FCH moved all the way up to fourth place, and came very, very close to securing a top-six spot with a fine 2-1 away win over Vendsyssel FF, in a match where FC Helsingør, despite a heavy and difficult pitch, managed to string the play together really neatly for long periods.
FC Helsingør got the best possible start to the match. Nicklas Mouritsen took a throw-in on the left side of the pitch shortly after kick-off. It found Lucas Haren, who took a single touch back into the pitch and delivered a beautifully weighted cross into the six-yard box. There Philip Rejnhold had slipped in, and the defender threaded his way between Vendsyssel's two center-backs and headed the ball into the opposite corner, beyond goalkeeper Fabian Ehmann in the Vendsyssel goal. Only 38 seconds had been played.
0-1 FC Helsingør
But after just five minutes, the home side equalized. Mohammed Cham-Saracevic carried the ball forward through the middle, and FCH's defense nearly got in each other's way when he reached the FCH box. Then he was able to shoot unchallenged from a position to the right inside the box, and Saracevic calmly tucked it into the far corner for the equalizer.
1-1 Vendsyssel FF
The two goals made for a somewhat scrappy first quarter of an hour, with both teams looking a little shaken. The next big chance, however, fell to FC Helsingør. After 13 minutes, FCH worked the ball up through the middle, and Oliver Kjærgaard beat his man on the edge of the box. Kjærgaard drifted out to the right and slipped a good pass through to Callum McCowatt, who came around his marker and struck from close range. But Ehmann was in position and parried the shot away. From the ensuing corner, nobody could get to Anders Holst's otherwise excellent delivery, and the chance came to nothing.
Vendsyssel also showed some bite, and five minutes later it was inches away from Henry Järvelaid being able to meet a good cross from the right and head on goal, but the FCH defense managed to clear at the last moment.
The match swung back and forth, and shortly after FCH had a big chance when Nicklas Mouritsen, after a throw-in, found Callum McCowatt in the box with a sharp header forward, but centrally McCowatt thought he had a teammate with him and let the ball run. Unfortunately, there was no one there, and once again the chance went begging.
Approaching the half-hour mark, the match offered more in the way of battling and free kicks than clear chances, aside from a single header wide from Nikolaj Hansen.
Just as the clock reached 30 minutes, Oliver Kjærgaard beat an opponent and cut into the box. Kjærgaard took one more touch and came in under goal. He was, however, tightly marked, and his left-footed effort on goal was blocked.
Three minutes later, Vendsyssel then had a big counterattacking chance when Cham-Saracevic was sent through on goal with a good diagonal pass. Philip Rejnhold could only bother Saracevic, who hit a dangerous shot at goal, but Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard was alert and blocked the powerful effort with a good save.
With 37 minutes on the clock, FCH sent a good ball forward toward the right side, where Haren and Norouzi combined to work the ball through to Callum McCowatt, who drove toward goal. Anders Holst crossed in front, but from the edge of the box McCowatt himself shot at goal without quite getting clean contact on the ball, and Ehmann could gather it up without much fuss.
Right on the edge of halftime, FC Helsingør were absurdly close twice. First, Lucas Haren made an excellent dribble past two men and into the box, where from the byline he curled in a cross to Callum McCowatt at the back post. McCowatt did the right thing and headed the ball downward, but on the line Ehmann pulled out a phenomenal save and prevented a FC Helsingør goal. On the ensuing quick play around the box, FCH were a bit fortunate to get a soft ball into the box, where Oliver Kjærgaard was a shoe size away from getting his toe to it and steering the ball into the net. But he just missed the ball by inches, and so FCH had to go into halftime with 1-1 on the board.
But only three minutes into the second half, FC Helsingør were on the scoresheet. Once again it started with a throw-in from Mouritsen, who found Oliver Kjærgaard. Kjærgaard drove to the byline and delivered a fine cross to Callum McCowatt, who, well covered and with his back to goal, nevertheless managed to lay the ball off to Lucas Haren. It actually looked as though Haren was marked, but the nimble winger took a single touch to the left side of the pitch and then curled the ball past both defender and goalkeeper and right into the top corner with a lovely right-footed strike. Excellent finish from Lucas Haren, and superb attacking play by McCowatt and Kjærgaard in the build-up
1-2 FC Helsingør
The goal led to slightly more pressure from the home side, though without creating chances. FC Helsingør were constantly lurking for counterattacks, and both gave and took in the tackles in an attempt to close out the match. Just before the clock reached an hour, perhaps the best player on the pitch up to that point, Lucas Haren, had to be substituted with a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Eli Just. In addition, the coaching staff also decided to send David Boysen and Liam Jordan on in place of Anders Holst and Callum McCowatt a couple of minutes later.
The substitutions gave FC Helsingør more room to work with, and the next ten minutes saw the visitors move the ball nicely around Vendsyssel's press and put together many good passes. However, the final pass in behind or over the top didn't really open up, and the ball did not get into the boxes.
In the 71th minute, FCH did win a free kick on the left side, and Norouzi's good ball into the box just sailed over the forehead of captain Nikolaj Hansen, who was close to extending the lead. FC Helsingør were in control for most of this phase, but the final push was slow to arrive.
With ten minutes left of normal time, Vendsyssel found their last reserves and put slightly more pressure on FCH, which led to a decent cross from Konaté on the right side, though it didn't find anyone in the box.
Otherwise, FCH fought admirably, and once again Frederik Juul Christensen and Daniel Norouzi were key players centrally with a huge work rate. In the 88th minute, Norouzi was replaced by Mihkel Ainsalu, and Frederik Bay came on in place of Oliver Kjærgaard. Bay's introduction meant the fullback reached 100 matches in an FCH shirt.
In two minutes of added time, Eli Just flicked a ball from David Boysen on to Liam Jordan, who burst away down the left side. Jordan tried to square it to Eli Just, but a desperate Vendsyssel toe got just in the way. The following minute Liam Jordan then sent David Boysen through, but one-on-one with Ehmann Boysen fell short, as the goalkeeper came well out of his goal and blocked Boysen's attempt.
But it didn't matter much, as FCH could see out the final minute, and with the 2-1 victory the Helsingør side are millimeters away from the top-six spot that will finally send the relegation ghost packing and cement a superb season for Morten Eskesen's troops.
FCH: K. Stuhr Ellegaard, N. Mouritsen, N. Hansen, N. Geertsen, P. Rejnhold, D. Norouzi (88 M. Ainsalu), F. Juul Christensen, A. Holst (61 L. Jordan), O. Kjrgaard (88 F. Bay), L. Haren (59 E. Just), C. McCowatt (61 D. Boysen)
