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Monday, June 2, 2025

WESTERN ISLES LOOKING FORWARD TO THE ISLAND GAMES

The 2025 Island Games will take place in Orkney next month, and the Western Isles will be sending teams to take part in both the men's and women's football tournaments. The Hebrideans first took part in the Island Games in Shetland in 2005, and began well, finishing in third place in both that tournament and the following, which was held two years later in Rhodes. 

However, since then, they have gone backwards, finishing between eighth and twelfth place in every tournament they have taken part in since, including the unofficial Inter-Island Games, which took place in Ynys Môn (Anglesey) in 2019, where they finished in ninth place. Last time out, in Guernsey, they finished in eleventh after beating Menorca in the eleventh-place play-off.




Eric Macleod has been overseeing the Western Isles men's team since February 2012, and, including the 2019 Inter-Island Games, this year's tournament will be his fifth at the helm. Macleod has been involved with football in the Western Isles for many years, but, club-wise, he has only ever represented Stornoway Athletic, the region's oldest club, which was founded in 1891, on and off the pitch.

His own journey started aged 10 with Athletic's youth wing, the Acre's Boys Club, and he progressed through every age group up to and including the first team. Unfortunately, his playing career came to a premature end when he suffered an ankle injury, aged 28. He has spent most of the intervening thirty-four years coaching Athletic's youth and adult sides, and has had two spells in charge of the first team.

Nowadays, though, he devotes his time solely to the Western Isles men's team, and five of last year's Stornoway Athletic title-winning side will be among the eighteen players donning the yellow shirt in Orkney. 

Macleod briefly shared some of his thoughts on the upcoming tournament with Pat's Football Blog early last month, and began with the withdrawal of one of the Western Isles' group rivals, Menorca.

"We have been drawn in the same group as Ynys Môn and Bermuda. Menorca were originally in our group but they have since pulled out of the football competitions. [The Menorcan Island Games Association withdrew both their men's and women's teams from their respective competitions in early January due to financial constraints.] 

"We were disappointed that they pulled out as we are now looking at playing one game less which, although is easier to manage in terms of player fatigue, is still frustrating in terms of the overall experience; we want to play as many matches as we can."

Macleod was under no illusions about the task facing his team after being drawn against two old advesaries, but he remained positive: "It is a tough draw, with both Ynys Môn and Bermuda being finalists and semi-finalists, respectively, in Guernsey. We have played Ynys Môn before and lost 2-1 so we know it will be another very tough match for us, but we are very much looking forward to it. 

"I watched about 20 minutes of Bermuda in Guernsey and I was very impressed with their athleticism and technical abilities, so we will have to perform to the very best of our own capabilities to be able to compete in this match. Fourteen of our squad from Guernsey will attend Orkney."

The Western Isles team which took part in the 2023 Island Games (Photo: Western Isles Island Games Association)

The team have been holding training sessions and will be playing friendlies in the run-up to the Games. According to Macleod, they will be approaching the tournament in a positive frame of mind.

"Our preparations have started and we play Orkney, the hosts, in one of our preparatory matches in June so it is going to be a very busy few months for us all," he said. "We are just really looking forward to heading to Orkney, our northern neighbours, and giving a really good account of ourselves, and I am sure that we will do that."

The Western Isles women's team, meanwhile, will be looking to go one better than their performance in Guernsey two years ago, when they surprised friend and foe by finishing runners-up. Their tournament began by their thrashing both Ynys Môn and Guernsey in the group stage, and they went on to dispose of Menorca in the semi-final before losing 4:0 to Bermuda in the final. 

Almost all of the players who were in the Western Isles women's squad in Guernsey were selected for the forthcoming tournament in Orkney, which begins on 13 July. An interesting group stage awaits them, as they were drawn together with Ynys Môn, Menorca and Hitra in Group 3. Much will be expected of manager Ewan Macleod's team this time around.

                            

WESTERN ISLES SQUAD INFORMATION (correct as of 17 April) 

MEN'S SQUAD

Harry BRAY (Tong); Michael JONES (Stornoway Athletic); Robert JONES (Stornoway Athletic); Dominic MacAULAY (Eriskay); Angus MACDONALD (Point); Euan MACDONALD (Melbost); Ross MACDONALD (Barvas); Luke MACKAY (Borve); Sam MACKAY (Borve); Robbie MACKENZIE (Carloway); Calum MACLENNAN (Gress); DI MACLENNAN (Carloway); Jack MACLENNAN (Stornoway Athletic); Eachainn MILLER (Carloway); Luke MORRISON (Stornoway Athletic); Stephen MUTCH (Back); AJ NICHOLSON (Barra); Josh SMITH (Stornoway Athletic)

MANAGER: Eric MACLEOD

ASSISTANT MANAGERS: Domhnall MACKAY; Graeme MILLER

WOMEN'S SQUAD

Krysta BRAY (Tong); Natalie CAMPBELL (Stornoway Athletic); Ann-Louise MACKENZIE (Back); Rosa

 MACKENZIE (Stornoway Athletic); Katie MACKINNON; Kirsty MACLEAN (Stornoway Athletic); Beth MACLEOD (Borve); Jessica MACLEOD (Harris); Sinéad MACLEOD (Stornoway Athletic); Shana MACPHAIL (Tong); Emma MACSWEEN (Tong); Grace MARTIN (Laxdale); Lisa MASON (Bragar); Kyla McMURDO (Back); Amanda NICOLSON (Point); CAITRIONA O'CARROL (Barra); Eleanor SMITH (Tong); Maimie ZIMMERMANN (Back)

MANAGER: Euan MACLEOD

ASSISTANT MANAGER: Hannah MACLEOD 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to Eric Macleod for contributing to the above article. Other information was gleaned from Facebook and Wikipedia. Any errors or omission shall gladly be corrected upon notification of same.







Sunday, December 22, 2024

AN ENGLISHMAN IN NICARAGUA: REMEMBERING THOMAS CRANSHAW

The name Thomas Cranshaw will mean virtually nothing to the inhabitants of modern-day England, but, until recently, there was one little corner of Central America which bore the name of this particular Englishman, and for good reason.

Cranshaw was born in the town of Chorlton-upon-Medlock, Lancashire on 22 September 1892. He, his father William, who was a policeman, mother Agnes (who worked as a seamstress) and his four siblings, lived in Molyneux Street in the town until 1898, when his father died at just 36 years old. William himself was predeceased by his youngest daughter, who had died in infancy a couple of years earlier.

It seems that Thomas and his siblings were either interred in - or attended school at - Nicholls Hospital in Arndale, then an orphanage, from 1898 to 1901, when the five surviving family members
moved to the south of Manchester.

Little else is known about that stage of his life, but it has been claimed that he moved to Nicaragua as early as 1914, where he worked in the import/export business for a company called Laberne and Thompson before setting up on his own in the city of Granada in 1917. He met a local girl, Isabel Ramirez Váldez, and married her two years later.

"Mister Cranshaw", as he was popularly known, proved to be an astute and successful businessman, and was well-liked by the locals, not least for his generosity towards the poor - he was a man who never forgot his roots - but also for his enthusiasm and sense of humour. At the start of the 1920s, he took up refereeing in his spare time as football slowly became more popular in Nicaragua, spreading outwards from its cradle of Diriangén (in the south-west) and the country's capital, Managua, where the game was first played more than twenty years earlier.

Thomas and Isobel had three children: Tom, born in 1921, William, born a year later, and Gladys, who was born in 1926, the year Cranshaw helped create the first proper football league in Nicaragua. The family was a happy unit, but tragedy struck in August 1930 when Isobel died in Managua, aged just 34.

A year later, in 1931, Cranshaw was instrumental in the creation of the General Secretariat of Football, which fell under the umbrella of the CNDO, the Nicaraguan National Sports Commission, and became its first general secretary.
 The Secretariat was renamed FENIFUT in 1958, and retains its position as Nicaragua's official football governing body.


Thomas Cranshaw (Photo: Salon de Fama Deportes Nicaragüense; photographer unknown)


Cranshaw later branched out into other sports, adjudicating at swimming meets and organising boxing matches in Managua, and, in 1935, not only competed in a tennis tournament but was a delegate in the Nicaraguan team at the third Central American Games, which were held in March of that year in El Salvador. (Nicaragua did not take part in the football tournament, however.)

However, football remained his first love and, apart from continuing to referee football matches - and being a founder member of the national referees association, the ANAF - he helped organise a friendly between Costa Rican side Alajuense and a team representing Managua.

Cranshaw helped organise sports competitons in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica during the 1940s while continuing to referee matches and work for the CNDO. He eventually retired from all sporting activity in Nicaragua in the 1950s - although he did become honorary president of the ANFA - and before he did so, wrote to FIFA in 1951 enquiring about the possibility of global football's masters getting involved in women's football after seeing women playing football across North America in countries as diverse as Costa Rica and the USA. 

He received the rather curt response that FIFA had no jurisdiction over women's football and had just as much interest in getting involved in it. 

After spending more than 35 years in Nicaragua and playing an integral part in the development of the country's sport scene, Cranshaw moved to Costa Rica in 1953.

After spending eleven years in the country, he moved to Los Angeles in August 1964 with the aim of helping kick-start football in that part of the United States, although there is no information as to which sector of the game he wanted to get involved in. 

Upon hearing the news of Don Tomas's impending departure for the States, in a gesture hardly showing a sign of appreciation of his life's work, the ANFA stripped him of his honorary presidency. 

Sadly, Cranshaw never got to achieve his latest dream. He died in Los Angeles on 4 October 1964, aged 72, felled by a severe stroke.


Thomas Cranshaw, just weeks before his death (Photo taken from his obituary in La Prensa; supplied by Javier Hernández)


Thomas Cranshaw is remembered to this day in Nicaragua, but only in a somewhat piecemeal fashion at best. Until earlier this year, his name lived on in a more real sense. In 1960, a newly-constructed stadium in what is now the Barrio El Boer area of Managua was given his name, and the Estadio Thomas Cranshaw became the city's premier football venue. Prominent clubs such as Juventus and Walter Ferretti used it as their home stadium. (A wake for Cranshaw was also held at the stadium when his remains were brought back to Managua for interment.)

In more recent years, the 2000-capacity stadium, which became more and more run-down as time went on, lost its status, especially after the Estadio Naciónal de Fútbol de Nicaragua was built in 2011. (International matches had also been held for many years at the old Estadio Naciónal baseball stadium.) 

The Estadio Thomas Cranshaw hosted lower-league matches and was used as a training ground until last year, when Managua city council announced that both it and the old, disused baseball stadium (the Estadio Denis Martinez) behind it were to be razed and replaced by a new sports complex under the name of Complejo Deportivo Dignidad. 


The Estadio Thomas Cranshaw, Managua (Photo: Javier Hernández)


The new complex will include a baseball stadium, two practice baseball pitches, two small-sized baseball pitches and a 1950-capacity football stadium named after Miguel Buitrago, a former Nicaraguan footballer of note from the 1960s and 70s. (Both Buitrago and Cranshaw, as it turns out, were inducted into the Nicaraguan Sports Hall of Fame in February 1995. The Salon de Fama Deportes Nicaragüense will also find a new home in the complex.)

The Estadio Miguel Buitrago, which will cost around US$10.9 million (€10.1 million) is already nearing completion, will host Segunda División and Tercera División matches as well as Liga Primera club Managua FC's home matches - although mentioned in local media, the latter is yet to be confirmed.

A new football ground was badly needed, but there was surely no reason to drop Cranshaw's name. It would have been a fitting tribute to the man, sixty years after his death, for the stadium to keep its name, even if it fell under the new sports complex. 


The façade of the old Estadio Thomas Cranshaw (Photo: photographer unknown; supplied by Javier Hernándea)


Thomas Cranshaw might not have been the man who introduced football to Nicaragua, but he did a massive amount to modernise and improve the game in the country, not to mention giving a leg up to various other sports. Don Tómas is virtually unknown in his native England, and little more than a name from the past for most Nicaraguans, but he left behind an impressive legacy which remains to this day and will be hard for anyone, anywhere to beat.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: The information contained in the article came from several different sources: La Prensa, Onda Local, The Blizzard, Facebook and the Salon de Fama Deportes Nicaragüense. Many thanks to Nicaraguan chronicler Javier Hernández for his assistance, which was considerable.

Attempts were also made to contact FENIFUT, La Prensa and the Alcadia de Managua (Managua City Hall), amongst others, for more information on the life and times of Thomas Cranshaw; unfortunately, none of them were successful. As ever, any errors and/or omissions in the article will be corrected upon notification.

Saturday, November 23, 2024

IN PICTURES: WISMARI STAADION

It doesn't look like very much nowadays, but this little football ground is one of the most historic in Estonian football and it should have a little place in the hearts of every local football fan worth their salt. This is Wismari staadion, the oldest football ground in continuous use in Tallinn and in perhaps all of Estonia.


The Wismari staadion was originally built in 1916 at the back of what was originally a German poor school, the Toomvaestekool, which itself was constructed in 1867 and has its own rather interesting history, having been used as an Estonian primary school from 1917 until the outbreak of the Second World War, and later as an industrial school, an Oncology dispensary, the Tallinn Republican dispensary and, since 1985, a five-bed psychatric hospital dealing in alcohol and drug addiction. It is even a listed building (no. 1250) in the Estonian National Register of Cultural Monuments.

The Wismari staadion with the former Toomvaestekool to the right of the pitch, behind the dressing-rooms



The Toomvaestekool owned a piece of land immediately behind it, and it was rented out to local sports club Tallinna VS Sport in 1916, a gymnastics and sports club founded in June 1912, who built dressing-rooms, an athletics track and a wooden toboggan hill, which was used in winter along with a skating-rink. Both were dismantled a few years later and replaced by a football pitch. In winter, bandy and ice-hockey were played there.


The Wismari staadion was used only once for an international match, when Estonia took on Finland on 30 September 1923. According to records, the game was moved from the Kalevi Aed staadion (now home to the Viru Keskus shopping-centre) because the pitch at the latter was apparently "too muddy."


ESS Kalev : Kaiserwald (Latvia) at the Wismari Staadion, October 1922 (Photo: Karl Hugo Akel; held in the archive of the Eesti Sporti- ja Olümpiamuuseum)


Four thousand people crammed into the Wismari staadion to see Estonia win the match by two goals to one. Vladimir Tell put the home side in front just after the hour mark, but Torsten Österlund soon levelled for Finland. However, Ernst Aleksandr Joll scored the winner for Estonia with six minutes left.


In 1932, the Wiismari staadion was apparently taken over by Eesti Spordi Selts Kalev - which modern-day Tallinna Kalev claims as its mother club - and Tallinna Velodroom, with a 250 metre-long track, which was regarded as the best in the Baltic countries at the time, was opened on 15 May of that year. After only a few years, however, it, too, was dismantled.








The deciding match in the 1924 Estonian championship final series: Tallinna Sport 2:0 ESS Kalev, 2 November 1924 (Photo: unknown; held in the archive of the Eesti Sport- ja Olümpiamuuseum)



Most of those Estonian clubs which survived until the early 1940s were disbanded when first the Soviet Union and then Germany invaded and took over the country. Others, such as Dynamo Tallinn, were founded at around that time, and went on to win a plethora of titles in what became the Estonian SSR first division, using the Wismari staadion as their home base for a number of years in the 1950s and 60s.


In recent years, the ground was being used less and less  frequently and had fallen into a state of disrepair. Finally, in 2007, the Estonian FA took action and renovated the ground, replacing the artificial pitch seven years later.


Alongside an indoor training facility, the ground is currently being used by Esiliiga (third level) side Tallinna JK Legion as a training ground for their first team and the home ground for the club's reserve and junior teams.  


Sadly, the Wismari Staadion is once again looking rather run-down and in a state of disrepair, and tenants Tallinna Legion have been finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, let alone find the money to do some much-needed repairs to the ground, which is owned by the Estonian FA, and now find themselves in the third level of the national football pyramid after two relegations in a row. 

The Wismari staadion is a very small ground which will most probably never again be one of Estonian football's premier stadia, but it does deserve some care and attention and it certainly should have a role to play in the future of football in the country, especially when one considers the role it has played in its past. The average historically-minded groundhopper could do worse than put the Wismari Staadion on their bucket-list

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Much of the information contained in the above article was taken from the Estonian FA website, Wikipedia and archive issues of Eesti Spordileht (via www.digar.ee).

Photos are author's own unless otherwise stated. Link to Karl Hugo Akel's photo:  

https://www.muis.ee/et/museaalview/3222246

Many thanks to the Tallinna Kesklinna Valitsus for their assistance.











Monday, December 18, 2023

B-67 BACK ON TOP IN GREENLAND

In a change from recent years, the final stages of the 2023 Greenlandic national championship was held between 10-15 August, not in north-central Greenland, but in the southern town of Qaqortoq, due to local club K-1933 celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. The club, the oldest existing club in the country, actually celebrated its anniversary on 15 June, and it was the first time they had hosted the tournament since 2013.

Also just for a change, unlike many Greenlandic football grounds, Qaqortoq Stadion did not - and does not - offer views of the open sea and icebergs, but it does offer a view of Tasersiaq (a local lake which provides Qaqortoq with its drinking water) and environs, which is also one of Greenlandic football's most under-rated and beautiful vistas.

One of the most picturesque vistas in Greenlandic football, and not an iceberg in sight - Taseriaq lake, seen from Qaqortoq Stadion

Eight teams - hosts K-1933 (naturally enough), last year's champions Nagdlúnguak-48, Nuuk representatives B-67 and IT-79, G-44 from Qeqertarsuaq, Upernavik side UB-83, the northernmost club taking part this year, Sisimiut's SAK and Ittoqqortoormiit AK, from Greenland's easternmost and most isolated settlement of any size - were due to take part in this edition of the finals.

There were problems aplenty before the tournament began. Just over a week before it kicked off, one of the dugouts and part of the technical area in front of it were destroyed in a fire which took the local fire-brigade around an hour to extinguish. Arson appears to have been the most likely cause of the blaze. 

Then, during the week before the tournament, four clubs, reigning champions N-48, SAK and Ittoqqortoormiit AK and UB-83, scratched from the tournament. N-48, themselves 75 years young this year, withdrew because the journey they faced to Qaqortoq would have taken a number of days and would have proven to have been prohibitively expensive. 

Ittoqqortoormiit AK, having been invited by the KAK (the Greenlandic FA) to take part, also had to decline due to travel issues. The club, which would have been the youngest to take part (it was founded in November 2018), informed the KAK that their travel itinerary would have proved a challenge to complete at the best of times. 

They would have had to have taken three flights - from Ittoqqortoormiit to Tasiilaq, Tasiilaq to Reykjavík and from Reykjavík to Narsarsuaq - and then undertake a two-hour (hired) boat-trip to Qaqortoq. 

All that with a squad of just twelve players due to a number of squad-members having to withdraw due to their jobs as "catchers" (as described by local newspaper Sermitsiaq), which presumably referred to their jobs in the hunting, fishing or trapping professions.

UB-83 withdrew because they were unable to book flights from Upernavik due to all flights in the period before the tournament being fully booked; many students originally from the town were returning home for the holidays, whilst others - and tourists, presumably - were leaving for Nuuk and further afield. The team were even unable to book berths on local cruise ships. 

SAK, meanwhile, were drafted in to replace Ittoqqortoormiit AK, but they also scratched because several of their squad were on a reindeer hunt at the time, and it was unclear as to when they would be returning to Sismiut, let alone being able to organise and undertake a trip to Greenland's deep south.

As a result of all of the late withdrawals, only five clubs were down to take part before Eqaluk-54, from Tasiusaq, down the coast from Qaqortoq, were invited to round the total of participants up to six; they gladly accepted the challenge.

K-1933, hosts of the final stages of the 2023 Greenlandic national championship, who finished in third place

Day one kicked off with IT-79 taking on Nagtoralik-45 in front of a sparse crowd, and although Nagtoralik took a very early lead, the Nuuk side came back to eventually win by three goals to one, with Allan Madsen scoring two of them. 

The second game of the day, featuring last year's runners-up and perennial title favourites B-67 and perennial chalengers G-44, lived up to its billing as the match of the day. The northerners took the lead after two minutes, but B-67 soon levelled; the remainder of the game followed a similar pattern, and after ninety minutes, it was G-44 who came out on top by three goals to two, Aputsiaq Andersen scoring the winner direct from a corner on precisely 61 minutes.

Hosts K-1933 took to the pitch to play Eqaluk-54 in the final game of the first day, and they soon took centre-stage, carrying on the theme of the first two matches by scoring in the first couple of minutes. Three up at the break, they soon scored a fourth in the early stages ofcthe second half. Eqaluk held on gamely for most of the rest of the match, but collapsed with injury-time looming and conceded three goals in the last few minutes of normal time and injury-time, before scoring a fine goal themselves with virtually the last kick of the ball.

The second day of action began with IT-79 up against B-67 in what many would have considered a prequel to the final, but B-67 took control of this particular Nuuk derby with the mercurial Ari Hermann putting them ahead after just 87 seconds with a brilliant goal, racing into the penalty-area, bamboozling a couple of defenders and deftly beating goalkeeper Malik Mikælsen at his near post.

Mikælsen performed heroics in the first half, denying B-67 on at least three occasions in one-on-one situations alone before being beaten by Rene Eriksen Petersen's crisp shot into the bottom corner in the dying seconds of the first half.

Outclassed in the first half, things quickly got worse for the Students in the second. Mika Jensen Thyssen was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul just outside the box in the 53rd-minute. Ari Hermann did the needful from the resulting free-kick. Fourteen minutes later, Milan Olsen attempted to boot the ball into the ball into the proverbial Row Z from almost on his own goal-line, but instead thrashed it into his own net with the outside of his right foot.

Angutimmarik Kreutzmann tapped in a fifth for B-67 before IT-79 finally got on the scoreboard with a sublime 40-yard chip from Kuluk Ezekiassen, which B-67 keeper Brian Rosing Kleist could only stand and admire as it flew over his head and into the net. Victor Philbert, making his debut at the national championship stage, scored his first goal at that stage for B-67 to compound the Students' misery. It would not be his last. 

K-1933's Alex Tillesen's 11th-minute volley was all that separated his side and Nagortalik-45 at the end of a dour first half in their match, but if the first half was a bit stale, the second was anything but. Flent-Frederik Petersen volleyed N-45 level before Nuka Mark Petersen put the hosts back in front two minutes later with a gentle daisycutter which careered into the roof of the net after the N-45 keeper tried and failed to dive and fist the ball away, volleyball-style. 

Kuluk Hermansen outran the K-1933 defence and rammed the ball into the bottom corner with just under twenty minutes left to level things up once more. Five minutes later, Nuka Knudsen back-headed the hosts back in front from a free-kick, and that was enough to seal their second win of the tournament and send their fans home happy. 

G-44's Niels-Erik Eriksen received all the plaudits after his first-half, five-goal haul against Eqaluk-54, but Inooraq Svendsen scored one of the goals of the tournament, a low piledriver from outside the right-hand angle of the penalty-area in the first ten minutes to get the ball rolling, as it were. 

It was just as well the net was there, otherwise the ball would have made a hole in the mountain at the far side of the lake behind the pitch (one of Greenlandic football's most under-rated vistas in the opinion of your correspondent), it was travelling so fast. Mercifully for Eqaluk, no more goals followed in the second half as G-44 took their collective foot off the pedal.


IT-79, who finished fourth at GM2023

G-44 had to put the pedal to the metal from the start in their next game against an IT-79 side smarting from their heavy defeat against B-67 the previous day. There were no goals in an evenly-contested first half-hour, but the fun started when the ever-reliable Kunuuteeraq Isaksen popped up in the right place at the right time to head G-44 ahead and this was quickly followed by a Lukka Svendsen goal to double their lead. 

Gerth Skifte soon pulled a goal back for the Students, however, and Allan Madsen went in where it hurts to bravely head them level early in the second half. Søren Kristiansen scored a brilliant solo goal to put G-44 in front once more before Madsen levelled again. Angutitaq Broberg scored a penalty to edge the northerners in front yet again, and Niels-Erik Eriksen scored from 20 yards out to re-establish their two-goal cushion. Hans-Karl Berthelsen reduced the arrears by whipping in a free-kick from the right touchline which flew over the G-44 keeper's head and into the net, but it wasn't enough to gain IT-79 a share of the spoils.

Bernhart Simonsen was at the end of a neat five-man move to put Eqaluk-54 ahead in their fixture against Nagtoralik-45, and Ian-Inuk Nielsen doubled their lead before half-time. Goals from Kikkik Dahl and Steen Kleist-Møller brought Nagortalik-45 level before the hour mark, and in the last ten minutes, either side of a fine Innunguaq Geronne goal (a lob from 40 yards), Kuluk Hermansen scored twice, finishing off counter-attacks on both occasions as N-45 gained their first win of the tournament.

K-1933's fans were raucous throughout their game agsinst B-67, to the point that every time their team crossed the half-way line, it sounded less like a crowd at a football match and more like a crowd at a boyband concert. B-67 silenced them on seven occasions, however, with Ari Hermann pulling the strings in midfield.

Four minutes in, Søren Kreutzmann fired them in front with a fierce shot from an acute angle which flew between the goalkeeper's hands and into the roof of the net, before Bentiaraq Ottosen rose to meet a corner-kick and superbly headed the ball into his own net after 18 minutes. Victor Philbert added a third a minute or so later, and scored his second of the game on 40 minutes after the move of the game, which started from the back and involved Hermann and Eriksen Petersen, among others. Kreutzmann got his second of the match just shy of the hour mark, before Angutimmarik Kreutzmann scored a late double to seal not only an impressive win for the title favourites, but their place in the final.

The host team's defence endured another torrid 90 minutes in the first game of day four, when they conceded eight goals to IT-79. Rene Thomsen scored five of them, four of them in the first half, with the first of them - surrounded by three defenders, he somehow managed to curl the ball into the far corner - the best of the bunch. Not to be outdone, Cuno Hammeken scored a scintillating hat-trick for K-1933, each goal better than the last. His second and third goals were virtual carbon-copies of each other; on both occasions, he outfoxed three defenders in an extremely compact space before thrashing the ball into the roof of the net. 

G-44's Aputsiaq Andersen and Aqqaluk Heilmann both rattled the crossbar at either end of their team's game against Nagtoralik-45, but Andersen, Søren Kristiansen and Mikkel-Kvist Villemsen all scored to ensure a comfortable margin of victory, and a place in the final, for the team from Qeqertarsuaq at the end of a match in which they never really had to over-extend themselves. 

The final game of the day was a case of David versus Goliath, with Eqaluk-54 up against B-67, and, to be frank, David didn't stand a chance. Keeper Rama Nielsen was in the firing line right from the start as Nikki Petersen put B-67 in front after three minutes and Angutimmarik Kreutzmann hit the crossbar moments later, before Viktor Philbert continued his rich vein of form in the tournament with a goal after eight minutes. B-67 went on to score another four goals to lead 6:0 at the break.

Kreutzmann and Philbert went on to score hat-tricks, and substitute Nicolai Nielsen, who came on just after the hour mark, hit five goals - three of which were tap-ins, the other two were shots from outside the box. Two penalties from Niklas Thorleifsen, plus Petersen's goal and one from Jonathan Rosing, completed the scoring. Despite conceding fifteen goals, Eqaluk-54 keeper Rama Nielsen made several good saves and couldn't be blamed for any of the goals. B-67 were just ruthless.


Qaqortoq Stadion

Day five began the same way day four ended, with another heavy, heavy defeat for Eqaluk-54, this time at the hands of IT-79. Ten different players scored for the Students as they racked up an 8:1 lead going into the break before scoring another six without reply in the second half. Rene Thomsen led the way with a hat-trick, while Hans-Karl Berthelsen and Lars Ole Olsen grabbed a brace apiece. 

Eqaluk's Ian-Inuk Nielsen had an interesting first-half, to say the least. He scored an own goal in the first five minutes, kneeing Rene Thomsen's cross into his own net, before seeing his penalty saved by Minik Andersen five minutes later and then scoring a fine goal himself just before the break. Team-mate Rama Nielsen had another torrid ninety minutes in goal, but once again saved his team on several occasions.

B-67 were already virtually certain of their place in the final before their last group game against Nagtoralik-45 kicked off, but they were made to work hard during the first half by their resolute opponents before Rene Petersen put them ahead in the forty-second minute after being put through by Victor Philbert, one of the finds of this tournament.

The second half threatened to be just as frustrating for the team in blue, but four goals in a 17-minute spell put paid to the frowns. Nikki Petersen, Karsten Møller Andersen - from the penalty spot after Philbert suffered a low-level assault from N-45 keeper Mika-Peter Hansen - Patrick Oteri Fredriksen and Nicolai Nielsen all got their names on the scoresheet. 

On to the final day, and Nagtoralik-45 condemned Eqaluk-54 to the wooden spoon after coming out on top in the fifth-place play-off, winning by the odd goal in five, but E-54's evergreen Kilaasi Ludvigsen rounded things off by scoring one of the goals of the day with moments to go, a superb effort from outside the box which flew into the top corner of Nukaaraq-Pavia Dahl's net. 

Eqaluk were always going to be up against it, a local side drafted in at short notice, and results unfortunately did not go their way at all. They suffered heavy defeats in most of their games, but they never, ever gave up and kept trying to play good football. N-45 - who ended up using four players as goalkeepers during the tournament - played better than their results suggested, and gave B-67 and IT-79 a good run for their money, although they didn't really get going against G-44. Both teams gave good accounts of themselves in their own ways and will hopefully be back gracing Greenlandic football's top table in the not too distant future.

Hosts K-1933 were looking to earn a place on the podium for the first time in fifteen years when they took on IT-79 in the third-place final. K-1933, five times winners of the GM, hadn't won a title since 2003, and hadn't finished on the podium since they lost to B-67 in the 2008 final. 

The Students, on the other hand, winners for the one and only time five years ago, had finished in the top three at every final tournament since they came third in 2014, and yet another third-place finish looked a distinct possibility when Marco Lynge put them in front early on with a header from a corner, but Hans-Karl Berthelsen missed a golden chance to extend their lead when he slipped just as he was about to shoot from the six-yard line, his tame shot saved by home keeper Arne Simonsen. K-1933's Alain Vetterlain was denied by Malik Mikælsen when keeper kept his point-blank effort out after 50 minutes, but team-mate Alex Tellesen beat Mikælsen seconds later with a deft chip from the edge of the area to level things up.

A five-man move from the back from the home side culminated with Allan Vetterlain pushing the ball to one side of Leik Mørch Eskildsen on the right, sprinting past him on the other before threading the ball between goalkeeper Mikælsen and defender Pauli Thomsen to Tellesen, who had toddled into the left-hand side of the penalty-area, and he stroked the ball into the net to put K-1933 in front with 23 minutes left. IT-79 huffed but eventually ran out of puff as the hosts ran the clock down any which way they could to finish on the podium for the first time in fifteen years to spark off wild celebrations amongst the home support.

And it was a deserved third place for K-1933, who, apart from during early defeats to B-67 and IT-79, had played pretty well, with Alain Vetterlain and Alex Tellesen spurring them on on the pitch, and a raucous support doing likewise off it. IT-79's run of podium finishes came to an end, and despite Hans-Karl Berthelsen, now approaching veteran status, playing as well as he has done in the last few years, the team as a whole was somewhat below par and at times looked defensively frail. 


G-44, runners-up at GM2023 and hosts of next year's final tournament

B-67 were strong favourites going into the final against G-44, and were looking to avenge their 3:2 defeat against them on the opening day of the tournament. It was a pretty staid opening first half-hour, punctuated only by G-44 keeper Peter Berthelsen admirably dealing with shots from Søren Kreutzmann and Rene Eriksen Petersen. Everything changed on the half-hour, however, when Nicolai Nielsen bundled the ball over the line from close range to put B-67 in front.

Six minutes later, they moved further in front, qnd it was a result of Ari Hermann once again doing, well, Ari Hermann things. His 36th-minute free-kick on the right was only scrambled clear until a few yards outside the box, and Hermann, who had cut inside from the right, ran on to the loose ball, struck it on the run with his left foot and curled a beauty in to the top corner.

He as good as put the game beyond doubt four minutes later, when he finished off a six-man move initiated by keeper Brian Rosing Kleist (and involving excellent work from Eriksen Petersen) by putting the ball through Berthelsen's legs and into the net from twelve yards. Berthelsen responded by sportingly giving Hermann a congratulatory pat on the back.

Any lingering hopes the team from up north had of staging a comeback were well and truly dashed three minutes after the restart. Ilasiannguaq Martinsen received a pass from team-mate Aqqa Lynge and went to pass the ball across the defence but failed to notice the backtracking Nicolai Nielsen, who intercepted, turned and lifted the ball over keeper Berthelsen and into the back of the net from fully thirty-five yards. 

In the fifty-eighth minute, Karsten Møllen Andersen powerfully headed Søren Kreutzmann's gently-floated cross from the left past Berthelsen to make it 5:0 for the title favourites, who had totally dominated since taking the lead on the half-hour mark. B-67 had two good chances in the remaining half-hour to further embellish their lead, but Victor Philbert and, in injury-time, Søren Kreutzmann spurned them, narrowly missing the target on both occasions.

In the end, the missed chances didn't matter as B-67 had completed their revenge mission on their northern opponents for their opening-day defeat in emphatic style, pretty much in keeping with their performance throughout the rest of the tournament, which saw them eventually bulldozing their opponets into submission. Some might say that the quality of the opposition was sonewhat diminished by the absence of teams such as Nagdlúnguaq-48, but, as the hackneyed old social media one-liner goes, you can only beat what's in front you.


B-67, winners of the 2023 Greenlandic national championship

One man who was understandably very happy with how things turned out was B-67 captain Patrick Oteri Frederiksen, who told PFB that he enjoyed the tournament, and that even the venue was "beautiful with amazing surroundings." He was also very positive about B-67's performance as well as his own, but he did have just one regret.

"It was just a shame that one of the best teams in Greenland [Nagdlúnguak-48] couldn't come..I think we showed really good class and team spirit throughout the tournament, even though we lost our first game in a very close and even game.

"Our goal from the beginning was to get gold, so I was confident about my play. I knew my abilities and that my team-mates trusted me. So, overall I am glad that we took home the gold and also [happy about] the individual awards players got - many of us were on the Team of the Year."

Kenneth Kleist, B-67 chairman and now the newly-elected KAK chairman, agreed with Frederiksen's thoughts, including those on N-48's absence, saying that "it wasn't optimal for anyone," and said that the championship felt a little incomplete without those teams which were part of the original line-up but had to scratch. 

He added that "B-67 was the best team and deservedly won the championship. [They] started the championship against G-44 and, although they were heavy favourites, they lost 3:2. It was a big surprise. 

"After this first scare, it was with more focus and dedication that B-67 [got through to] the final against the very same G-44. This was a very one-sided match, which B-67 deservedly won against [a young team]  from Qeqertarsuaq. B-67 had a lot of new, young players and quite a few national team players, so they had a super team and were probably impossible to beat [to the title] in 2023."

It was impossible to argue with the assessments of both men; G-44 caught B-67 cold on the opening day of the tournament, but the perpetual favourites roared back and swept everyone aside to deservedly claim their fourteenth championship. 

As ever, they had a strong spine from Brian Rosing Kleist in goal through defenders such as Patrick Oteri Frederiksen, Rene Eriksen Petersen, and Søren Kreutzmann in midfield, to Nicolai Nielsen and one of the finds of GM2023, Victor Philbert, up front. Not forgetting Ari Hermann, who was in spellbinding form. G-44 will still be smarting from their heavy defeat in the final, their heaviest since they lost the 2010 final 5:0 to..B-67, but their young, ebullient side played aawell throughout the tournament. 

Goalkeeper Peter Berthelsen impressed, as did old-stagers such as Kunuuteeraq Isaksen and Inooraq Svendsen, and young guns like Nuka Abia Broberg (who started the final), Kelvin Jessen and 16 year-old Norsaq Olvik all played their part. They formed part of what was a rather youthful squad; only Svendsen and Ilasiannnguaq Martinsen were 30 or older. 

Nine of the squad were 20 or under at the time of the tournament, and this augurs well for the future, especially if the squad can stay together. They were, as ever, followed by a group of faithful supporters; although smaller in number than at previous tournaments, they still brought a splash of colour to proceedings.

And, there was also a little piece of history made at the tournament. Qaqortoq native Tove-Katrine Egede Motzfeldt became the first woman to be part of a tournament list of match-officials when she was selected for this year's tournament, and she was the first to be part of the panel of a final when she was employed as fourth official behind referee Jens Gerner and linesmen Aputsiaq Larsen and Hans-Erik Enoksen.

Although B-67 and Nagdlúnguaq-48 will be the favourites to lift the title next year, G-44 will be a team to watch out for, when, due to their celebrating their 80th anniversary, they will be hosting the tournament, which will take place from 12-18 August at their picturesque Qeqertarsuaq Stadion, something which will delight football-loving iceberg-watchers everywhere. 

Sadly, the women's final tournament didn't take place this year, apparently due to the KAK being too tardy in planning not only it, but also the ladies under-15 and under-18 championships. Next year's edition is slated to be held in Nuuk - where it should have been held this year - between 29 July and 4 August. Just don't expect any icebergs, though.


GROUP STAGE

10/08/23 IT-79 3:1 Nagtoralik-45 (Allan Madsen 2, Hans-Karl Berthelsen; Kuluk Hermansen)
10/08/23 B-67 2:3 G-44 (Nicolai Nielsen, Ari Hermann; Søren Kristiansen, Lukka Svendsen, Aputsiaq Andersen)
10/08/23 K-1933 7:1 Eqaluk-54 (Alex Tellesen 2, Allan Vetterlain 2, Cuno Hammeken, Hans Knudsen, Ari-Miki Jakobsen; Kilaasi Ludvigsen)
11/08/23 IT-79 1:6 B-67 (Kuluk Ezekiassen; Ari Hermann 2, Rene Eriksen Petersen, Angutimmarik Kreutzmann, Victor Philbert, Milan Olsen (OG))
11/08/23 Nagtoralik-45 2:3 K-1933 (Flent-Frederik Petersen, Kuluk Hermansen; Alex Tellesen, Nuka Mark Nielsen, Hans Knudsen)
11/08/23 G-44 6:0 Eqaluk-54 (Niels-Erik Eriksen 5, Inooraq Svendsen)
12/08/23 IT-79 4:5 G-44 (Gerth Skifte, Allan Madsen, Rene Thomsen, ; Kunuuteeraq Isaksen, Lukka Svendsen, Søren Kristiansen, Angutitaq Broberg, Niels-Erik Eriksen)
12/08/23 Nagtoralik-45 5:2 Eqaluk-54 (Kuluk Hermansen 2, Steen Kleist-Møller, Kikkik Dahl, Innunguaq Geronne;  Bernhart Simonsen, Ian-Inuk Nielsen)
12/08/23 B-67 7:0 K-1933 (Victor Philbert 2, Søren Kreutzmann 2, Angutimmarik Kreutzmann 2, Bentiaraq Ottosen (OG))
13/08/23 IT-79 8:4 K-1933 (Rene Thomsen 5, Mika Jensen Thyssen 2, Marco Lynge; Cuno Hammeken 3, Ivik Birkholm)
13/08/23 Nagtoralik-45 0:3 G-44 (Aputsiaq Andersen, Søren Kristiansen, Mikkel Kvist Villemsen)
13/08/23 B-67 15:0 Eqaluk-54 (Nicolai Nielsen 5, Angutimmarik Kreutzmann 3, Victor Philbert 3, Niklas Thorleifssen 2, Jonathan Rosing, Nikki Petersen)
14/08/23 IT-79 14:1 Eqaluk-54 (Rene Thomsen 3, Hans-Karl Berthelsen 2, Lars Ole Olsen 2, Inuk Heilmann, Allan Madsen, Pauli Thomsen, Mika Jensen Thyssen, Leich Mørch Eskildsen, Kjeld Fredriksen, Ian-Inuk Nielsen (OG); Ian-Inuk Nielsen)
14/08/23 Nagtoralik-44 0:5 B-67 (Rene Petersen, Nikki Petersen, Karsten Møller Andersen, Patrick Frederiksen, Nicolai Nielsen)
14/08/23 G-44 1:1 K-1933 (Kelvin Jessen; Norsaq Olrik (OG))


                 P W D L GF GA  PTS  GD
G-44        5 4 1 0 18  7 13 11
B-67         5 4 0 1 35  4 12 31
IT-79         5 3 0 2 30 17 9 13
K-1933    5 2 1 3 15 19  6 -4
Nagtoralik-455 1 0 4  8 16 3 -8
Eqaluk-54 5 0 0 5  4 47 0     -43


FIFTH-PLACE PLAY-OFF

15/08/23 Nagtoralik-45 3:2 Eqaluk-54 

THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF

15/08/23 IT-79 1:2 K-1933 (Marco Lynge; Alex Tellesen 2)

FINAL

15/08/23 G-44 0:5 B-67 (Nicolai Nielsen 2, Ari Hermann 2, Carsten Møllen Andersen)

G-44: 23 Peter BERTHELSEN; 5 Kunuuteeraq ISAKSEN, 6 Angutitaq BROBERG (44 Norsaq OLRIK), 7 Lukka SVENDSEN, 8 Aqqaluk HEILMANN, 9 Søren KRISTIANSEN, 11 Aputsiaq ANDERSEN, 14 Ilasiannguaq MARTINSEN (2 Aqqalunnguaq ABELSEN), 18 Aqqa LYNGE (3 Hans-Jorgen REIMER), 19 Nuka Abia BROBERG, 20 Niels-Erik ERIKSEN (21 Kelvin JESSEN)

B-67: 23 Brian ROSING KLEIST; 2 Mika DAVIDSEN, 6 Patrick OTERI FREDERIKSEN, 7 Søren KREUTZMANN, 9 John Ludvig BROBERG (18 Nikki PETERSEN; 8 Nikki PETERSEN), 10 Ari HERMANN (17 Aiko NIELSEN), 19 Karsten MØLLER ANDERSEN, 21 Niklas THORLEIFSEN, 26 Morten FLEISCHER (11 Henrik KLEIST), 32 Nicolai NIELSEN (66 Victor PHILBERT), 47 Rene PETERSEN



TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT

Brian ROSING KLEIST (B-67); Karsten MØLLER ANDERSEN (B-67), Brian EGEDE (K-1933), Nuka Abia BROBERG (G-44); Patrick OTERI FREDERIKSEN (B-67); Aputsiaq ANDERSEN (G-44), John Ludvig BROBERG (B-67), Rene Eriksen PETERSEN (B-67); Søren KREUTZMANN (B-67), Niels-Erik ERIKSEN (G-44), Ari HERMANN (B-67)

PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT: Ari HERMANN (B-67)
MOST TECHNICAL PLAYER: Niels-Erik ERIKSEN (G-44)
MOST COMBATIVE PLAYER ("FIGHTER"): Mika-Peter HANSEN (NAGTORALIK-45)


SQUAD-LISTS

B-67: 1 Brian ROSING KLEIST, 64 Jannick RAVNBORG; 2 Mika DAVIDSEN, 6 Patrick OTE?I FREDERIKSEN, 7 Søren KREUTZMANN, 8 Nikki PETERSEN, 9 John Ludvig BROBERG, 10 Ari HERMANN, 11 Henrik KLEIST, 17 Aiko NIELSEN, 18 Nikki PETERSEN, 19 Karsten MØLLER ANDERSEN, 21 Niklas THORLEIFSEN, 24 Miilu JENSEN, 26 Morten FLEISCHER, 32 Nicolai NIELSEN, 34 Angutimmarik KREUTZMANN, 47 Rene ERIKSEN PETERSEN, 66 Victor PHILBERT, 72 Jonathan ROSING

EQALUK-54: 1 Aqqaluq JOSENIUS, 22 Rama NIELSEN; 2 Tommy KRISTOFFERSEN, 5 Aqqalonnguaq GEDIONSEN, 6 Christian FREDERIKSEN, 7 Rafael SEMSEN, 10 Ian-Inuk NIELSEN, 11 Anthon SALOMONSEN, 12 Josva-Eli GEDIONSEN, 14 Kilaasi LUGVIGSEN, 15 Bernhart SIMONSEN, 16 Elias-Isak TITIUSSEN, 17 Morten KRISTOFFERSEN, 18 Isak TITIUSSEN, 20 Niels-Ole SIMONSEN, 21 Ari SIMONSEN, 44 Niels ("Niilo") HANSEN, 45 Nuunu BRANDT, 77 Ian ENOKSEN, 78 Angajooraq GERÅE

G-44: 23 Peter BERTHELSEN; 2 Aqqalunnguaq ABELSEN, 3 Hans-Jørgen ("Muni") REIMER, 5 Kunuuteeraq ISAKSEN, 6 Angutitaq BROBERG, 7 Lukka SVENDSEN, 8 Aqqaluq HEILMANN, 9 Søren KRISTIANSEN, 10 Mikkel KVIST VILLEMSEN, 11 Aputsiaq ANDERSEN, 14 Ilasiannguaq MARTINSEN, 17 Nukannguaq LUKASSEN, 18 Aqqa LYNGE, 19 Nuka Abia BROBERG, 20 Niels-Erik ERIKSEN, 21 Kelvin JESSEN, 22 Inooraq SVENDSEN, 44 Norsaq OLRIK

IT-79: 1 Malik MIKÆLSEN, 12 Minik ANDERSEN; 2 Marco LYNGE, 3 Pauli THOMSEN, 4 Qulutannguaq TITUSSEN, 5 Leif MØRCH ESKILDSEN, 6 Milan OLSEN, 8 Ilataannguaq MØRCH, 9 Hans Karl BERTHELSEN, 10
Kjeld FREDERIKSEN, 11 Kuluk EZEKIASSEN, 14 Romeo BILDORF, 15 Ilmari ROSING, 17 Allan MADSEN, 18 Kjeld FREDERIKSEN, 19 Lars Ole OLSEN, 20 Gerth SKIFTE, 23 Inuk HEILMANN, 24 Mika THYSSEN, 33 Kassannguaq ZEEB

K-1933: 1 Malik JENSEN; 4 Ivik BIRKHOLM, 6 Ari-Mikki JAKOBSEN, 7 Allan VITTERLAIN, 8 Hans KNUDSEN, 10 Cu7no HAMMEKEN, 12 Erni TELLESEN, 13 Alex TELLESEN, 14 Karl-Peter STREET, 16 Eskilli ELLINGSGAARD, 19 Bentiaraq OTTOSEN, 20 Brian EGEDE, 21 Kevin ELIASSEN, 23 Arne SIMONSEN, 25 Angula KIELSEN, 26 Lars-Ole KNUDSEN, 27 Liilu KLEIST, 28 Nuka Mark NIELSEN, 32 Nikki ISAKSEN

NAGTORALIK-45: 1 Nick HERMANSEN, 41 Nukaaraq-Pavia DAHL; 2 Nukaaraq FREDERIKSEN, 3 Emil FREDERIKSEN, 4 Ilannguaq JENSEN, 5 Mika-Peter ("Mikapa") HANSEN, 6 Peter KLEIST-MØLLER, 7 Kuluk HERMANSEN, 8 Kikkik DAHL, 9 Flent-Frederik PETERSEN, 10 Steen KLEIST-MØLLER, 11 Jørgen NATHANSEN, 20 Kim JENSEN, 21 Frederik SERRITSLEV, 22 Inunnguaq GERONNE, 30 Pele LYNGE, 40 Jens-Erik NIKODIMUSSEN, 45 Angititaq MOTZFELDT, 99 Hans-Åge JENSEN

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: All photos were kindly passed on by none other than Greenland manager Morten Rutkjær; many thanks to him for allowing their usage. Many thanks, too, to recently-elected KAK chairman Kenneth Kleist and B-67 captain Patrick Oteri Frederiksen for their contributions. Information was garnered from a variety of sources, not least KNR, Sermitsiaq, Facebook and the RSSSF. Archival information was, of course, also used. Any errors or omissions will be rectified upon notification.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

PFB ON TOUR - WEST PAPUA 1:1 RAETIA

The long-awaited friendly between West Papua and Raetia, which was postponed twice because of the Corona virus crisis, finally took place at Quick Den Haag's Sportpark de Hanenberg in The Hague on 13 November last. It was the visitors' first game for some time, but West Papua came into this match on the back of a 5:5 draw against TikTok United, a team of social media influencers who they played almost two weeks earlier in a benefit match for West Papuan children who are living in refugee camps along the border with Papua New Guinea.

The West Papuans had the better of the first twenty minutes of their duel with the Swiss team, meanwhile, but missed two or three good chances to go ahead through, amongst others, Ballassai. Although the Tjernderawasih controlled matters, the Raetians kept countering but they always just seemed to misdirect the final pass. 

The hosts kept creating chances, and Hato sent a shot from distance wide just after the half-hour before Santos latched on to a clever back-heel from a team-mate and shot from six yards out, but Raetia 'keeper Bjorn Hasselmann got down to save at his near post. West Papua kept up the pressure as the half drew to a close, and Rink found himself in a good position at the edge of the six-yard box to trap and connect with a ball sent over from the left, but he snatched at the ball and half-volleyed it wide. Not long after, Ballassai worked himself into a good position on the edge of the box before feinting and sending in a low shot which Bjorn did well to save.

It was a good first half for West Papua against a determined Raetia side, but there was a certain amount of frustration at the break due to their missing a number of good chances, and it was to continue into the second half. as Tatem was superbly put through by Ballassai, only for him to shoot straight at the 'keeper. 

That rarety of thing, a shot in anger from Raetia, came from Christian Perren after 52 minutes as his team went on the counter; instead of seeking out a team-mate, he decided to let fly from nearly 30 yards out. His dipping shot beat Tycho van der Woning, but rattled the top of the crossbar and flew over for a goal-kick.

West Papua kept up their search for a goal, and it almost came just after the hour mark when Tatem went a-marauding and found Ballassai, who ran on and tried to round Bjorn and shot, but the Raetian keeper got back, down and saved well. 

The goal the hosts had been looking for deservedly came after 65 minutes, and no-one could argue that it was a long time in coming. Ballassai ran through the Raetia defence and his shot from 15 yards swerved viciously and sent Hasselmann the wrong way as it crashed into the back of the net. 

It spurred them on further, and s free-kick with twenty minutes left flew low and just wide of Bjorn's right-hand post. Maliba ran into a packed penalty-area to get on the end of a corner, but was only able to prod the ball a yard wide of the post. 

But, Raetia came more into the game as it entered its final stages, and Wüthrich had an effort saved by van der Woning with twelve minutes left. Seconds later, Bakiu ran through a gap in the home defence as wide as the North Sea to score, only to be wrongly adjudged to have been in an offside position by a linesman who was consistently at least a yard ahead of the last man in defence throughout the match.

Down the other end, Ballassai missed another good chance to make the game safe before the action swung back up to in front of the West Papua goal, when an inviting cross just missed a clutch of Raetian players on the attack.

In their last game against TikTok United, West Papua were denied a victory when their opponents equalised in the dying seconds, and it happened again this time, too; with the sun slowly sinking into the trees behind the ground, a corner from the left-hand side landed in the West Papua six-yard box. A scramble ensued, during which attempted clearances and shots on goal were made, before Wüthrich prodded the ball forward from a couple of yards out and it squirmed agonisingly under van der Woning and just over the line.

The West Papua players were left scratching their heads wondering just how victory had evaded them for the second time in less than a fortnight. Speaking after the match, manager Garry Ilina bemoaned the lack of team-play from his charges, whilst Raetian manager Simone Fontana praised his team for not letting their heads drop. 

Ilina said that it was a good performance, but there were too many players who were only interested "in their own success..Football is very simple. You have to play as a team to win as a team." Fontana added that he felt that it was a tough game but complemented both his goalkeeper and defenders for their performances throughout the 90 minutes. He was also of the opinion that his team were getting stronger as the game neared its conclusion, and that the decision to commit more men forward eventually paid off.
 
Ilina might have been critical of his charges immediately after the match, but, in the cold light of day, he could look back on a decent performance from his side. The defence was comfortable, whilst the team looked potent going forward and created several chances. Hasselmann, meanwhile, was inspired in the Raetia goal, the Raetian defence was tenacious and the team as a whole kept going until the final whistle.
 
Fontana said that Raetia are hoping to compete in the forthcoming European Cup, but had not yet received an official invitation to take part. Meanwhile, both teams are planning a return match in Switzerland later this year, probably in August. West Papua are also intending to venture out of Holland in the coming weeks to play Katanga in a friendly in Belgium, though nothing has been set in stone.
 

WEST PAPUA: 1 Tycho VAN DER WONING; 2 Tahash CECILIA, 3 Sebastiäo QUIAVUAZOA, 4 Shaliro RINK, 5 Joel VREDE, 6 S. HATO, 7 F. YAMA, 8 M. GAJADHAR, 9 C. MALIBA, 10 C. BALLASSAI, 11 Emmanuel KWALAKITA

SUBSTITUTES: 12 Delin TATEM, 13 J. SANTOS

NOTE: West Papua used rolling substitutions. 
 

RAETIA: 1 Björn HASSELMANN; 2 Paolo BOTTONI (15 Ardian BAKIU), 3 Lukas SCHMIDT, 4 Franco CONZETT, 5 Corsin SCHUMACHER, 6 Sebastian DODEN, 7 Christian PERREN (2 BOTTONI; 18 Jakob ENGELBERGER), 9 David BAJIC (16 Dario WÜTHRICH), 10 Luca GOOD, 11 Raphael URBEN, 14 Phillip BRASSER

SUBSTITUTES: All four named substitutes were used.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Apologies for the lack of statistical information.