Helsingør will soon have a new chance to get on the scoreboard, as we already face Hvidovre away on Wednesday at 18.30.
FCH: Bruhn, Bay, Gregor, Holm, Fisch, TK Kjøhler, Holst, Olsen, Basse, Matheus, Douglas
Substitutes: Elvang, Jørgensen, Mortensen.
