aLSK claimed the top spot with a tight win over Avaldsnes after both had dropped points in the previous Toppserien week, elsewhere Klepp made it two wins from two, Røa found their scoring boots and the misery mounted for Kolbotn, Medkila and Bodø. Having already played out their week nine matches earlier in the season, Sandviken and Vålerenga were given the weekend off, happy to have notched up big wins the previous match day as Arna and Stabæk both lost footing with a draw and Trondheim found stronger ground with a useful win.

Arna-Bjørnar 1-1 Stabæk

Lisa Naalsund gave the hosts the perfect start at the Arna Idrettspark, when she ripped a shot from outside the box towards to the top corner beyond the stretch of Ingrid Hjelmseth inside of the first minute. Having the better of it in the first-half, the hosts failed to add to their advantage and saw parity restored after the hour when Benedicte Håland had passed directly to Mina Kjørum, the substitute able to take a touch in the box and bend it into the far corner.

Looking for their fourth win of the season, Arna continued to carve out opportunities and work Hjelmseth, even seeing a shot cleared off of the line late in the game but the travelling defence stood firm to hold onto a point.

Klepp 1-0 Trondheims-Ørn

Klepp made it three league wins on the spin with a 1-0 over a TØ side not having the best of it this year though the visitors kept Oda Bogstad and her defence busy throughout. Elisabeth Terland found the break-through just after the break when Trondheim failed to clear the danger at a deep throw-in, Kristine Nøstmo taken out of the equation with the defenders around her goal-line half-heartedly heading the ball two yards to the next yellow shirt. Able to get in front of Ingrid Syrstad Engen with ease, Terland volleyed the ball through the scattered defence and into the back of the net. The goal helped to galvanise the team who saw more of the ball but remained unbale to capitalise, the loan goal enough to take them to fouth.

LSK 0-0 Kolbotn

Looking to go top with a win, free-scoring reigning champions well held to a surprise scoreless draw by a Kolbotn team that have consistently struggled with keeping a clean sheet this year, the LSK-hallen the most unlikely place to earn their first of the season.

Goalless, but not for want of trying, LSK dominated the match and saw chance after chance slip just high or wide, the woodwork left to quiver time and again, Aurora Mikalsen’s goal living a charmed life as the visitors dug in and held out to pick up a highly impressive point.

Røa 3-3 Avaldsnes

Looking to drop as few points as possible at the top of the tree with LSK on their heels, Avaldsnes were put on the back foot in the first half after Ina Skaug had volleyed the ball beyond Katie Fraine before Lisa-Marie Utland made it two three minutes later with a low shot that beat the American.

Off-colour in the first-half, the visitors hit the ground running after the break and Cecilie Pedersen headed goal was enough to see Røa’s advantage cut in half before the first of Luana Paixao’s brace six minutes later restored parity. Not in any mood to drop points of their own, the Dynamite Girls got their noses back in front with less than twenty minutes left on the clock, Utland’s second of the match her seventh of the year for Røa.

Slipped through by Elise Thorsnes, Paixao grabbed a late equaliser as she curled the ball into the near post, the point enough to keep Avaldsnes at the top of the table going into the break. 

Grand Bodø 1-5 Sandviken

With a win that catapulted them over not just their opposition but Kolbotn too, Sandviken were sitting pretty after hitting their hosts for five in Nordland.

Marina Heggernes Jensen was first to strike as she beat the offside trap to latch onto a long ball over the top and win a foot race against Siiri Välimaa as the keeper rushed out of her box, Jensen calm to lob the ball over the Finnish international. Sofie Skjelstad Jensen made it two just after the half-hour with a fine finish from a tight angle, the attacker able to curl the ball home from the by-line. The former Bodø player able to extend the advantage and round off her brace just before the break when she flicked the ball in off of Välimaa’s boot after cutting through the all-too high defence.

With the game all but won before the two went in at the break the game hit a lull until the dying minutes when the visitors found another two goals through Marije Brummel and Vilde Heradstveit Øyri, the home defence in tatters as the game drew to a close. Synnøve Rønquist Hafnor’s stoppage time strike gave the 130 strong crowd something to cheer when she found the far top corner from 16-yards. 

Medkila 1-6 Vålerenga

One of VIF’s better players this season, captain Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir opened the scoring just five minutes in as she held her run to slip behind the defence and chase down a threaded ball before nudging it inside of Alexandra Quincey’s near post. Kept busy but far more solid after conceding, Medkila managed to keep their opposition out until after the break when Elise Krieghoff’s strike immediately after the restart ripped the floodgates open.

Krieghoff’s first of three saw the attacker slip the ball around Quincey from near the dead-ball line, the home defence able to repel the first two efforts but switching off at the suspicious of offside. Maren Hauge added a quick-fire third after worming away from her marker and striding into the box before knocking the ball under Quincey’s outstretched gloves.

There was however good news for Medkila just after the hour when Martine Olsen reduced the deficit with her first touch, her header at Ida Fikseth Fossem’s corner thumped into the ground in front of Michelle Betos. The ball bounced over the keeper and crested under the bar, Theresa Nielsen’s clearing header behind the line not enough to keep Betos’ sheet clean.

A one-two between Krieghoff and Nielsen bore the fifth goal of the game, the home defence asleep in their own box as Krieghoff was given ample time and space to pick out a spot out of Quincey’s reach. Aivi Luik made it five just two minutes later as the visitors exploited more slack defending, the move made by Nielsen down the right before the Dane picked out Luik in the box and the Australian sent the ball home. There was yet still time for one last goal, the right side of the pitch torn up by blue shirts again as Krieghoff slipped past the defence and thumped the ball across goal to claim her hat trick. 

 

Toppserien table as it stands (Credit: NFF)
Toppserien table as it stood after week #8 (Credit: NFF)

 

Sandviken 0-1 Klepp

Hanne Kogstad’s solitary header twenty minutes in was enough for Klepp in Fyllingsdalen as they made it five wins from their last five in all competitions.

On the back foot in both the game and league, Sandviken boasted the better chances in the first-half, Oda Bogstad back in fine form after her spell with the Norwegian U23s at the Nordic tournament. After having been fouled in the area, Tameka Butt was gifted a chance to put the game out of reach five minutes before the break, the opportunity not capitalised on as her sub-par penalty was cleared by Nora Gjøen.

Still seeing the better of it, Sandviken refused to relent, their hard-work not enough to pay dividends as Bogstad came out on top time and again, the loss enough to keep them in a perilous position, the win enough to get Klepp within touching distance of the top two.  

Kolbotn 0-3 Røa

On the back of their defensive herioics last time out, Kolbotn came up short at home to the Dynamite Girls, Line Holter’s fifth minute drive from range able to squeeze under Aurora Mikalsen and plumb into the bottom corner. Ina Skaug doubled the advantage seventeen minutes later with a rising header into the unguarded net after Mikalsen had come out to claim Vilde Hasund’s cross.

The match put to bed with little more than fifteen minutes left when Kristine Bjørdal Leine poked home at an uncleared corner to give the visitors their third and final goal, the home defence once more left wanting. 

Trondheims-Ørn 3-0 Medkila

With both sides looking to improve their standing in the league there was little for the fans to get excited about until after the hour when Andrea Haugstøyl chased a ball over the top into the box before clipping it with the outside of her boot to the far corner. The game continued at a relatively slow pace, Rakel Engesvik's simple finish from six yards enough to wrap up all three points with little left on the clock. The midfielder given another easy finish at the death after Megan Kufeld fumbled her save on Engesvik’s initial shot, the ball bouncing back to the teenager for her to roll it inside of the near post.

The win enough to give TØ some breathing space near the bottom, Medkila still unable to wrench themselves off of the floor of the table.

Avaldsnes 0-1 LSK 

With a chance to go top of the table and potentially put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack, LSK got off to the perfect start against then leaders, Avaldsnes when Synne Skinnes Hansen smuggled the ball over the line at an early corner. Guro Reiten sent the ball short for Ryoko Takara to hook into the area, Sophie Haug back-post header was enough to free Hansen with Katie Fraine committed to the far post, Hansen slipped in front of Andrine Tomter and poked the ball home from two yards, the goal enough to propel the current champions to the top.

With 76 minutes still on the clock, neither well willing to give an inch, both defences on full alert and both attacks full-blooded, Francielle’s drive across the box on the hour the closest the hosts got as the ball slammed into the upright and cannoned back out, Cecilie Fiskerstrand sharp to turn the follow-up over. Good fortune and good defending enough to keep both out for the remainder of the game, LSK now two points clear of Avaldsnes with a game in hand. 

 

Toppserien table as it stands after match week #9 (credit: NFF)
Toppserien table as it stands after match week #9 (credit: NFF)
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About the author
Sophie Lawson
Neutral football fan travelling around Europe, covering matches and bothering footballers for interviews