LSK kept their footing at the top of the Toppserien with a win over Vålerenga and Avaldsnes kept pace with their own win over Trondheim and a draw kept Klepp and Stabæk locked on points. Elsewhere, Røa registered the biggest win of the week with a 4-0 over Sandviken and Medkila slipped to a narrow defeat at home to Arna whilst Bodø and Kolbotn played out a score draw.
Røa 4-0 Sandviken
The second most prolific side in the league this year, it wasn’t a shock to anyone to see Røa bag a commanding win over struggling, Sandviken. However, a resilient first-half saw Sandviken stand up to the hosts and only concede late in the day through Ina Skaug’s 18-yard curler.
Struggling in the league but far from being the most porous team, the visitors did well to keep the scoreline respectable for the majority of the game but bleeding three goals in the last three minutes would have done little to help their confidence.
Substitute Vilde Hasund doubled the advantage just five minutes after coming on when she slipped in behind before rounding Nora Gjøen and curling the ball home. Dependable as ever in front of goal, Lisa-Marie Utland grabbed her eighth of the year just minutes later after beating Laila Himle to the ball on the edge of the area, her low effort enough to slip under the advancing ‘keeper. The match wrapped up in stoppage time when Therese Åsland scored the best of the bunch, her left-footed shot arcing over Gjøen to drop into the far corner.
Klepp 2-2 Stabæk
Klepp stretched their unbeaten league run to five with an engrossing draw over Stabæk, the hosts on top from the fifth minute when Hege Hansen fired a rocket over Ingrid Hjelmseth and into the back of the net from a close angle. With the third spot in the table up for grabs neither team were willing to give an inch and the visitors soon levelled through Melissa Bjånesøy, the Norwegian international’s header just too much for Oda Bogstad to keep out. Tameka Butt’s ninth of the season came at the perfect time for the Tractor Girls as she pounced on a loose ball in the box to sweep it into the hungry goal off of the near post, two minutes before the break.
Despite the hosts having the better of it and continuing to threaten throughout, it was Stabæk who grabbed the next goal after Elise Liane and Frida Maanum’s one-two at a corner, Liane’s dinked ball in dropped kindly for Celine Granli, the defender connecting well to strike the ball just past Bogstad.
With a superior goal difference, Stabæk stay third but with constantly improving performances it won’t be long until Klepp leap-frog them.
LSK 2-1 Vålerenga
Unsurprisingly dominating from the off, the hosts saw a few half-chances in the opening exchanges before taking the lead before the quarter hour after Michelle Betos had flapped at Guro Reiten’s dangerous free kick. Able to deal with Isabell Bachor’s initial effort there was little Betos nor her clustered defence could to stop Synne Hansen’s follow up when the 21-year-old striker thumped the ball into the waiting net. Ryoko Takara doubled the advantage for the hosts fifteen minutes before the break when she diverted Ingrid Moe Wold’s low cross into the far corner, the blue shirts in the box again, slow to react.
With the game having opened up considerably after the first goal, both sides continued to attack each other with an alarming frequency, the third goal overdue when it arrived just before the hour mark. A free kick from the half-way lofted into the box for the hosts, able to bring the ball under control with her first touch, her second saw Aivi Luik sweep it beyond Cecilie Fiskerstrand’s outstretched gloves to reduce the deficit. Although both continued to come close, neither side could find a good enough finish to beat either ‘keeper again and the reigning champions held on to keep their spot at the top.
Grand Bodø 1-1 Kolbotn
Locked on points just above dead-last, Medkila both teams were looking for a win to see them clear Sandviken and find safer ground away from the relegation zone, but tied on points and with just four goals separating them neither could find enough to wrestle away from the other in Nordland.
After Karina Sævik volleyed Maren Johansen’s cross home 25 minutes into the game, Kolbotn looked on the verge of three big points but with over an hour left, Bodø knew they had time on their side and when referee, Henrikke Nervik adjudged Tonje Pedersen to have handled Sigrid Helbostad’s cross on the edge of the box, the hosts were given a lifeline in the game. Although Line Danielsen’s spot kick wasn’t as clinical as it could have been, the midfielder made sure to get enough on it to take it close enough to the top corner and away from a diving Aurora Mikalsen.
With little to separate them, both Kolbotn and Bodø desperately need to find a win to given them some degree of breathing space, Kolbotn’s recent form particularly worrying.
Medkila 0-1 Arna-Bjørnar
Guaranteed not to lose their sixth place in the table, no matter the outcome, the narrow win saw AB put more ground between themselves and the bottom half of the table, the only goal in Harstad came early in the game. With her second for the club since making the off-season switch from Sandviken, Helene Gloppen’s rising header at the near post to connect with Elise Stenevik’s near post corner delivery was enough for the visitors on a dreary day in Troms.
Avaldsnes 1-0 Trondheims-Ørn
Having looked a little less than perfect in their last handful of matches, Avaldsnes managed to nibble all three points when they hosted TØ in the last match of the weekend. Having fluffed easier chances earlier in the game, the only goal was whipped in by Andrine Tomter on the half hour when her corner cross curled under the bar near the far corner. In a mostly one-way encounter, Kristine Nøstmo remained the key player throughout, denying the hosts time after time. The win enough to keeper AIL in touching distance of LSK whilst Trondheim continue to look a little lost at the wrong end of the table.
