Wednesday evening the U19 team played a semifinal in the youth cup tournament against Hvidovre, and unfortunately it was the visitors from Hvidovre who came away with the victory.
After a very even first half hour, FC Helsingør were ahead, thanks to a superb long-range goal from Hans Christian “Kritte” Bonnesen. The centre-back had snuck forward in an attack and took the chance from a good distance outside the box, and could watch the ball fly unstoppably into the Hvidovre goalkeeper’s net. The finish was even with Kritte’s weaker left foot, but you certainly couldn’t tell.
The match was marked by a lot of fighting and many duels, and a Hvidovre team that stood very compactly in the lines. Shortly before the break, Hvidovre were awarded a penalty when a Hvidovre player was brought down right on the byline in the box. Hvidovre scored with a cheeky chipped effort, which keeper Magnus Chistensen could do nothing about.
After that, Hvidovre were quite content to sit deep in their own half and make plenty of fouls to disrupt FCH’s build-up. Despite a huge work rate from a truly hard-fighting FCH team, and a shot against the crossbar from Lucas Lodberg, it was Hvidovre who took the lead when they scored from a cross, which a Hvidovre player managed to force past Magnus Christensen in goal in a duel inside the box.
That prompted FCH to invest even more in the crosses and build-up play, and the last twenty minutes were one long siege on Hvidovre’s goal. But the visitors defended superbly, and then it was symptomatic that Hvidovre, in the game’s final action, got a goal on a counterattack after a Hvidovre striker made a nifty little foul on his marker out of the referees’ sight, and then could run free toward goal.
1-3 it ended for Hvidovre, but the FCH boys can be more than proud of their fantastic cup campaign, and could also leave the pitch today with heads held high after a work rate no one could fault!
