Northern Lights

[kamikazecf]

Next up: a visit to Luleå Fotboll. In the week between games, we locked up Dagfinn Solbakken for another year.

22.8.2004 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

Second Division North Game 13: Luleå Fotboll (5th) vs. Kiruna (1st)

Last meeting: Kiruna 3-1 Luleå Fotboll; overall vs. Luleå Fotboll: 4W-1D-1L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

Fotboll had the ol’ stitched pentagons causing ripples in the squares o’ silk within a minute and a half. Ruled out for offside. Like I said before, you can either sack up and get a legitimate goal, or sulk about it. They sulked.

Nils Johan Labba scored the first real goal of the game nine minutes in. Luleå Fotboll really went to pieces after that. Joakim Gunillasson scored the next two, one assisted by Johan Bergström, and Robert Kjellin added Kiruna’s fourth, heading in a free kick from Marcus Jönsson. That made nine assists on the year for him.

With the score 4-0 before halftime (and indeed by the half-hour mark), we just coasted the rest of the way, and Fotboll seemed content to let us do so. Wusses.

Luleå Fotboll 0-4 Kiruna

N. Labba 9’ (G. Teigen); J. Gunillasson 12’ (J. Bergström), 24’; R. Kjellin 30’ (M. Jönsson)

Subs: K. Haglund for E. Lantto, 67’; J. Engström for J. Gunillasson, 67’; D. Solbakken for M. Jönsson, 81’

Misc.: -

Att.: 763

***

Swedish Cup game against Aspeboda away next. As much as I could, I ran out a lineup of backups and we got beat 2-0. Ahhhh well.

[kamikazecf]

Our final game of August was going to be at home against Boden. August had been pretty damn fantastic; not only had we had three wins and a draw so far, but it really looked as though we were going to turn a monthly profit for the first time in ages. And the home game against Boden last year had been our highest attendance of the season, so we were looking at a good chunk of gate receipts before the month was out. Yay! Unfortunately Johan Bergström was unavailable for the Boden game due to injury, and Marcus Jönsson was feeling a bit under the weather, so I had a bit of shifting to do.

29.8.2004 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

Second Division North Game 14: Kiruna (1st) vs. Boden (10th)

Last meeting: Boden 0-2 Kiruna; overall vs. Boden: 3W-2D-3L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; E. Lantto, K. Haglund, N. Labba, D. Solbakken; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, S. Sjöbom, B. Andersson, M. Jönsson, J. Engström

Good stuff fifteen minutes in when Boden’s Estonian international skipper was sent off for jump-kicking Juha Tuominen. It did take us awhile to take advantage of it, but take advantage we did, twelve minutes after the red card. It was Juha who got the goal, Dagfinn Solbakken picking up the assist. Norwegian to Finn in a Swedish league game. What a lovely multicultural game we play.

Boden certainly weren’t playing as if they were a man down, and fought back hard. In fact, they knotted the game at one apiece a little way into the second half. Surely they couldn’t presume to take points away from Kiruna? Surely not!

Our pride thusly aroused, we sallied forth in search of a winner. It took a little while, but damned if we didn’t get it. Robert Kjellin picked up a rare assist, sending a nice long, long ball to Joakim Gunillasson – reminiscent of de Boer to Bergkamp in the ’98 World Cup against Argentina, if that helps – and Joakim didn’t miss with it.

Over the past thirteen games, we’d gotten pretty good at riding out wins, and this one was no more difficult than the others in that respect.

Kiruna 2-1 Boden

J. Tuominen 27’ (D. Solbakken); R. Lundgren 56’; J. Gunillasson 69’ (R. Kjellin)[/i]

Subs: -

Misc.: F. Langseth, yellow card, 22’

Att.: 1394

***

Well, we finished August seven points clear of the pack with only eight games left to blow it. But I was wrong about one thing. We didn’t make a profit. Turns out the bill for ground maintenance comes due at the end of the month; we lost another 90,000 this lunar cycle. Ah well.

[kamikazecf]

September strolled into the metaphorical room of time, lit up a cigarette, and lounged about for a few days before whisking us off to Selånger for our first game of the month.

5.9.2004 at Bergsåkers IP, Selånger

Second Division North Game 15: Selånger (8th) vs. Kiruna (1st)

Last meeting: Kiruna 2-2 Selånger; overall vs. Selånger: 3W-1D-1L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, B. Andersson, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; E. Lantto, K. Haglund, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, S. Sjöbom, G. Samuelsson, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

This was kind of a sloppy game. Certainly it wasn’t one the tape of which you would show to your children in an effort to infuse them with a love of the game, or even one you would show to maximum-security prison inmates to give them a bit of light entertainment after a hard day of license-plate making. Just sort of a game with an aura of dullness about it.

Umm. Anyway. Geir Teigen set up Gunillasson for the first goal, a header after 21 minutes of play. Four minutes after, more supply from the left allowed Gunillasson to score, this time from Marcus Jönsson, his 10th assist of the year. That was, by the way, good for second in the entire Second Division (not just the D2 North).

Of course, Selånger couldn’t let such a challenge go unanswered, and it was naturally the evil Kiruna-killer Benny Mattsson who scored for them in the 39th minute. And that was the extent of the scoring. They had two goals disallowed for offside and we had one of our own called off; additionally, Frode Henriksen had to make a few good saves, but a win’s a win, no?

Selånger 1-2 Kiruna

J. Gunillasson 21’ (G. Teigen), 25’ (M. Jönsson); B. Mattsson 39’

Subs: D. Solbakken for M. Jönsson, 62’; J. Engström for J. Tuominen, 79’

Misc.: -

Att.: 773

***

Victory coupled with Gimonäs’ shock loss at home to IFK Luleå put us ten points clear in the league. We, in fact, had four points more than the next-best team in the entire Second Division.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division North

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Kiruna 15 6 2 0 21 10 6 1 0 20 5 39

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Gimonäs 15 6 0 1 16 8 3 2 3 16 15 29

3rd Söderhamn 15 4 1 2 15 12 4 3 1 12 8 28

4th Luleå Fotboll 15 3 3 2 15 16 4 1 2 14 11 25

5th Heden 15 4 3 0 13 8 3 1 4 12 15 25

6th Östersunds FK 15 5 2 1 17 10 2 1 4 9 11 24

7th Skellefteå AIK 15 4 2 1 10 4 2 0 6 10 16 20

8th Selånger 15 3 2 2 15 12 0 5 3 11 14 16

9th Luleå SK 15 3 0 5 12 17 1 3 3 10 12 15

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th Boden 15 2 2 4 7 9 1 2 4 11 16 13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11th IFK Luleå 15 2 3 2 13 13 1 0 7 7 20 12

12th Assi 15 0 1 7 4 18 0 2 5 5 15 3 </pre>

[kamikazecf]

Now this next game had to potential to stop this 15-game unbeaten streak we had going in the league. Away to Östersunds FK, who had beaten us twice in our past five meetings, and we’d never taken a point from them at their place. Well, first time for everything, I suppose… and hope…

12.9.2004 at Hofvallen, Östersund

Second Division North Game 16: Östersunds (6th) vs. Kiruna (1st)

Last meeting: Kiruna 3-1 Östersunds; overall vs. Östersunds: 3W-0D-2L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

Damn. I thought last game wasn’t pretty. This one was played in chilly, wet weather, and there were about four total chances on goal in the first half… that’s being generous. It picked up a little bit in the second, but only a little bit.

Erik Lantto grabbed his ninth goal of the season before an hour had gone by; naturally it came off of a rebound. Well, actually several rebounds… Kjellin shot, saved, Labba shot, saved, Jönsson shot, saved, Lantto shot, DING DING DING we have a winner.

On the balance of play, we didn’t deserve to win, and the Football Gods saw to it that justice was done; Östersunds got their goal in the 79th minute and we each went home discontented with a point apiece.

Östersunds 1-1 Kiruna

E. Lantto 52’; D. Westerulund 79’

Subs: K. Haglund for J. Bergström, 84’; J. Engström for J. Tuominen, 84’

Misc.: M. Lindmark, yellow card, 33’

Att.: 780

***

[kamikazecf]

We got what looked like it would be a nice little reprieve for the next game, that being Assi at home. Poor Assi had only picked up a single point since our first game against them, and that point was in the game after the one they played us! Also during that week, Johan Peterson found a young Danish midfielder named Jørgen Dahl who was attracting interest from Danish Premier Division clubs at the age of 17. He was willing to talk contract with us, but could I afford to add a player? I put off the decision.

19.9.2004 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

Second Division North Game 17: Kiruna (1st) vs. Assi (12th)

Last meeting: Assi 0-4 Kiruna; overall vs. Assi: 1W-0D-0L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

It’s Assi. Come on.

Jönsson from Tuominen, Tuominen from Lindmark, Tuominen from Jönsson, interrupted at one point by a goal from Ari Kumpuniemi, Assi’s first goal in three matches.

Representative of their season was that Kumpuniemi went off injured before the end of the game. Poor Assi The loss consigned them to at least the relegation playoff with five games yet to play.

Kiruna 3-1 Assi

M. Jönsson 9’ (J. Tuominen); A. Kumpuniemi 51’; J. Tuominen 53’ (M. Lindmark), 72’ (M. Jönsson)

Subs: J. Engström for J. Gunillasson, 75’

Misc.: -

Att.: 1077

***

Gimonäs only drew at home to Söderhamn and so we opened our lead back up to 10 points.

[Gino]

You're walking away with it! Come on Kiruna!

[kamikazecf]

Cheers Gino!

Uh-oh. On September 30, Västerås SK of the First Division made us a 400,000 SEK bid for Nils Johan Labba. I revolted against the idea of selling a player I wanted to keep after getting rid of so many others, but I had to put off the decision because I didn’t want to just reject that kind of money outright.

Pretty soon I came to my senses and realized that 400,000 isn’t much of a dent in 10,000,000. Nils, the lovely, loyal young man that he is, professed his desire to stay at Kiruna as well as his complete conviction that we would be in the First Division next year anyway. What a guy.

3.10.2004 at Örnäsets IP, Luleå

Second Division North Game 18: Luleå SK (10th) vs. Kiruna (1st)[/b]

Last meeting: Kiruna 2-2 Luleå SK; overall vs. Luleå SK: 2W-2D-2L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

If the run was going to end, it was always going to be against SK, wasn’t it. We outshot ‘em, outplayed ‘em, but you know, they just had our number. When Geir Teigen missed a penalty that would’ve tied it at 2-2, we all knew it was over.

Luleå SK 3-1 Kiruna

K. Larsson 12’; T. Andréasson 22’; J. Tuominen 50’ (J. Bergström); J. Niemi 90’

Subs: K. Haglund for N. Labba, 79’; J. Engström for J. Gunillasson, 79’

Misc.: G. Teigen missed penalty, 60’

Att.: 765

***

Gimonäs, naturally, won and crawled back to within seven points of us. God, I hoped we promoted just so we could avoid SK for the rest of my managerial career.

[kamikazecf]

Västerås came back with an offer of half a million SEK for Labba, but hey – I’ve already rejected one offer, so I might as well keep on keepin’ on. Nils was again cool with it.

IFK Luleå next. Back on the winning path, hopefully, in a game that could actually clinch us the league title if all the pertinent results went our way.

17.10.2004 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

Second Division North Game 19: Kiruna (1st) vs. IFK Luleå (11th)

Last meeting: IFK Luleå 2-4 Kiruna; overall vs. Luleå SK: 2W-1D-0L

F. Henriksen; F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

CLINCHER! *confetti falls, noisemakers sound, strippers jump out of cakes* Sorry, I skipped the drama. It just wasn’t very dramatic.

We had to win and Gimonäs to lose in order to mathematically clinch a promotion-playoff spot with three games to go. Gimonäs went up 1-0 on Skellefteå in the 15th minute; by that time, our game was already 1-1, with Joakim Gunillasson having scored from Marcus Jönsson’s 12th assist of the season in the 5th minute followed by a IFK goal seven minutes later.

Just after the half-hour mark we went ahead, Johan Bergström scoring with help from Erik Lantto. By halftime, Skellefteå had tied up their game 1-1 and we were comfortably controlling play.

When the respective second halves started, Skellefteå quickly scored to go up 2-1, which ended up being the final score there. It took us a bit longer to score in the second period, but Frank Langseth did eventually head in a Jönsson corner (assist counter: 13 in 19 games) to get us off the second-half schneid, and Marcus Lindmark grabbed a late goal from an Erik Lantto assist.

Kiruna 4-1 IFK Luleå

J. Gunillasson 5’ (M. Jönsson); R. Garcia 12’; J. Bergström 31’ (E. Lantto); F. Langseth 65’ (M. Jönsson); M. Lindmark 87’ (E. Lantto)

Subs: -

Misc.: F. Langseth, yellow card, 84’

Att.: 1107

***

WOOOOOOOOO! Playoff action after the season! Oh golly! I wasn’t yet sure of who we were going to end up playing, but the odds were that we would go in with the most points of any playoff team and so – maybe? – we’d be the favorites. That was a bit intimidating. I had no idea what kind of financial benefits promotion would entail, and… okay, I was getting ahead of myself. Business to take care of, there was.

Marcus Jönsson’s 13 assists were a new Kiruna record. Mad props went out to him! He faced some pretty stiff competition for his Fans’ Player of the Year award, though. It’d be interesting to see who ended up with that, let me tell you.

[kamikazecf]

24.10.2004 at Olympia IP, Boden

Second Division North Game 20: Heden (5th) vs. Kiruna (1st)

Last meeting: Kiruna 3-1 Heden; overall vs. Heden: 3W-0D-1L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

Coasting, baby. Coasting. We withheld a spell of early pressure, then relaxed into an easygoing game, the only excitement of which was an Erik Lantto goal in the 79th minute, his 10th of the season.

Heden 0-1 Kiruna

E. Lantto 79’

Subs: -

Misc.: -

Att.: 1679

***

Confidence exudes. Tune-ups against Söderhamn and Gimonäs, and then off to the playoffs with us.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division North

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Pl Kiruna 20 8 2 0 28 12 7 2 1 23 9 49

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Gimonäs 20 8 1 1 27 11 4 2 4 19 18 39

3rd Luleå Fotboll 20 5 3 2 22 16 5 2 3 17 18 35

4th Östersunds FK 20 6 3 1 20 11 3 1 6 12 15 31

5th Skellefteå AIK 20 7 2 1 17 6 2 2 6 12 18 31

6th Söderhamn 20 4 2 4 17 16 4 4 2 13 10 30

7th Heden 20 4 4 2 15 12 4 1 5 14 16 29

8th Boden 20 3 2 5 10 12 4 2 4 17 17 25

9th Selånger 20 5 2 2 20 15 1 5 5 16 24 25

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th Luleå SK 20 5 0 6 17 20 1 3 5 11 17 21

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11th R IFK Luleå 20 2 4 4 15 18 1 0 9 8 30 13

12th R Assi 20 1 1 8 6 21 0 2 8 8 22 6 </pre>

[kamikazecf]

30.10.2004 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

Second Division North Game 21: Kiruna (1st) vs. Söderhamn (6th)

Last meeting: Söderhamn 2-2 Kiruna; overall vs. Söderhamn: 3W-2D-0L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

Bah. Meaningless game, anyway.

Kiruna 1-2 Söderhamn

J. Gunillasson 45’ (J. Bergström); G. Bcheri 47’, 87’

Subs: J. Engström for J. Tuominen, 83’

Misc.: M. Lindmark, yellow card, 82’; N. Labba, yellow card, 85’

Att.: 801

***

[kamikazecf]

And-a one more time!

7.11.2004 at Gimoborg, Umeå

Second Division North Game 22: Gimonäs (2nd) vs. Kiruna (1st)

Last meeting: Kiruna 3-2 Gimonäs; overall vs. Gimonäs: 1W-0D-0L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, J. Engström

*sigh* Let’s just take it easy and not get anybody injured, hmmm? At least Joakim Gunillasson’s goal was good.

Gimonäs 2-1 Kiruna

S. Demirdag 19’; J. Gunillasson 22’ (M. Lindmark); D. Martinsson 77’

Subs: B. Andersson for M. Lindmark, 68’; K. Haglund for E. Lantto, 77’

Misc.: -

Att.: 3111

***

So, the final league table:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division North

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Pl Kiruna 22 8 2 1 29 14 7 2 2 24 11 49

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Gimonäs 22 9 1 1 29 12 4 2 5 20 21 42

3rd Luleå Fotboll 22 6 3 2 25 18 6 2 3 19 19 41

4th Östersunds FK 22 7 3 1 22 11 3 2 6 14 17 35

5th Söderhamn 22 4 3 4 19 18 5 4 2 15 11 34

6th Skellefteå AIK 22 7 2 2 17 7 2 2 7 14 21 31

7th Boden 22 4 2 5 13 13 5 2 4 18 17 31

8th Heden 22 4 5 2 18 15 4 1 6 14 18 30

9th Selånger 22 6 2 3 22 17 1 5 5 16 24 28

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th Pl Luleå SK 22 5 0 6 17 20 1 4 6 13 20 22

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11th R IFK Luleå 22 2 5 4 17 20 1 0 10 9 32 14

12th R Assi 22 2 1 8 8 22 0 3 8 11 25 10 </pre>

[kamikazecf]

In the playoffs, we were drawn against Trollhättans FK, who had won the Second Division West Gotaland with 46 points. They’d been in the playoffs last year and lost on penalties after a 4-4 aggregate draw with Gefle; they would be hungry for victory this year.

Before our first leg against Trollhättans, we took a striker named Peder Nilsson on trial, and Swedish rules allowed him to be in the match day squad. He made the bench, but we weren’t going to sign him. We also released veteran midfield anchorman Johan Hannu, whose contract finally expired this year after playing one game with the first team in the past three seasons, and that as a substitute.

14.11.2004 at Edsborgs IP, Trollhättan

Second Division Promotion Playoff First Leg: Trollhättans vs. Kiruna

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: A. Hrnjic, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, P. Nilsson

Having never played Trollhättans before, I was unsure of what to expect from them and therefore we began the game a bit timidly. Marcus Jönsson was the only Kiruna player who looked completely unconcerned with the magnitude of the game and embarked on a cheeky run 12 minutes in, the end of which was a shot that blazed over the bar.

The home team had a chance with a free kick shortly after that, but it was poorly taken and we had the action going back the other way almost immediately; Jönsson ended up with the ball and put his shot on target this time, but it was well saved. Marcus was set up for still another shot before the half ended, this time by Johan Bergström, but again Trollhättans’ goalie – a fellow by the name of Qvist – was equal to the task. By the end of the first half, the only other Kiruna player to have a shot at goal was Joakim Gunillasson, whose 42nd-minute header had forced a diving save from Qvist.

Frode Henriksen had been untroubled the entire first half, but I harbored no illusions that Trollhättans would succumb simply because they’d been outplayed for 45 minutes. And indeed, as the second half started they came out with springs in their steps. At one point shortly after the break, one Trollhättans player had possession of the ball himself for fully two minutes as he skipped up the left flank and back down again, inside, outside, and all around, before delivering a cross that ended up falling to Marcus Jönsson, who simply booted it out of the danger area.

As time continued to pass (as it tends to do), we reasserted control of the game and in this half it was Juha Tuominen’s turn to miss on a couple of shots. Erik Lantto sent one wide, and late on Joakim Gunillasson forced another save out of the inimitable Qvist. As for the home team, they did manage a couple of attacks on the break, but when they did get shots off they failed to trouble Frode Henriksen overly.

Our last chance of the game came when Marcus Jönsson crossed for substitute and trialist Peder Nilsson, who’d come on for Juha earlier. Nilsson rose spectacularly, headed strongly, and cursed openly as the ball thudded directly into Mr. Qvist’s gut. One leg gone and no goals as yet.

Trollhättans 0-0 Kiruna

Subs: P. Nilsson for J. Tuominen, 76’

Misc.: F. Langseth, yellow card, 28’

Att.: 1425

***

Hmm. I guess that having held them scoreless at home was an accomplishment, especially given that, as I noticed after the game, they were the highest-scoring team in all of the Second Division with 55 goals, two more than us. For the next game, the order of the day would be outright victory. Unfortunately, that would be made a bit more difficult than it otherwise would be, with Frank Langseth suspended due to his yellow card count. Nilsson’s trial was over by the next game, too, as was Amel Hrnjic’s loan (oh no – no GK on the bench ) so there were adjustments to be made all over.

[Fc Denderleeuw]

This is a graet story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greetz from Belgium

Keep this story going...

[kamikazecf]

Thanks very much, I'll try

21.11.2004 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

Second Division Promotion Playoff Second Leg: Kiruna vs. Trollhättans (agg.: 0-0)

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, B. Andersson, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: J. Engström, S. Sjöbom, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken, G. Samuelsson

Trollhättans obviously were out for victory too, sending out an attacking group of players in an attacking sort of formation. As the kickoff was taken and the game began, I was mildly fretful on the sidelines going over all of the negative things that could happen this game – what if Frode got injured or sent off? What if we needed a legitimate attacking substitute? Jörgen Engström hadn’t exactly been lights-out this year, and Göran Samuelsson remained unrefined in a striking role. What if… what if… no more time for what-ifs, Marcus Lindmark just scored!

It happened only five minutes in. Marcus Jönsson had cut inside past Joakim Gunillasson, and after the striker’s cross Marcus blasted a shot off of the woodwork that rebounded kindly for the adventurous fullback, and he placed his shot into the left sidewall of the net. Early lead! Woo!

Trollhättans could create nothing in the aftermath of our goal, and Kiruna had the next few scoring chances, too. The first troika of chances consisted of a Jönsson free kick that deflected off of the wall, followed by a shot from Johan Bergström that went off of a defender, after which Robert Kjellin finally found a hole in the teeming mass of bodies in the area and sent in a shot that actually forced a save from Qvist.

Having regained possession after the visiting goalie’s punt, Kiruna engaged in some nice buildup play and eventually Gunillasson had a shot that forced Qvist to extend full-length to keep it out. The minute after that (20 minutes in), we were awarded a free kick in a pretty good position. Björn Andersson, starting for Langseth, took it and sent it in a perfect position for the unmarked Juha Tuominen to attack with his head. GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL number two! Some of the fans were already starting to celebrate. The more fools they, for there was time enough for the visitors to score seven times over. And more. Not that I expected them to.

Finally, after about 110 minutes of mediocrity since the beginning of the playoffs, Trollhättans woke up and showed everyone why they were in the playoffs in the first place. They began to absolutely assault Frode Henriksen’s goal. He made five saves for the remainder of the half, and they also sent a shot wide. Even with the great gaps they were leaving at the back, we only managed two shots the rest of the half, both by Juha Tuominen – one went over and one was well saved.

So we were up 2-0 at halftime, but they were on the offensive. Could we hold out? I hoped, and believed, so. And as the second half started, my belief looked merited, as they were unable to recapture the attacking magic they’d had for 20 minutes or so. In fact, the first real attack of the second half was ours, and a goal came of it. Geir Teigen, still just 19 years old, took the ball all the way up the left flank before crossing for Joakim Gunillasson to poke in with his toe. 3-0! A safe lead? Maybe not entirely, but certainly you’d put money on us to hold out for the 30 remaining minutes.

Trollhättans couldn’t believe it, and they didn’t want it to end like that. After our goal, they finally breached Frode Henriksen’s defenses, scoring with plenty of time left to play, but that was all they had left in the tank. We played out the remaining time with an air of restrained jubilance, and as the final whistle blew, the restraint was gone, and the celebration began.

Kiruna 3-1 Trollhättans (agg. 3-1)

M. Lindmark 5’; J. Tuominen 20’ (B. Andersson); J. Gunillasson 60’ (G. Teigen); D. Berg 71’

Subs: -

Misc.: -

Att.: 1028

***

Hot damn! First Division football was heading north! Such joy as I had never felt, so on, so forth…

Back to business pretty darn quickly, though.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Kiruna FF - Tuesday 23rd November 2004

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Andersson, Björn D C SWE 11.3.80 24 - - 750|:- 26.11.05 90|TKr

- Bergström, Johan D/M R SWE 19.9.83 21 - - 2,3|TKr 5.11.06 550|TKr

- Engström, Jörgen F RC SWE 22.2.86 18 - - 600|:- Rolling Free

- Gunillasson, Joakim S C SWE 10.11.77 27 - - 2,4|TKr 17.11.06 280|TKr

- Haglund, Kenneth M C SWE 24.7.85 19 - - 800|:- 28.11.06 160|TKr

- Henriksen, Frode GK NOR 7.2.85 19 - - 1,2|TKr 7.11.05 100|TKr

- Jönsson, Marcus M LC SWE 15.10.78 26 - - 2|TKr 18.11.05 450|TKr

- Kjellin, Robert D LC SWE 11.3.73 31 - - 2,75|TKr 18.11.05 900|TKr

- Labba, Nils Johan M C SWE 5.11.84 20 - - 2,2|TKr 8.11.05 400|TKr

- Langseth, Frank D RC NOR 17.2.80 24 - - 2,75|TKr 5.11.05 120|TKr

- Lantto, Erik AM C SWE 10.3.80 24 - - 2,75|TKr 24.11.05 900|TKr

- Larsen, Lars D L DEN 20.1.83 21 - - 950|:- 28.11.04 Free

- Lindmark, Marcus D R SWE 12.5.83 21 - - 2,1|TKr 2.11.05 350|TKr

- Samuelsson, Göran D C SWE 7.11.83 21 - - 650|:- Rolling Free

- Sjöbom, Stefan D L SWE 31.10.73 31 - - 1,9|TKr Rolling Free

- Solbakken, Dagfinn AM L NOR 6.1.87 17 - - 1,6|TKr 5.11.05 140|TKr

- Teigen, Geir D L NOR 11.7.85 19 - - 2,5|TKr 4.11.05 400|TKr

- Tuominen, Juha S C FIN 16.10.83 21 - - 2|TKr 3.11.05 500|TKr

================================================================================================

2004 Senior Club Stats

================================================================================================

No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Andersson, Björn 11 (2) 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 6.85

- Bergström, Johan 24 2 0 0 7 1 0 0 7.17

- Engström, Jörgen 2 (8) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.20

- Gunillasson, Joakim 25 19 0 0 1 1 0 5 7.44

- Haglund, Kenneth 4 (10) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.71

- Henriksen, Frode 23 0 23 0 0 0 1 0 7.09

- Hrnjic, Amel 3 (1) 0 5 0 0 0 1 1 6.50

- Jönsson, Marcus 23 1 0 0 13 0 0 2 7.52

- Kjellin, Robert 24 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 6.92

- Labba, Nils Johan 25 (1) 4 1 0 4 3 0 1 7.19

- Langseth, Frank 19 2 0 0 0 7 0 0 7.05

- Lantto, Erik 25 10 0 0 3 1 0 1 7.24

- Larsen, Lars 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00

- Lindmark, Marcus 21 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 6.95

- Samuelsson, Göran 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00

- Sjöbom, Stefan 3 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00

- Solbakken, Dagfinn 3 (6) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.56

- Teigen, Geir 24 0 0 1 (0) 5 2 0 1 7.25

- Tuominen, Juha 23 (1) 12 0 0 2 1 0 2 7.29

================================================================================================

2004 Transfers

================================================================================================

Date Player In From Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

5.2.04 Jörgen Engström Free Transfer Free

15.3.04 Amel Hrnjic Mjällby Loan

Date Player Out To Fee

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

5.1.04 Mattias Olofsson Arlanda Free

5.1.04 Niklas Svanelöv Askim Free

11.1.04 Joon Karlsson Degerfors Free

17.1.04 Jon Kero Bredaryd Free

19.1.04 Niklas Malmbring Falkenberg Free

21.1.04 Lars-Göran Niemälä FC Jazzmen Free

24.1.04 Hans Laaksonen Björnlunda Free

28.2.04 Tomas Lindgren Trollhättans FK Free

26.3.04 Erik Johansson Released Free

6.4.04 David Danielsson Sandvikens IF 10|TKr

9.4.04 Kalle Oscarsson Sylvia Free

13.5.04 Peter Asp Björnlunda Free

8.6.04 Johan Stridsman Friska Viljor Free

27.6.04 Jesper Olofsson Released Free

2.11.04 Johan Hannu Released Free

================================================================================================

2004 Fixtures

================================================================================================

Date Opposition Ven Competition Res Attend Scorers

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

26.3.04 Heden H Lombia Cup 2:0 340 Jönsson, Tuominen

27.3.04 Luleå SK H Lombia Cup 1:0 520 Haglund

28.3.04 Boden H Lombia Cup 4:1 355 Asp 2, Engström, M.Jönsson

4.4.04 Skellefteå AIK A Second Division N 2:0 1417 Gunillasson 2

11.4.04 Luleå Fotboll H Second Division N 3:1 779 Kjellin, Haglund, Gunillasson

18.4.04 Boden A Second Division N 2:0 777 Tuominen, Gunillasson

25.4.04 Selånger H Second Division N 2:2 762 Tuominen, Lantto

2.5.04 Östersunds FK H Second Division N 3:1 755 Gunillasson, Lindmark, B.Andersson

9.5.04 Assi A Second Division N 4:0 1219 Labba, Tuominen 2, Lantto

16.5.04 Luleå SK H Second Division N 2:2 1199 Lantto, Langseth

6.6.04 IFK Luleå A Second Division N 4:2 746 Lantto 2, Bergström, Tuominen

18.7.04 Heden H Second Division N 3:1 1280 Gunillasson 2, Lantto

25.7.04 Brännberg A Swedish Cup Grp 8 1st Rnd 3:1 466 Engström, Labba 2

1.8.04 Söderhamn A Second Division N 2:2 2544 Haglund, Lantto

8.8.04 Gimonäs H Second Division N 3:2 1636 Lantto, Tuominen 2

15.8.04 Skellefteå AIK H Second Division N 3:0 1144 Gunillasson 3

22.8.04 Luleå Fotboll A Second Division N 4:0 763 Labba, Gunillasson 2, Kjellin

25.8.04 Aspeboda A Swedish Cup Grp 8 2nd Rnd 0:2 384

29.8.04 Boden H Second Division N 2:1 1394 Tuominen, Gunillasson

5.9.04 Selånger A Second Division N 2:1 773 Gunillasson 2

12.9.04 Östersunds FK A Second Division N 1:1 780 Lantto

19.9.04 Assi H Second Division N 3:1 1077 Jönsson, Tuominen 2

3.10.04 Luleå SK A Second Division N 1:3 765 Tuominen

17.10.04 IFK Luleå H Second Division N 4:1 1107 Gunillasson, Bergström, Langseth, Lindmark

24.10.04 Heden A Second Division N 1:0 1679 Lantto

30.10.04 Söderhamn H Second Division N 1:2 801 Gunillasson

7.11.04 Gimonäs A Second Division N 1:2 3111 Gunillasson

14.11.04 Trollhättans FK A Second Division Pro. Playoff L 0:0 1425

21.11.04 Trollhättans FK H Second Division Pro. Playoff L 3:1 1028 Lindmark, Tuominen, Gunillasson</pre>

[Fc Denderleeuw]

Very well deserved!!!!!

Do you think your squad is strong enough to avoid relegation?

KUTGW

[Fc Denderleeuw]

Very well deserved!!!!!

Do you think your squad is strong enough to avoid relegation?

KUTGW

[Fc Denderleeuw]

Very well deserved!!!!!

Do you think your squad is strong enough to avoid relegation?

KUTGW

[Fc Denderleeuw]

sorry for the triple post

[Tricky Winger]

Very well deserved!!!

Do you think your squad is good enough to avoid relegation?

Congrats on the promotion. The story is good and the team seems to progress, too.

[kamikazecf]

I am fairly confident of avoiding the drop. I think we are probably better than the two teams that promoted along with us, so that means we only have to outdo one current First Division team in order to stay up. Should be doable.

Close season 2004/’05

There were four expiring contracts in November that I had to deal with. Lars Larsen had already agreed to move to Røros in Norway on a Bosman when his contract ended; Jörgen Engström I released. Stefan Sjöbom and Göran Samuelsson’s futures with the club would depend on their willingness to accept the one-year contracts I offered them, Sjöbom’s at a cut rate.

As for the other promotion playoffs, teams from South Gotaland and West Svealand promoted along with us, Falkenberg and Värtan. Collectively, we would replace Gefle, Kongahälla, and Göteborgs AIS in the First Division. Oh, I still loved the sound of that.

Sjöbom and Samuelsson both signed new contracts; in addition, I signed up a player whose contract with ÖIS had expired. Niklas Löfgren was his name, a striker who could use his left foot as well as his right, and he would, I thought, be a far better player to have around than Jörgen Engstrom. In December, I signed another young Norwegian, defensive midfielder Ståle Merkesdal, to a nice tiny contract for one year. He had decent potential, I thought.

Finally the Fans’ Player of the Year award was decided. Drumroll please… congratulations to Joakim Gunillasson, whose 19 goals and 5 Man of the Match awards were sufficient to earn him the honor. A well-deserved one, too, might I add. At the same time, the Board of Directors announced that they expected us to struggle with the drop this year, hopefully avoiding it but realistically just putting up a good fight.

In late January, I kind of said “screw it†to financial sense and signed a backup goalkeeper. I know, I know, such largesse from one who cannot afford it. Young Jonatan Boström joined us on a free transfer for the privilege of keeping goal in the reserves and backing up Frode Henriksen. I also signed one more midfielder who impressed in a trial period with the club, 19-year-old Mats Strandberg. My willy-nilly tossing about of cash left us with a wage bill of 35,000 SEK per week. Oh horrors… I still wanted to get a backup right fullback and right winger, too. I was just pushing the limits of sanity here.

I found the right winger in the beginning of March. Thank you, Norway. Alta-born Kristian Gjesdal, the youngest player on Kiruna at 16 years, 7 months, was not particularly fast, but very skilled and looked highly capable of playing with the second team and backing up Johan Bergström when circumstances required. Gjesdal’s homeland provided our next player, too. A legitimate utility player, Kenneth Haaland could play defense or striker and dammit, he was good at both of them. Norway appears to be far better than Sweden.

One of the perks of First Division status was that we got to pick squad numbers, a privilege the true worth of which is known only by those who haven’t always had it. For Marcus Lindmark to be able to wear #2 while knowing that it belonged to him exclusively was a magnificent thing.

[kamikazecf]

Squad analysis 2005:

Goalkeepers

#1 - Frode Henriksen, 20, Norwegian. Frode allowed, on average, exactly a goal per game last season and aside from one red card, he was immensely reliable, consistent, what have you. And as he matured, I fully expected him to continue and even improve in that capacity. There was no reason he couldn’t be Kiruna’s goalkeeper for the next fifteen years, as far as I was concerned. Barring injury, of course, which was going to keep him out of our first two league games, which is why we needed…

#13 - Jonatan Boström, 18, Swedish. Frode’s new understudy. Jonatan’s hands weren’t as safe as Frode’s, but he was nearly as agile and was much more powerful going up for corner kicks, et cetera. A capable backup, which was all we needed.

Defenders

#2 – Marcus Lindmark, 21, Swedish. Marcus showed visible improvement each of the past three years in the Second Division. Whether he could continue to improve at a higher level was up to question, but if he could turn in even the same standard of performance, our right-back slot would not be a concern for me.

#3 – Geir Teigen, 19, Norwegian. Still three months from turning 20, Geir was fully capable, in my opinion, of excelling for us in the First Division. Furthermore, if we were able to keep hold of him, I felt that he could continue to be a first-choice option at left back if Kiruna were to somehow make the jump up to the top level. For the moment, he was absolutely one of our best and most consistent starters; certainly he was one of the best signings I’d ever made.

#5 – Frank Langseth, 25, Norwegian. Had a good debut season with Kiruna as a first-choice center back and emergency fullback. Only improvement I could ask for him was to cut down on the yellow cards, which resulted in 3 games’ worth of suspensions over the course of last season.

#6 – Robert Kjellin, 32, Swedish. The club’s captain and elder statesman had a solid if unspectacular 2004. His experience at a higher level with Malmö FF looked as though it may prove to be invaluable in helping us stay up in the First Division.

#12 – Björn Andersson, 25, Swedish. Björn was the man to fill a defensive spot if Kjellin or Langseth was unavailable for one reason or another. His steady performances and willingness to accept a backup role made Björn a vital element of the team.

#18 – Kenneth Haaland, 18, Norwegian. A brand-new signing for 2005, Kenneth was equally comfortable in the center of defense or playing as a striker. In fact, he was so adept at both positions that I was honestly not sure which should be classified as his primary position. Possessed pace, jumping ability, skill on the ball, and good passing instincts, but was also a good tackler of the ball and positioned himself well. Appeared as though he might be an absolute star sooner or later. He started 2005 in the reserves, but I wasn’t sure how long we could keep him there.

#20 – Göran Samuelsson, 21, Swedish. Mini-Haaland, I suppose. Göran had finally learned to play striker as well as center back, and could, like Haaland, run, jump, and dribble effectively. Göran lacked the defensive refinement that Haaland already had, and wasn’t quite as keenly aware of his surroundings, but moved better off the ball in attacking situations, was a hard worker, and was practically tireless. Göran, too, started in the reserves, but he stood a good chance of getting a senior game or three, especially if there were injuries to our attackers.

#21 – Stefan Sjöbom, 31, Swedish. Having signed with the club with the understanding that he would be given first-team football, Stefan handled Geir Teigen’s ascent to the starting left-back spot quite well. In fact, he made it a point to impart what wisdom he could to the young Norwegian, which I had no doubt was helping in his rapid development. Stefan had very few strengths, but very few weaknesses, as well – he was just a solid player who gave good effort when called upon. A good backup to have around.

Midfielders

#4 – Nils Johan Labba, 20, Swedish. Nils’ passing instincts were improving with every season. Despite his tender age, he would start for us in our First Division campaign, and hopes were high that he could make the step up without undue difficulty.

#7 – Johan Bergström, 21, Swedish. Johan had his best season wearing Kiruna red in 2004, racking up seven assists in addition to a pair of goals. 2005 marked the first time he had any competition whatsoever for his spot, albeit from a 16-year-old. Johan would have to play well to keep his role in the starting XI, and I was confident he could.

#8 – Erik Lantto, 25, Swedish. While Labba, his partner in midfield, showed improvement over time, Lantto’s abilities remained worryingly static. By this point, Lantto’s only real advantage over Nils was his dribbling skill, and even that was surpassed by his backup, Kenneth Haglund. But Erik had played too productively over the past two seasons to lose his spot just yet. It was his to keep, if he earned the right to keep it.

#11 – Marcus Jönsson, 26, Swedish. Marcus was one of the few players on the team who had a capable backup last season, but didn’t need one. His club-record 13 assists in 23 games combined with his fine dribbling skill and consistent performances meant that he had a spot at Kiruna for as long as he wanted one.

#14 – Kenneth Haglund, 19, Swedish. The speediest of our midfielders, Haglund was pushing for a starting spot, but hadn’t yet proven himself worthy of playing over Lantto or Labba. Haglund was a good dribbler, and his passing was getting better every day. One day, I was sure, he would take over a starting spot and play well; until then, he would be a change-of-pace guy off the bench.

#15 – Kristian Kjesdal, 16, Norwegian. Much like Dagfinn Solbakken in 2003, Kristian signed with us as a very young, very talented backup. He was in many ways already a better winger than Johan Bergström, although slower. Kjesdal would undoubtedly see first-team action this year, although the bulk of his time would be spent with the reserves. I anticipated him being a starting winger within three years at the outside.

#16 – Dagfinn Solbakken, 18, Norwegian. Dagfinn hadn’t developed quite as we’d hoped, but he was still the logical successor and backup to Marcus Jönsson. He being still only 18, I was sure Dagfinn would come around eventually.

#17 – Mats Strandberg, 19, Swedish. The youth player for whom I had the least hope. Mats wasn’t without potential, though. He was pretty fast, and he could pass okay, but he had a lot of developing to do before he had a hope of regular first-team action and not a lot of time to do it in before I’d release him, given that his contract expired in November.

#22 – Ståle Merkesdal, 18, Norwegian. This defensive midfielder was the only one we had. He was equally adept with both of his feet and already had good defensive characteristics as well as having a particular affinity for thumping in shots from long range. It wasn’t inconceivable that Merksedal would be on Kenny Haglund’s left in the starting midfield in a few years, or at least the first-choice sub.

Attackers

#9 – Niklas Löfgren, 26, Swedish. The ambidextrous striker had 39 games of Premier Division experience with ÖIS, and had scored 8 goals at that level. That record, combined with his dribbling ability and willingness to sign with Kiruna, assured him of a starting spot. Without doubt the best all-around striker we had.

#10 – Joakim Gunillasson, 27, Swedish. Scored a team-record 19 goals for Kiruna last season. How was I going to deny that a starting spot? If he slacked, though, he was very capably backed up by…

#19 – Juha Tuominen, 21, Finnish. Juha was just as good as Joakim, but hadn’t produced quite as much the year before and so he was the big loser when Löfgren signed. Still, Juha would be involved in every match squad he was healthy for, whether on the bench or as a starter. Matter of fact, Gunillasson was injured and out for our first couple of games, so Juha would get the start for those anyway.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12 Andersson, Björn D C SWE 11.3.80 25 - - 750|:- 26.11.05 100|TKr

7 Bergström, Johan D/M R SWE 19.9.83 21 - - 2,3|TKr 5.11.06 550|TKr

13 Boström, Jonatan GK SWE 24.4.86 18 - - 600|:- 26.11.05 50|TKr

15 Gjesdal, Kristian AM/F R NOR 26.8.88 16 - - 1,3|TKr 3.11.05 70|TKr

10 Gunillasson, Joakim S C SWE 10.11.77 27 - - 2,4|TKr 17.11.06 280|TKr

18 Haaland, Kenneth D/S C NOR 4.12.86 18 - - 1,3|TKr 13.11.05 90|TKr

14 Haglund, Kenneth M C SWE 24.7.85 19 - - 800|:- 28.11.06 140|TKr

1 Henriksen, Frode GK NOR 7.2.85 20 - - 1,2|TKr 7.11.05 120|TKr

11 Jönsson, Marcus M LC SWE 15.10.78 26 - - 2|TKr 18.11.05 500|TKr

6 Kjellin, Robert D LC SWE 11.3.73 32 - - 2,75|TKr 18.11.05 700|TKr

4 Labba, Nils Johan M C SWE 5.11.84 20 - - 2,2|TKr 8.11.05 400|TKr

5 Langseth, Frank D RC NOR 17.2.80 25 - - 2,75|TKr 5.11.05 120|TKr

8 Lantto, Erik AM C SWE 10.3.80 25 - - 2,75|TKr 24.11.05 900|TKr

2 Lindmark, Marcus D R SWE 12.5.83 21 - - 2,1|TKr 2.11.05 350|TKr

9 Löfgren, Niklas S C SWE 21.2.79 26 - - 2,75|TKr 26.11.05 1,7|MKr

22 Merkesdal, Ståle DM C NOR 26.11.86 18 - - 650|:- 15.11.05 90|TKr

20 Samuelsson, Göran D/S C SWE 7.11.83 21 - - 650|:- 23.11.05 120|TKr

21 Sjöbom, Stefan D L SWE 31.10.73 31 - - 1,5|TKr 27.11.05 80|TKr

16 Solbakken, Dagfinn AM L NOR 6.1.87 18 - - 1,6|TKr 5.11.05 90|TKr

17 Strandberg, Mats AM C SWE 10.11.85 19 - - 750|:- 27.11.05 140|TKr

3 Teigen, Geir D L NOR 11.7.85 19 - - 2,5|TKr 4.11.05 350|TKr

19 Tuominen, Juha S C FIN 16.10.83 21 - - 2|TKr 3.11.05 450|TKr </pre>

[kamikazecf]

Well, this was it – our debut in the First Division. We’d be playing Öster at home, a team which was at the Premier level in 2003. Frode Henriksen, Joakim Gunillasson, and Dagfinn Solbakken were all injured. I was very interested to see what the crowd would be like at our 3500-capacity ground.

3.4.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 1: Kiruna (last year: 1st, D2 North) vs. Öster (last year: 6th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Öster: -

J. Boström; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: B. Andersson, S. Sjöbom, K. Haglund, K. Gjesdal, K. Haaland

Looked like attendance wasn’t something I had to worry about. A near-capacity crowd of 3,456 shattered the previous Kiruna record and also set a new record for gate receipts. What I did have to concern myself with was entertaining them somehow. Öster were a good team; they showed that right away. Jonatan Boström’s professional debut wasn’t an easy one, as he had to make his first save very early on.

We were, encouragingly enough, not entirely overmatched, and threatened Öster’s goal more than once in the early going. Most of our chances were of the aerial variety, with Marcus Jönsson providing the crosses and Öster’s goalkeeper doing well to keep us from scoring. As the half went on, Öster forced Boström into several more saves, which the 19-year-old was able to handle.

The second 45 minutes of our First Division lives started slowly. The first chance of the half came ten minutes after we kicked off; Löfgren linked up well with Tuominen to set up a header that went over the bar. Later, a good run up the sideline by Geir Teigen came to nothing when there was no one to receive his low cross. Finally, a Robert Kjellin free kick fell nicely for Juha, and his sweet strike was our first goal in the First Division. The vast hordes of fans cheered wildly, striking cold fear into the hearts of our opponents.

The cold fear lasted for, say, 20 minutes or so, during which we killed clock quite effectively. After that, Öster finally got themselves together and got past Jonatan Boström with their fifth and final shot on target. Still, a point and a huge crowd for our first game wasn’t a bad haul.

Kiruna 1-1 Öster

J. Tuominen 66’ (R. Kjellin); A. Susak 89’

Subs: K. Gjesdal for J. Bergström, 67’; K. Haaland for N. Löfgren, 67’

Misc.: F. Langseth, yellow card, 46’

Att.: 3456

***

[kamikazecf]

The draw placed us very mid-table going into our next game. We had to travel all the way down to Göteborg to take on Västra Frölunda, who’d lost their first game 5-1 to Assyriska. Geir Teigen was missing through injury to make our task a little harder. Niklas Löfgren noted that he had spent some time at Västra Frölunda on loan in ’01, though he’d failed to get into a game. “Vengeance shall be mine!†he proclaimed dramatically.

10.4.2005 at Ruddalen, Göteborg

First Division Game 2: Västra Frölunda (18th) vs. Kiruna (8th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Västra Frölunda: -

J. Boström; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, S. Sjöbom; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; N. Löfgren, J. Tuominen. Subs: B. Andersson, S. Merkesdal, K. Haglund, K. Gjesdal, K. Haaland

I suppose depending on your definition of vengeance, Niklas exacted his pretty effectively. After a couple of failed attacks for both teams, Löfgren scored his first Kiruna goal, unassisted, 38 minutes into the game. I hoped that we could hold out with that lead until halftime, but Västra Frölunda struck back just before the break. It was a corner kick that Marcus Lindmark got beaten in the air on.

Juha Tuominen restored our lead with his second goal in two games in the 63rd minuted, and it was again Löfgren who set him up with a nice chip over his head. Juha ran on to it, shot, scored, and we were 2-1 up with 30 minutes to play.

At that point, I figured we had to go defensive and try to just soak up the pressure. Even if they scored once, a point from our first D1 away game would be fine with me. It took them 20 minutes and two substitutions, but finally the home team tied it up. Young Bo Jönsson scored, and so we figured “Okay, now we settle for the tie.†And then the same dude scored again. Apparently the players are better at this level. Who’d have known?

We got a last chance on a corner kick that Nils Johan Labba got his head to, but the goalie made a fine save and that was all she wrote.

Västra Frölunda 3-2 Kiruna

N. Löfgren 38’; D. Uzelac 44’; J. Tuominen 63’ (N. Löfgren); B. Jönsson 84’, 87’

Subs: K. Haaland for E. Lantto, 68’

Misc.: -

Att.: 4534

***

Oh, losses. They are bound to happen. And that one did. And the next game looked like it would be one, too – Nörrkoping! They’d just been relegated from the Premier Division and had a pair of internationals in their squad (Nigeria’s Peter Ijeh and Sweden’s Jonas Wallerstedt). They also had a young fellow who scored against us in the reserve game, name of Alexander Farnerud.

[Fc Denderleeuw]

The beauty of relegation football Just kidding.

Good job though, the players will probably have to adapt the D1 style of play.

[kamikazecf]

We welcomed back Frode Henriksen, Geir Teigen, and Joakim Gunillasson into the fold for this one, although Joakim sat on the bench due to the fine performances of our striking pair.

17.4.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 3: Kiruna (12th) vs. Nörrkoping (4th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Nörrkoping: -

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, K. Haglund, K. Gjesdal, J. Gunillasson

Let me first make this perfectly clear: Nörrkoping were a very, very good team. Henriksen was forced into two saves before Ijeh got past him with a header in the 27th minute. Down 1-0 and being pretty well dominated, we came out of our defensive shell a little bit, and it paid off quickly. Juha picked up the tying goal just six minutes after the Nigerian international’s header, and we proceeded to shut up shop. Everyone behind the ball, frustrate the hell out of Nörrkoping and the record crowd of 3,496. There was only one chance on goal the rest of the half, a highly-contested Ijeh header that went wide.

For my part, I was going to be very happy if we could hold on for the draw, and I suspected that the fans present would forgive us for not playing a pretty game if we got a point out of Nörrkoping. We therefore continued in the defensive style to start the second half. The visitors had apparently strategized somewhat with regards to breaking down our defense, because chances came more easily for them in the second half. An early shot hit the upright and went out of bounds, and Henriksen – who was in pretty fine form – had to make three saves as the half went on in addition to several shots that went inches high or wide.

Joakim Gunillasson and Kenneth Haglund came on for Löfgren and Lantto in the 76th minute, and as play restarted it stopped again immediately as Frode Henriksen threw himself at the knees of a Nörrkoping striker and was sent off without delay. Boström found himself back in action far sooner than he’d expected, with Tuominen coming off to accommodate him. After looking like we had a good chance at a draw, the penalty that Frode gave away put us down by a goal, and Nörrkoping picked up another in the last few minutes just to rub our faces in it. The 10 men we had remaining hadn’t played without fight, though; in fact, Haglund and Labba had both come tantalizingly close to scoring.

Kiruna 1-3 Nörrkoping

P. Ijeh 27’; J. Tuominen 33’ (N. Löfgren); M. Flodström pen 76’; N. Johansson 87’

Subs: J. Gunillasson for N. Löfgren, 76’; K. Haglund for E. Lantto, 76’; J. Boström for J. Tuominen, 76’

Misc.: F. Langseth, yellow card, 46’ G. Teigen, yellow card, 54’; F. Henriksen, red card, 76’

Att.: 3496

***

Frode got slapped with a three-game suspension and a warning from me, about which he promptly put up a huge squall, claiming I’d victimized him in some way or other. Right, Frode. I was sure he’d get over it.

[kamikazecf]

Meanwhile, we had another game coming up, away to Västerås SK. They, like Nörrkoping, boasted an international - except theirs was Warry van Houts, an Aruban with only a couple of caps, and he was injured. Erik Lantto’s play had been subpar early in the season, so Kenny Haglund stepped into a starting role.

24.4.2005 at Arosvallen, Västerås

First Division Game 4: Västerås SK (10th) vs. Kiruna (14th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Västerås: -

J. Boström; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, K. Haglund, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: B. Andersson, K. Haaland, E. Lantto, K. Gjesdal, J. Gunillasson

Just before kickoff, I noticed a player whom I had hoped we’d left behind in the Second Division. Damn Västerås bought Peter Sedunov from Boden. ARGH! This game just became that much harder. And Sedunov made a nuisance of himself right from the opening whistle. He got control of the ball, completely bamboozled Marcus Lindmark (who’d been looking ominously out of his depth through the first few games), and sent in a cross for young ex-Aston Villa trainee Isaac Nkubi. Easy goal… but it was ruled out! Offside! Hope!

Geir Teigen and Johan Bergström combined to make ‘em wish that goal had counted. It was Teigen who embarked on an adventurous run down the left, and Bergström who got his foot on the end of the fullback’s cross to score. It wasn’t long, though, before Teigen turned from hero to villain. He gave away a penalty which Nkubi dispatched with ease. All square.

It was mostly Västerås who controlled the rest of the half, but we kept them from going ahead until just before the whistle. A shot that fooled Boström went off the bar, and while he was still recovering, it was poked in to give the home team a 2-1 lead.

A few minutes after halftime, Jönsson performed his usual trick, floating in a near-post cross for Kenny Haglund to smash in and make it all square. I frankly didn’t trust my defense enough to try for the win, so we sat back a bit. Although we did have to weather a few storms (well, more like light showers), we held out well for our second point in the league.

Västerås SK 2-2 Kiruna

J. Bergstrom 7’ (G. Teigen); I. Nkubi pen 13’; P. Larsson 45’; K. Haglund (M. Jönsson 57’)

Subs: K. Haaland for J. Tuominen, 73’

Misc.: -

Att.: 4589

***

It was at about this juncture that Johan Petersen’s youth scouting found another couple of gems. One was Swedish, a striker, Johan Björklund, who was 18. Fast, strong, good in the air, but not so hot technically, he was easygoing enough about wages that we offered him a contract. The second find was an amazing guy. Norwegian kid, 17 years old, named Thomas Johnsen. He hadn’t cut it for Rosenborg during his brief period there and the Trondheim club had cut him loose. He was a right back, and he was really good. Maybe better than Lindmark already. At the very least, he would provide Marcus with a highly capable backup, and so we offered him a contract posthaste.

[kamikazecf]

Before either of those young fellers had a chance to sign, though, we had a game to play. Joakim Gunillasson took Juha’s starting spot and Erik Lantto was injured so Ståle Merkesdal hopped on to the bench for us.

1.5.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 5: Kiruna (15th) vs. Falkenberg (5th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Falkenberg: -

J. Boström; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, K. Haglund, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Gunillasson, N. Löfgren. Subs: B. Andersson, K. Haaland, S. Merkesdal, K. Gjesdal, J. Tuominen

I’d forgotten that Falkenberg had been the team that took Niklas Malmbring off our hands last year. He was apparently starting for them now, in their first season in Division 1 after promoting along with us. Anyway, Gunillasson was responsible for our first couple of shots and missed them both. Malmbring was responsible for Falkenberg’s, and made Jonatan Boström dive full-length to save his shot. Jonatan was being a lifesaver so far this season.

As Joakim continued to miss every chance that was created for him, Boström continued to save everything Falkenberg could throw at him. And finally, in the second half, we scored, although it wasn’t Gunillasson who did it. No, it was Niklas Löfgren, who was looking like a fine pickup. And it was, of course, Marcus Jönsson setting him up for it. The first real action to occur after our goal was another one, this time scored by Rob Kjellin. Again Jönsson provided the impetus for the goal, but wasn’t credited with an assist since the ball bounced around the area for awhile before Kjellin had a chance to shoot it.

Falkenberg could only manage one more shot on target after that, which Boström saved. He was given a well-deserved Man of the Match title after his perfect performance in goal.

Kiruna 2-0 Falkenberg

N. Löfgren 63’ (M. Jönsson); R. Kjellin 74’

Subs: -

Misc.: -

Att.: 3010

***

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ================================================================================================

2005 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Öster 5 2 0 0 5 1 2 1 0 7 3 13

2nd Umeå FC 5 3 0 0 5 1 1 0 1 2 2 12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd IFK Malmö 5 3 0 0 6 3 1 0 1 3 5 12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Norrköping 5 1 1 0 6 3 2 0 1 9 5 10

5th Falkenberg 5 2 0 0 3 1 1 0 2 2 6 9

6th Värtan 5 2 1 0 6 2 0 0 2 1 4 7

7th Häcken 5 2 0 1 4 2 0 1 1 1 2 7

8th Västra Frölunda 5 2 0 0 4 2 0 1 2 3 8 7

9th Kalmar FF 5 0 0 2 4 6 2 0 1 7 6 6

10th Sandvikens IF 5 2 0 1 5 5 0 0 2 1 4 6

11th Assyriska 5 1 1 1 5 2 0 1 1 2 3 5

12th **Kiruna** 5 1 1 1 4 4 0 1 1 4 5 5

13th Västerås SK 5 0 2 0 3 3 1 0 2 5 6 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14th Café Opera 5 1 0 1 4 3 0 2 1 2 4 5

15th Brage 5 1 0 1 4 4 0 0 3 2 6 3

16th Landskrona 5 0 1 2 4 9 0 0 2 0 3 1 </pre>

12th ain’t a relegation place; ergo, I am happy with our performance so far.

[kamikazecf]

Note: I played the next five games and then, for some reason, they were lost. I know not why. Originally, they were four wins and a draw and by the end of them we had jumped up to third in the league and Jonatan Boström had a Kahn-like streak of scoreless goalkeeping going on. After I replayed those games… well, you’ll see.

Mr. Thomas Johnsen signed with us before our next game, a Saturday match with would-be Axeldal-stealers Café Opera. Johan Bergström was injured so Kristian Gjesdal got his first start, and Johnsen was given #23 and went straight to the bench – there was room for him since Frode Henriksen was still suspended. Café Opera had one senior international in their team, Birima Koroma of Sierra Leone, but he was away playing Madagascar.

7.5.2005 at Stockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm

First Division Game 6: Café Opera (14th) vs. Kiruna (12th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Café Opera: -

J. Boström; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; K. Gjesdal, K. Haglund, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Gunillasson, N. Löfgren. Subs: T. Johnsen, K. Haaland, S. Merkesdal, E. Lantto, J. Tuominen

“No team,†I told my players before the game, “no team in football has a more effeminate name than Café Opera. None. They can try to hide it by not wearing pink uniforms, but rest assured that at their core, they are a bouquet of pansies. Destroy them.†The players seemed to take those words to heart, as we controlled the vast majority of play early on. In the first half, we had five solid scoring chances to their two; none of them went in, though. Marcus Jönsson fired a shot over the bar, Joakim Gunillasson forced a couple of saves, so on, so forth, but a scoreless draw at halftime.

The second half started with a Café Opera shot by their dangerous winger Stefan Fältén. He was unmarked in the area but sent his shot wide, much to our relief. Thusly jolted, Kiruna re-imposed themselves on the game and Robert Kjellin broke the deadlock 51 minutes in, picking up a header from Jönsson and blasting it into the top corner right-footed.

With the 1-0 lead and having been in almost total control all game, we were confident of our second Division 1 victory. What we should have realized is that 39 minutes is a very long time in which numerous negative things could happen. As it turned out, Café Opera required only eight of those minutes to equalize, as Fältén set up Romania U-21 striker Goran Nikolajev for a shot that left Jonatan Boström with no chance.

After the score was tied, Kiruna players woke up to the fact that simply getting a lead doesn’t mean you can sleepwalk through the rest of the game, at least not at this level. I only wish it hadn’t taken a goal to convince them of that. But lessons must be learned, and anyway no harm came of it when the inimitable Niklas Löfgren scored just a minute later, poking in a rebound from Gunillasson’s header.

The lead restored, we had hard work to do for a half an hour to keep Café Opera from adding to their tally. Fältén continued to be a threat, forcing a corner kick five minutes after Löfgren’s goal, but Kjellin managed to head away that threat. Still the home side came on, and were given a huge break when Geir Teigen was shown his second yellow card and the exit 68 minutes into the game. Young Thomas Johnsen was therefore thrust into an unfamiliar position for his league debut, taking up arms on the left side of defense with Joakim Gunillasson coming off to make way for him.

With the man advantage, Café Opera pressed forward and Boström had to make a spectacular save from Nikolajev to keep our lead safe. But for the most part our defense held firm, and in fact the final shot of the game was a chance for us to go up 3-1 with Kjellin forcing the home goalie into a nice save.

Café Opera 1-2 Kiruna

R. Kjellin 51’ (M. Jönsson); G. Nikolajev 59’; N. Löfgren 60’

Subs: T. Johnsen for J. Gunillasson, 68’

Misc.: M. Jönsson, yellow card, 32’; G. Teigen, yellow card, 45’, 68’ (s/o 68’)

Att.: 4524

***

It was an excellent win over a team that had established itself as a Division 1 side, albeit a lower-level one. Thomas Johnsen had performed only about as well as you could have expected him to on the left side, but Kristian Gjesdal played quite well opposite Marcus Jönsson, so overall it was a fairly good day for the young Norwegian brigade.

[kamikazecf]

For our next match, at home against perennial D1 contenders Kalmar FF, Frode Henriksen was back from suspension and replaced the useful Boström in net. Geir Teigen was just starting his own suspension, and with few options I moved Kjellin to left back and brought in one of our other young Norwegians, Kenneth Haaland, to play in the middle next to his countryman Frank Langseth. Nils Johan Labba having performed disappointingly in the last game, Erik Lantto returned to a starting spot next to the amazingly consistent Kenneth Haglund. Gjesdal retained his spot on the right wing with Bergström still out injured. Stefan Sjöbom and yet another Norwegian, Ståle Merksedal, made appearances on the bench.

15.5.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 7: Kiruna (11th) vs. Kalmar FF (7th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Kalmar FF: -

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, K. Haaland, R. Kjellin ©; K. Gjesdal, E. Lantto, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Gunillasson, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, S. Sjöbom, S. Merkesdal, N. Labba, J. Tuominen

I had no personal grudge against Kalmar, so I had no good ideas for a prematch pep talk. So we just sort of went out and played, and so did they, only slightly better than us. Joakim Gunillasson did get the first shot of the game, in which he made a present of the ball to one of the fans sitting in the stand behind the net.

It took Kalmar about half an hour to force Frode Henriksen into his first save since returning from suspension. Two saves, actually, one from an initial shot and then a nice reflex move to keep out the rebound. Niklas Löfgren and Erik Lantto had decent chances before the half was over, but it ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

For us, the highlight of the first half had been the ability to keep Ukraine midfielder Vyacheslav Yevtushenko and Liberia forward Henry Blake under wraps, for the most part at least. The second half, though, started with Blake forcing two saves from Henriksen and continued with Yevtushenko showing off his strength and skill on the ball, fending off Marcus Jönsson and Erik Lantto on a long run from midfield before taking a shot that went wide, altered by the surprising defensive presence of Kristian Gjesdal.

Later in the half, Yevtushenko sent a shot off of the bar and Blake would have had a goal if not for the fact that Kenneth Haaland beat him to the ball in the air. Our defense was playing magnificently under pressure. All hope of attacking forgotten by this time, we simply wanted to fend off the Kalmar onslaught and hold out for the single point. And we did. Shots went wide, or were tipped beyond the post, or cleared off the line, but damned if Kalmar could find a way past Frode Henriksen into our goal.

We had three good chances to win the game, all coming from the same counterattack. A foray led by Kenneth Haglund and Robert Kjellin (who was enjoying his role as a fullback) ended with Kjellin’s cross to Gjesdal. He shot, it went off the post. Erik Lantto got the rebound, shot, saved. Gjesdal again, shot, saved, held. Oh well – if we’d won, it would have been three totally undeserved points. As it was, we were quite happy with our one.

Kiruna 0-0 Kalmar FF

Misc.: -

Att.: 3481

***

The draw kept us in 11th place after the round, with 9 points from 7 games. The 4th-placed team, Norrköping, had 11 points. So our next match, away to Brage (15th), left us with a good chance to move up in the table if other results went our way.

[kamikazecf]

I sent out a somewhat changed lineup for that match. Thomas Johnsen stepped into the right-back slot since Marcus Lindmark hadn’t performed very well his last couple of times out. Teigen returned from suspension to play opposite Johnsen and Kjellin moved back next to Langseth in defense. Johan Bergström returned from injury to force Kristian Gjesdal back to the bench, and Juha Tuominen took over for Joakim Gunillasson in attack.

31.5.2005 at Domnarvsvallen, Borlänge

First Division Game 8: Brage (15th) vs. Kiruna (11th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Brage: -

F. Henriksen; T. Johnsen, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, K. Haaland, N. Labba, K. Gjesdal, J. Gunillasson

Ugh. About two things happened in a boring first half – a Brage goal and a shot by Marcus Jönsson that was saved.

Second half, Löfgren shot saved, Brage goal. Tuominen shot high, Jönsson shot saved, Labba shot saved, Gjesdal rebound shot saved, final whistle. Double ugh. Thomas Johnsen played well at least!

Brage 2-0 Kiruna

J. Rajala 29’; J. Harén 55’

Subs: K. Gjesdal for J. Bergström, 74’; J. Gunillasson for J. Tuominen, 74’; N. Labba for E. Lantto, 85’

Misc.: -

Att.: 4564

***

Dropped to 12th behind victorious Café Opera, and now we were just one point plus goal differential above safety. Umeå jumped to 4th with 14 points and now the highest-placed team with 11 was in 7th.

[kamikazecf]

Jonatan Boström signed a contract extension through November 2006 and Göran Samuelsson left for IF Sylvia on a free transfer. Kristian Gjesdal and Kenneth Haaland were both more reticent than Boström about signing new ones and would take some negotiating, but I really wanted to keep them.

Assyriska away were next. They’d pass us with a win.

5.6.2005 at Bårsta IP, Södertälje

First Division Game 9: Assyriska (14th) vs. Kiruna (11th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Assyriska: -

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Gunillasson, K. Haaland. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, E. Lantto, K. Gjesdal, N. Löfgren

Something must be done. Assyriska struck twice in the first half through 16 ½-year-old Jesper Göransson, and all we got were a couple of off-target shots from Gunillasson and Bergström. We did come out fighting in the second half and tied it up through Kenny Haglund and Nils Johan Labba, but they regained the lead and even the late introduction of Niklas Löfgren couldn’t salvage us a point. And we didn’t deserve one; we were pretty well dominated.

Assyriska 3-2 Kiruna

J. Göransson 13’, 25’; K. Haglund 46’ (J. Bergstrom); N. Labba 49’ (M. Jönsson); E. Moussa 72’

Subs: E. Lantto for N. Labba, 83’; N. Löfgren for K. Haaland, 83’

Misc.: -

Att.: 4295

***

Down to 13th… *gulp*… six goals ahead of Sandvikens in the top relegation spot and level with them on points.

Dagfinn Solbakken signed a contract with SK Nationalkameratene of Norway and would move in early November. He missed Norway and wasn’t getting much action here. An unfortunate loss for us; guess I’d have to find a new left winger for the future.

[kamikazecf]

Ominously, Sandvikens played the day before us for the next round and earned a draw, dropping us into the relegation spot in 14th before our home match against bottom team Landskrona. Kristian Gjesdal lifted our spirits somewhat on that same Saturday, though, signing a new contract that would keep him at the club until November 2007. We also took former B 1913 (Denmark) defender Allen Hansen on trial for a week.

12.6.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 10: Kiruna (14th) vs. Landskrona (16th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Landskrona: -

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, K. Haaland, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Gunillasson, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, T. Johnsen, E. Lantto, J. Tuominen

I played with the idea of toying with the tactics for this game, but decided to leave them alone to see how they’d work in (theoretically) our easiest game of the season. I probably should have toyed.

Landskrona came out strong and scored six minutes into the game. We sucked throughout the first half and for all but two moments of brilliance in the second. Fortunately, Landskrona’s luck being worse than our own, we came away with a 2-1 victory, but make no mistake, we did not deserve a bit of it. Both of our shots on target went in; one of their five did.

The goals were pretty neat/dramatic, though. Late on in the game and after long periods of Landskrona pressure. But regardless of the result, I was peeved at the performance.

Kiruna 2-1 Landskrona

F. Andersson 6’; N. Löfgren 78’ (N. Labba); J. Gunillasson 84’

Subs: E. Lantto for N. Labba, 83’; N. Löfgren for K. Haaland, 83’

Misc.: -

Att.: 3491

***

We were back out of the relegation spots, though, and another positive was the official crowd of 3491, which is 9 below capacity and meant that nearly 2000 fans were content to stand and watch us play. Good stuff.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st IFK Malmö 10 4 1 0 8 4 3 1 1 9 8 23

2nd Umeå FC 10 4 1 0 9 2 2 1 2 4 7 20

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd Norrköping 11 3 3 0 14 8 2 1 2 15 12 19

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Öster 11 3 0 2 6 3 3 1 2 11 8 19

5th Västerås SK 10 3 2 0 11 3 2 0 3 8 10 17

6th Värtan 10 4 1 0 13 3 0 2 3 4 8 15

7th Assyriska 10 2 1 2 9 6 2 1 2 7 7 14

8th Häcken 10 4 0 1 11 5 0 2 3 2 5 14

9th Kalmar FF 10 1 1 3 11 13 3 1 1 10 6 14

10th Västra Frölunda 10 4 1 0 13 9 0 1 4 3 12 14

11th Falkenberg 10 2 2 1 5 4 1 2 2 5 9 13

12th **Kiruna** 10 2 2 1 6 5 1 1 3 8 11 12

13th Café Opera 10 2 1 2 10 8 0 4 1 4 6 11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14th Sandvikens IF 10 3 0 2 8 10 0 1 4 6 13 10

15th Brage 10 2 1 2 8 8 0 0 5 5 14 7

16th Landskrona 10 0 2 3 6 12 0 0 5 2 12 2 </pre>

[kamikazecf]

That last win was important because it was very unlikely that we’d get another in our next game, away to leaders IFK Malmö. I was not very confident in our ability to get even one point, but I did want to try for it and so I tinkered. We ran out a 4-1-4-1 with Ståle Merkesdal as the holding midfielder and Niklas Löfgren the lone striker. Robert Kjellin dropped to the bench after his poor performances of late and Kenneth Haaland took his place.

19.6.2005 at Malmö Stadion, Malmö

First Division Game 11: IFK Malmö (1st) vs. Kiruna (12th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. IFK Malmö: -

F. Henriksen ©; M. Lindmark, K. Haaland, F. Langseth, G. Teigen; S. Merksedal; J. Bergström, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, R. Kjellin, T. Johnsen, E. Lantto, J. Gunillasson

The first thing that struck us about Malmö Stadion was its sheer emptiness. Fewer than 5,000 fans (including traveling support) came to a stadium that could hold seven times their number. None of us could fathom such a lack of support for a team that was in first place and playing in a simply gorgeous facility – the best we had yet visited.

Malmö, as expected, came out in an attacking formation, but the first real action of the game was in our attacking third. Ståle Merkesdal linked up with Nils Johan Labba to create an opportunity in the area, but Labba was hacked down without a whistle and so the chance never really materialized.

Perhaps the referee felt that he had made the wrong call, though, because five minutes later he called a foul that proved he was certainly no Malmö partisan. The home team’s veteran defender Magnus Samuelsson slid through Niklas Löfgren during an attack, and though it was a hard tackle, it appeared to me as though Samuelsson got a piece of the ball during the course of his slide. The ref either disagreed with me or wanted to give us a make-up call, because he showed Samuelsson a straight red card and suddenly we were a man up.

It wasn’t a position I had expected us to be in and I was frankly not sure how to handle the situation – Malmö were still a better team than us, and at home, but with a man advantage surely we should push for a goal? In the end I stuck with the same formation, which was probably necessary since the first few chances created after the sending-off was theirs anyway. Sierra Leone striker Eddy Lopez (who could probably start for a country much larger than Sierra Leone) forced Frode Henriksen into a save and hit a volley over the bar, ensuring that we didn’t come too far out of our defensive shell.

Lopez kept coming forward and shortly before a half-hour had passed he was caught offside, which provided the impetus for our opening goal. Frank Langseth took the kick and set up Geir Teigen for a run down the left wing. He crossed for Niklas Löfgren, who exchanged passes with a charging Marcus Lindmark before slamming his fifth goal of the season past Malmö’s lunging goalkeeper.

So now we were in the position of defending a lead with a man advantage against a really quality side. For the rest of the half, we did so quite effectively, even creating a few opportunities for Löfgren to fail to take advantage of. The second half began brightly, too, with some fine buildup play ending in a well-executed last-ditch tackle by the home team. But you can’t keep a player like Eddy Lopez down for long, and his long run down our left flank ended when he slashed into the box and was promptly slashed down himself by Marcus Jönsson. Yellow card for us and a penalty kick for them, which was dispatched with aplomb and put the game back on level terms.

Any desire we had to attack was quenched after that goal and Kiruna set about trying to hold on for the single point. Lopez remained an important figure in the game, striking a 25-yard freekick that forced a save from Frode Henriksen. The resultant corner kick saw Kenny Haglund lose out on a header to Dennis Nilsson, and in it went. Down 2-1.

We did still have a man advantage and so pressing for a tying goal wasn’t an unusual thing to try. Niklas Löfgren managed to beat the Malmö goalie with a shot, but was denied by the post. Even a late triple substitution which saw us revert to a 4-4-2 formation wasn’t good enough to get us back in it.

IFK Malmö 2-1 Kiruna

N. Löfgren 27’ (M. Lindmark); M. Eriksson 66’ pen; D. Nilsson 74’

Subs: E. Lantto for N. Labba, 82’; J. Gunillasson for S. Merkesdal, 82’; T. Johnsen for M. Lindmark, 82’

Misc.: M. Jönsson, yellow card, 65’; N. Löfgren, yellow card, 71’

Att.: 3491

***

The disappointing but not unexpected loss dropped us to 13th, a point ahead of Café Opera who had played 12 games to our 11.

[kamikazecf]

In our next game we were set to take on Häcken at Lombiavallen. They sat in 10th place before the game, two points ahead of us. There were a couple key players missing for them so I wanted to take all three points out of this game and jump ahead of them in the league. Robert Kjellin reassumed his spot in defense with Kristian Gjesdal returning to the right wing and Juha Tuominen getting a start next to Löfgren in attack.

19.6.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 12: Kiruna (13th) vs. Häcken (10th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Häcken: -

F. Henriksen ©; M. Lindmark, R. Kjellin, F. Langseth, G. Teigen; K. Gjesdal, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, J. Bergström, E. Lantto, J. Gunillasson

An upbeat beginning to this game saw Häcken’s young goalkeeper turn away three shots within the first seven minutes. After Juha Tuominen sent a header over the bar, the game settled down somewhat for fifteen minutes or so. Häcken remained unable to put together anything offensively, and despite the presence of two ex-internationals for Norway and Sweden in midfield, they were being decisively outplayed in that area of the pitch.

22 minutes into the game, Kiruna took a trip to their local bank to convert gold dominance bullion into cold hard goal cash. Riiiiight. Anyway, Marcus Jönsson lifted a corner into the area which rattled around a bit and then fell to Kristian Gjesdal. The Norwegian winger, still more than a month from turning 17, hit a fierce shot past Häcken’s goalie and into the back of the net for his first professional goal.

Häcken finally got an attack together after Gjesdal’s goal; the excellent Njugo Demba-Nyrén set up a solid header that Frode Henriksen saved well. The effort was one of only two they could muster in the first half, the second of which failed to force a save from Henriksen. As for Kiruna, we had a nice exchange between Marcus Lindmark and Tuominen which resulted in a sharply struck half-volley from the striker, which was saved.

Kristian Gjesdal was bubbling over at halftime, still basking in the afterglow of his first goal. The first real action of the second half compounded his joy. Frank Langseth sent Geir Teigen flying down the left (something which Geir had become particularly adept at), and Teigen gave it up to Marcus Jönsson ahead of him. Jönsson crossed to his right, springing Gjesdal again. Kristian’s low, hard shot served perfectly well to double our lead.

Häcken looked well and truly beaten after that goal, even with over half an hour left to play, and so Gjesdal’s third goal of game and career was largely academic. Marcus Lindmark sent the ball forward for Tuominen; Juha tapped it to his right where Gjesdal was waiting for it and finished like a veteran.

Kiruna 3-0 Häcken

K. Gjesdal 22’, 54’ (M. Jönsson), 64’ (J. Tuominen)

Subs: E. Lantto for N. Labba, 82’; J. Gunillasson for S. Merkesdal, 82’; T. Johnsen for M. Lindmark, 82’

Misc.: M. Jönsson, yellow card, 65’; N. Löfgren, yellow card, 71’

Att.: 3491

***

Victory, and in a damned convincing fashion! We jumped up to 11th and Kristian’s explosion brought our goal differential back to even. The win was a good thing to take into our three-week break before the next match against Värtan in mid-July.

[kamikazecf]

Well, the games of June ended on a high note, but the month itself finished with a decidedly depressing tone. We received notice on the 30th of the month that the Health and Safety Inspector for our region had “with great regret†made the decision to shut down part of the seated area in the west stand at Lombiavallen. It was apparently not being maintained to his stringent standards. The practical upshot was that we lost 350 seats worth of capacity, which was simply killer – we had been filling the stadium to the tune of 3,399 per game, and now the capacity had been dropped to 3150. It looked as though we might just find ourselves in the position of turning fans away – now that would be unusual.

Our financial situation, like our stadium, had continued its fall into disrepair over the past few months. We had lost just over a million SEK so far that year and were looking at a balance of almost 12,000,000 in the red – with no foreseeable way to get out of it.

Our first meeting with Värtan saw us keep the same lineup from our demolition of Häcken; young Thomas Johnsen replaced Johan Bergström, who had picked up a slight knock, on the bench.

17.7.2005 at Hjorthagens IP, Stockholm

First Division Game 13: Värtan (6th) vs. Kiruna (11th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Värtan: -

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, R. Kjellin ©, F. Langseth, G. Teigen; K. Gjesdal, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, T. Johnsen, E. Lantto, J. Gunillasson

How exciting can 0-0 games be? I’d say this one was only slightly less exciting than that. A fairly tense match saw Frode Henriksen forced into three saves and Värtan hit the woodwork twice in addition to sending a pair of shots off target. As for us, our lone shot on target was courtesy of Juha Tuominen, a low volley which was well-saved. Niklas Löfgren had a subpar game and hit a few chances wrongly. Kristian Gjesdal had another good game, setting up Löfgren for more than one opportunity; Geir Teigen, Marcus Jönsson, and Nils Johan Labba also played well, as did Joakim Gunillasson after coming on as a substitute.

Värtan 0-0 Kiruna

Subs: E. Lantto for K. Haglund, 69’; J. Gunillasson for N. Löfgren, 69’

Misc.: -

Att.: 3397

***

The point kept us tenuously in 11th place with a three-point cushion down to Falkenberg in the top relegation spot.

[telstar]

I used to play with them but just for one season. I was so devestated that I lost in the playoffs that I just couldn't continue as I lost my most promising player who was me . Anyways I like your stuff KUTGW.

[kamikazecf]

Thanks telstar!

Swedish Cup time rolled around and we were drawn away against non-league Älgarna. With Jonatan Boström manning the goal, Geir Teigen joined Björn Andersson, Kenneth Haaland, and Thomas Johnsen in defense; the midfield was Marcus Jönsson, Ståle Merkesdal, Kenneth Haglund, and Kristian Gjesdal, and Joakim Gunillasson captained the side next to Juha Tuominen in attack. After going down 1-0 to a fluke goal early, Geir Teigen equalized with a 44th-minute penalty kick (his first goal for Kiruna) and then, late in the game, Merkesdal set up Man of the Match Gunillasson for the game-winning volley, a 2-1 cup win, and a berth in the second round.. There were no substitutions as all of the starters played very, very well. Our second round matchup would be a difficult one – an away tie with old Second Division rivals Selånger, who still featured the dangerous Benny Mattsson in attack.

We had a home game to close out July against Sandvikens IF, whom we could pass if we defeated them due to our superior goal differential. This was our first home game since the west stand had been shut down.

31.7.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 14: Kiruna (11th) vs. Sandvikens IF (7th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Sandvikens IF: -

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, R. Kjellin ©, F. Langseth, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, K. Gjesdal, E. Lantto, N. Löfgren

Sandvikens were a pretty good team who had been improving every year in recent memory, but we were no pushovers and started off the game more impressively. Joakim Gunillasson forced a double save from Sandvikens’ goalie inside of six minutes after being set up by Marcus Jönsson, and Juha created a chance for Marcus Lindmark which he volleyed over the bar.

The visitors’ first opportunity came from a corner kick. A Sandvikens defender won the ball in the air but Frode Henriksen, who had been on excellent form of late, made a fingertip save to force another corner. This one was headed out immediately by Johan Bergström and a quick counterattack nearly resulted in the first goal of the game after a keen long-range shot from Kenneth Haglund that went just wide.

The deadlock was broken 22 minutes into the game. Nils Johan Labba got the ball to Tuominen in the area, and our young Finn waited patiently for an opening before placing his shot neatly into the left sidewall for his fourth goal of the season.

Sandvikens, prodded into action by their sudden deficit, struck back almost immediately. One of their most dangerous players was actually a central defender by the name of Erik Haglund. He was a good tackler and all, but he was incredibly effective with the ball at his feet and Sandvikens had devised a method for him to take advantage of that skill without creating undue openings at the back. Anyway, Erik carried the ball forward out of his own half, got past Robert Kjellin, and swung in a cross that was headed in past Henriksen.

The rest of the half was back-and-forth; the visitors had an opportunity snuffed out by an intercepted pass and another chance was shot wide while we saw a Joakim Gunillasson shot turned behind for a corner and a resultant header from Kjellin go wide.

Sandvikens had only had one draw from their previous 13 games, but one here was looking quite likely with both goalkeepers in very good form and neither team really dominating the action. Gunillasson and Tuominen both had good shots saved and only an alert Geir Teigen tackle prevent Sandvikens from getting an easy goal.

But Marcus Lindmark, mindful of Sandvikens’ apparent aversion to draws, took it upon himself to ensure that they didn’t pick up a second. 69 minutes into the game, he took a Marcus Jönsson cross on his right foot, controlled it with one touch, and lashed it past Sandvikens’ diving goalkeeper. Lindmark’s first goal of the season could not have come at a better time.

We held out for the win easily enough. Sandvikens’ scariest threat was another long run by Erik Haglund, who this time took the shot himself and saw it saved by Man of the Match Frode Henriksen.

Kiruna 2-1 Sandvikens IF

J. Tuominen 22’ (N. Labba); M. Rosvall 27’; M. Lindmark 69’ (M. Jönsson)

Subs: K. Gjesdal for M. Jönsson, 79’; N. Löfgren for J. Gunillasson, 79’

Misc.: -

Att.: 3007

***

The win bumped us up to 10th in the league, past Sandvikens and tied on points with Assyriska in 9th.

[ghostwriter]

cracking and brilliantly written tale, and long may it continue

good luck in D1

[kamikazecf]

Thanks! Continue it shall... at least, that's the plan

Before our game at Umeå FC, mediocre prospect Mats Strandberg left on a free transfer... to Israel, for crying out loud. Somehow Maccabi Irony Ashdod knew of our young midfielder – and, even more far-fetched, they seemed to want him, so off he went.

7.8.2005 at Gammliavallen, Umeå

First Division Game 15: Umeå FC (5th) vs. Kiruna (10th)

Last meeting: -; overall vs. Umeå FC: -

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, R. Kjellin ©, F. Langseth, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, K. Gjesdal, E. Lantto, J. Gunillasson

Umeå had some really good players, including an unusual number of foreigners. There was Liberian international Patrick Kwesi Anoff, dangerous Portuguese striker Alberto, a Spanish fullback, even a Jamaican midfielder, in addition to a host of useful Swedes. Anyway, they were a pretty quality club, and so we tried to respect that by coming out somewhat defensively, at least compared to our usual style. And they got an early goal anyway.

It was Anton Holmberg who scored it, a really fantastic native midfielder. Frode Henriksen had already been forced into two saves by the time Holmberg found himself in space and finished easily.

A goal down, we managed to scrape together a couple of opportunities for Marcus Jönsson, but their goalie was on top form and kept us out, making one particularly miraculous save from Juha Tuominen about a half-hour into the match. But it was Umeå who scored the next goal, again, this time Alberto doing the damage just before halftime with a powerful top-corner shot.

The second half was a bit more even, but the home goalkeeper Robert Claesson kept up his top-drawer performance and finished the game with five saves, conceding nothing. Even a late change of strikers – Gjesdal and Gunillasson coming on for the ineffective duo up front – yielded nothing, although the young Norwegian played particularly well in the role.

Umeå FC 2-0 Kiruna

A. Holmberg 9’; Alberto 39’

Subs: K. Gjesdal for J. Tuominen, 70’; J. Gunillasson for N. Löfgren, 70’

Misc.: -

Att.: 4575

***

Umeå’s victory helped to separate some of the mid-table teams at the season’s halfway point.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st IFK Malmö 15 6 1 0 16 7 3 3 2 14 14 31

2nd Norrköping 15 5 3 0 21 11 3 1 3 18 16 28

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd Västerås SK 15 4 3 0 15 5 4 0 4 13 15 27

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Öster 15 5 0 3 11 7 3 2 2 12 9 26

5th Umeå FC 15 5 1 2 15 8 3 1 3 7 11 26

6th Häcken 15 6 0 2 17 8 1 2 4 4 9 23

7th Västra Frölunda 15 5 2 1 17 13 1 2 4 5 13 22

8th Värtan 15 5 3 0 16 5 0 3 4 7 12 21

9th Kalmar FF 15 2 2 3 15 15 4 1 3 15 12 21

10th Sandvikens IF 15 5 1 2 14 12 1 1 5 8 15 20

11th Assyriska 15 3 2 2 11 7 2 2 4 8 11 19

12th ***Kiruna*** 15 4 2 1 11 6 1 2 5 9 15 19

13th Brage 15 5 1 2 19 13 0 1 6 8 18 17

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14th Café Opera 15 2 1 4 12 12 1 4 3 8 11 14

15th Falkenberg 15 2 3 2 8 8 1 2 5 8 20 14

16th Landskrona 15 0 3 4 7 14 0 1 7 7 24 4 </pre>

[kamikazecf]

Marcus Lindmark signed a contract extension that would keep him in the far north until the end of the 2006 season. Even though he had been a bit off-form this season, I didn’t have a lot of depth at fullback and so he’d be nice to have around until Thomas Johnsen was mature enough to take over as a starter.

13.8.2005 at Idrottsparken, Nörrkoping

First Division Game 16: Nörrkoping (2nd) vs. Kiruna (12th)

Last meeting: Kiruna 1-3 Nörrkoping; overall vs. Nörrkoping: 0W-0D-1L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, R. Kjellin ©, B. Andersson, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, N. Labba, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: J. Boström, B. Andersson, K. Gjesdal, E. Lantto, N. Löfgren

Second straight away game against a very good team. Nörrkoping were better than Umeå, anyway, and in fact boasted by far the best offense in the league. Jonas Wallerstedt and Peter Ijeh were the two main cogs of this, but Wallerstedt could create as well as score so we double-marked him from the start of the game.

To give you an indication of how well that worked, he scored twice. And Ijeh notched the other late in the game, and Nils Johan Labba got injured, and none of our four shots on target went in.

Nörrkoping 3-0 Kiruna

J. Wallerstedt 10’, 45’; P. Ijeh 85’

Subs: K. Gjesdal for J. Bergström, 73’; N. Löfgren for J. Tuominen, 73’; E. Lantto for N. Labba, 73’

Misc.: G. Teigen, yellow card, 44’; K. Haglund, yellow card, 58’; K. Gjesdal, yellow card, 73’

Att.: 4577

***

Labba’s injury would force him to miss a month; Teigen’s yellow card earned him a one-match suspension. The loss coupled with Café Opera’s draw put us four points clear of the relegation zone and dropped us to 13th place.

[kamikazecf]

We got an August home game at last, on the 21st, but the parade of quality opponents didn’t stop with 4th-placed Västerås SK coming to visit. With Teigen suspended, Labba injured, and some other players off form, I shook up the lineup a little bit.

21.8.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 17: Kiruna (13th) vs. Västerås SK (4th)

Last meeting: Västerås SK 2-2 Kiruna; overall vs. Västerås SK: 0W-1D-0L

F. Henriksen; T. Johnsen, R. Kjellin ©, B. Andersson, S. Sjöbom; K. Gjesdal, K. Haglund, S. Merksedal, M. Jönsson; K. Haaland, J. Gunillasson. Subs: J. Boström, F. Langseth, J. Bergström, E. Lantto, N. Löfgren

The first half was mostly my revamped lineup trying gamely to keep Henrik Jannborg from scoring, and succeeding somehow. He spurned four good opportunities in the first half alone, while his strike partner Isaac Nkubi – usually the more dangerous of the pair – was fairly quiet. Joakim Gunillasson missed a chance for Kiruna, and Kenneth Haaland was providing an excellent physical presence and hard work up front without it yielding him anything.

The worst part of the first half that ended scoreless was Kenny Haglund limping off injured, to be replaced by Erik Lantto. We simply didn’t have the depth to deal with more injuries, especially another midfielder, so I could only hope that it was minor.

Henrik Jannborg was inexplicably substituted at half and so the second half was Isaac Nkubi’s turn to shine. He scored seven minutes into the period after a nice run and cross from Västerås’s right-sided fullback. The visitors wanted to shut up shop and head home after taking the lead, but Kristian Gjesdal took exception and scored his fourth senior goal eleven minutes later to knot it up.

Our joy at equalizing was quickly subdued by another injury to a midfielder, Ståle Merkesdal, just a minute after the goal. Johan Bergström came on in an unfamiliar central midfield role and we worked hard for half an hour to keep the scores level. In the end, our efforts were vindicated and we came away with our first point in three games. Kenneth Haaland’s tireless effort meant that he may have been our best outfield player on the day and certainly earned another game or two, especially with the cup coming up.

Kiruna 1-1 Västerås SK

I. Nkubi 52’; K. Gjesdal 63’ (J. Gunillasson)

Subs: E. Lantto for K. Haglund, 38’; J. Bergström for S. Merkesdal, 64’

Misc.: J. Bergström, yellow card, 69’; K. Haglund, injured, 38; S. Merkesdal, injured, 64’

Att.: 3111

***

We jumped back into 12th with the win, but the distance to the relegation zone dropped to three points after Falkenberg’s victory. Merkesdal’s injury, a twisted knee, would keep him out for ten days, and Haglund would miss about a week with a bruised shin – and with two games coming up in the space of a week, this was a bad time for it. Ergo, I sought to add a midfielder on a month’s loan. Looking over scouting reports I’d received over the months, there were two likely candidates, so I offered for Brage’s Jens Gustavsson and Umedalen’s Paulo Bustamente.

Somewhat to my surprise, both bids were accepted, but Gustavsson was far more eager to join us and so I took him and canceled the bid for Bustamente. Gustavsson joined on the same day that Kenneth Haaland signed an extension that would keep him at the club until the end of the 2007 season. Unfortunately it included a very low relegation release clause... so I guess we’ll just have to stay up!

[kamikazecf]

Gustavsson was pressed into service for the first match he was available despite a minor injury. Our 2-1 cup loss at Selånger was bad enough, but the fact that Erik Lantto suffered a two-week injury was even worse. Midfield depth... was baaaaad, at that point.

28.8.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 18: Kiruna (13th) vs. Västra Frölunda (6th)

Last meeting: Västra Frölunda 3-2 Kiruna; overall vs. Västra Frölunda: 0W-0D-1L

F. Henriksen; T. Johnsen, F. Langseth, B. Andersson, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, J. Gustavsson, K. Haglund, M. Jönsson; J. Gunillasson ©, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, R. Kjellin, K. Haaland, K. Gjesdal, J. Tuominen

Haglund still wasn’t fully recovered from his injury, but we needed him, so he played. Both teams started the game with their hearts set on attacking, but Västra were the first to succeed at it. Talented midfielder Alexander Tare scored just seven minutes into the game. The visitors kept up the attacking but Björn Andersson was monstrous in defense to keep them from doubling their lead.

Kiruna struck back 23 minutes in after Marcus Jönsson sent in a corner kick that rattled around the area a bit before Frank Langseth poked it in for his first goal of the season and third ever for the club. The rest of the half passed without much incident, each team spurning one opportunity to go ahead.

It took only eight minutes of the second half for Thomas Johnsen to cross for skipper-for-a-day Joakim Gunillasson to head in and give us a lead. Västra continued to threaten, but we were well able to cope with it. And, late in the game, their goalie was sent off for a rash challenge and Geir Teigen dispatched the penalty easily enough to ice it. A good win... with no further injuries, thank goodness.

Kiruna 3-1 Västra Frölunda

A. Tare 7’; F. Langseth 23’; J. Gunillasson 53’ (T. Johnsen); G. Teigen pen 83’ (N. Löfgren)

Subs: -

Misc.: F. Langseth, yellow card, 14’; B. Andersson, yellow card, 81’

Att.: 3102

***

The win jumped us up to 10th in the league and gained us another point away from the relegation zone.

[kamikazecf]

There was little rest before our Wednesday game at Öster and much of the squad wasn’t fully recovered from their efforts against Västra Frölunda, but they don’t take that as an excuse to postpone games, apparently. The stamina problems necessitated a couple of changes despite the fine performance last time out.

31.8.2005 at Värendsvallen, Växjö

First Division Game 19: Öster (2nd) vs. Kiruna (10th)

Last meeting: Kiruna 1-1 Öster; overall vs. Öster: 0W-1D-0L

F. Henriksen; T. Johnsen, F. Langseth, B. Andersson, G. Teigen; K. Gjesdal, J. Gustavsson, K. Haglund, D. Solbakken; J. Gunillasson ©, K. Haaland. Subs: J. Boström, R. Kjellin, N. Löfgren, J. Bergström, J. Tuominen

Oh, dear. It started off so well. Kenneth Haaland again looked regal in an attacking role and Jens Gustavsson started the scoring with his first for Kiruna. Frode Henriksen was in fine form and kept Öster out of the net, Dagfinn Solbakken was performing as if he had no idea he was moving back to Norway in November, and we were frustrating the hell out of the 2nd-placed team.

For 83 minutes, we did this. And then Frode clipped one of their strikers in the area, we conceded the penalty and took the draw. And Frode whined about it, again, and we’re going to be stuck with Jonatan Boström in goal for a few games. *sigh*

Öster 1-1 Kiruna

J. Gustavsson 27’; P. Ekerhven pen 84’

Subs: J. Bergström for K. Gjesdal, 75’; J. Tuominen for J. Gunillasson, 75’; J. Boström for J. Tuominen, 84’

Misc.: F. Henriksen, red card, 84’

Att.: 4584

***

Still 10th after the draw, three points clear of relegation.

[kamikazecf]

There were some pretty bad feelings swirling around the club due mostly to Henriksen’s sulking for the day following the game until there was a shock announcement. Club chairman and majority investor Christer Junglind announced that he had sold the club to coal tycoon Tobias Alm, who had paid off all the of Kiruna FF’s debts and made 3,750,000 SEK available for purchasing players. And with a balance of 42,976,000 SEK, I could spend all of it without worrying about dragging us down into the red.

Oh. Hell. Yes.

But no. Patience must be exercised – we would not be going up this year anyway. Survival first, and then evaluate the squad over the offseason. Patience.

Our first game in front of the new board (and of September) was away to Kalmar FF, whom we could pass with a victory. With Frode Henriksen suspended, we went goalkeeperless on the bench and started Jonatan Boström; Jens Gustavsson was unfit to start and so could only make the bench.

11.9.2005 at Fredriksskans, Kalmar

First Division Game 20: Kalmar FF (9th) vs. Kiruna (11th)

Last meeting: Kiruna 0-0 Kalmar FF; overall vs. Kalmar FF: 0W-1D-0L

J. Boström; T. Johnsen, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; K. Gjesdal, K. Haglund, S. Merkesdal, M. Jönsson; K. Haaland, N. Löfgren. Subs: B. Andersson, J. Gustavsson, J. Bergström, J. Gunillasson, J. Tuominen

The last battle between the First Division’s two “K†teams had ended in a gritty scoreless draw. The first half of this one looked like it might take a similar path – hard tackling and hard feelings were the order of the day, and both ‘keepers were on fine form while the strikers were finding it difficult to be stellar.

It was scoreless after a fairly even 45 minutes during which each goalkeeper was forced into two saves. The second half was a little bit more weighted towards the home side, given that Kiruna did not force a single save while Boström had to make five more. And he did it in all kinds of ways – a punch, a leg save, diving to stop free kicks, so on. But the kid just wouldn’t let them score, and so we snatched another road point. Juha Tuominen had a chance to win it with a late header but sent it over the bar from six yards out.

Kalmar FF 0-0 Kiruna

Subs: J. Gustavsson for K. Haglund, 78’; J. Tuominen for N. Löfgren, 78’; J. Gunillasson for K. Haaland, 78’

Misc.: S. Merkesdal, yellow card, 43’; K. Haglund, yellow card, 52’; G. Teigen, yellow card, 74’

Att.: 4543

***

Another game down without losing ground on relegation is a good game in my book.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Norrköping 20 7 4 0 28 12 4 1 4 21 19 38

2nd Värtan 20 7 3 0 20 5 3 3 4 12 14 36

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd Öster 20 5 3 3 12 8 5 2 2 18 11 35

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Västra Frölunda 20 8 2 1 23 15 2 2 5 8 16 34

5th Västerås SK 20 5 5 0 18 6 4 1 5 16 20 33

6th IFK Malmö 20 6 2 1 16 8 3 4 4 16 21 33

7th Umeå FC 20 6 2 3 19 10 3 3 3 8 12 32

8th Häcken 20 7 0 3 19 10 1 4 5 5 11 28

9th Kalmar FF 20 3 3 4 20 20 4 2 4 18 16 26

10th Café Opera 20 4 2 4 21 16 2 5 3 11 13 25

11th ***Kiruna*** 20 5 3 1 15 8 1 4 6 10 19 25

12th Sandvikens IF 20 5 2 3 15 14 2 2 6 10 19 25

13th Assyriska 20 4 2 3 16 12 2 3 6 8 15 23

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14th Brage 20 6 2 3 25 17 0 2 7 12 23 22

15th Falkenberg 20 3 3 3 11 13 1 2 8 9 27 17

16th Landskrona 20 0 4 5 8 17 0 2 9 9 30 6 </pre>

[kamikazecf]

Our next match had the potential to foul things up for us a bit, a home match against Brage who had beaten us in our earlier meeting. The midfield injuries were beginning to clear up a bit, but Frode remained suspended so Jonatan Boström looked to continue his fantastic form of last match.

14.9.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 21: Kiruna (11th) vs. Brage (14th)

Last meeting: Brage 2-0 Kiruna; overall vs. Brage: 0W-0D-1L

J. Boström; M. Lindmark, B. Andersson, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, E. Lantto, J. Gustavsson, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: F. Langseth, S. Merkesdal, K. Haglund, K. Gjesdal, N. Löfgren

Despite the extra shooting practice the team took during the week, we still managed to put ten shots off-target in this game. Jonatan Boström was on good form in the first half and kept Brage off the scoreboard until the 54th minute. We were doing more attacking, but the strikers – especially Juha Tumominen – just couldn’t hit target.

Finally, late in the match, we were awarded a penalty that Geir Teigen – having a fantastic game – put away, and I thought we’d get at least the point out of it, but Brage scored off of an injury-time free kick to snatch the win and jump above us in the league.

Kiruna 1-2 Brage

M. Kucukvardar 54’; G. Teigen 87’ pen; D. Moller 90’

Subs: K. Haglund for J. Gustavsson, 76’; N. Löfgren for J. Gunillasson, 76’

Misc.: R. Kjellin, yellow card, 69’

Att.: 3111

***

The loss dumped us into 13th place and left us just two points clear of the relegation zone.

[kamikazecf]

We had another difficult relegation battle coming up, facing Falkenberg who were five points back of us going into the game. We welcomed Nils Johan Labba back into the fold for this one.

18.9.2005 at Falkenbergs IP, Falkenberg

First Division Game 22: Falkenberg (15th) vs. Kiruna (13th)

Last meeting: Kiruna 2-0 Falkenberg; overall vs. Falkenberg: 1W-0D-0L

J. Boström; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, N. Labba, J. Gustavsson, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, J. Gunillasson. Subs: K. Haaland, E. Lantto, K. Haglund, K. Gjesdal, N. Löfgren

You know, we hadn’t scored from open play since Gustavsson’s goal in the Öster game. Not that there hadn’t been opportunities. But I was just certain that once we got a goal, they’d start coming in droves. Six minutes into this game we had a goal from Joakim Gunillasson that was ruled out for offsides. We were píssed. Then Jonatan Boström twisted his knee and had to come off. No goalkeeper sub. You believe this?

Jens Gustavsson took the gloves and made a pair of saves over the course of the game, but one got by him. As for Falkenberg’s goalie, he saved eight shots and they came away with a win. Utter bunk.

Falkenberg 1-0 Kiruna

P. Bartholdsson 10’

Subs: K. Haglund for J. Boström, 6’

Misc.: -

Att.: 3408

***

Bunch of bullcrap. Well, we were still two points clear of Assyriska and Frode Henriksen would be back for next game – fortuitous considering Boström’s injury would keep him out for three weeks. We just need to hang on for eight more games.

[kamikazecf]

Jens Gustavsson’s loan ended and with most of our midfielders back in action, we let him go with no argument.

25.9.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 23: Kiruna (13th) vs. Café Opera (9th)

Last meeting: Café Opera 1-2 Kiruna; overall vs. Café Opera: 1W-0D-0L

F. Henriksen; T. Johnsen, F. Langseth, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, K. Haglund, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; K. Gjesdal, J. Gunillasson. Subs: K. Haaland, E. Lantto, S. Merkesdal, J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren

Café Opera were certainly the form team coming in to this game, with four wins from their last five matches propelling them away from the relegation dogfight that we were mired in. But we’d beaten them comprehensively at their place, despite playing more than 20 minutes with ten men, so we were pretty confident coming in to this one of getting at least a point.

Since our strikers had been so unreliable of late, I decided to give the enthusiastic young Kristian Gjesdal a start up front next to Joakim Gunillasson. Gjesdal’s energy nearly paid off early as he took the game’s first chance but missed wide. The decision to start the Norwegian paid off soon, though, as he set up Gunillasson for the game’s first goal 19 minutes in.

I had been pretty sure that once we managed to score, the floodgates would open. There wasn’t exactly a flood of goals, but certainly at least a trickle, and it sufficed. Marcus Jönsson picked up a goal (shockingly, his first of the season) off of a corner kick from Johan Bergström four minutes after Joakim’s contribution. We remained 2-0 up for the rest of the first half and most of the second, until Nils Johan Labba struck twice within three minutes to extend the lead to 4-0. Labba’s first goal capped off a lovely series of passes which rapidly covered distance up the field – Merkesdal left to Teigen, into the right side of the area for Bergström who knocked it down to Nils Johan for his opportunity. The second was off of a rebound.

If that score had held up we would’ve passed our opponents on goal differential, but they snatched an injury time strike to bring our differentials to -1 each, with Café Opera above us on goals scored.

Kiruna 4-1 Café Opera

J. Gunillasson 19’ (K. Gjesdal); M. Jönsson 23’ (J. Bergström); N. Labba 80’ (J. Bergström), 82’; E. Sundin 90’

Subs: S. Merkesdal for K. Haglund, 75’; N. Löfgren for K. Gjesdal, 75’

Misc.: T. Johnsen, yellow card, 17’

Att.: 3127

***

In the other important relegation games of the day, Assyriska romped over Kalmar FF 3-1, which brought the victors out of the relegation places to 13th and put Kalmar in 14th, each two points behind Kiruna in 12th. Falkenberg were beaten by Brage and so they sat in 15th place on 23 points, three back of both Kalmar and Assyriska, but with a considerably worse goal differential. Landskrona got a draw at home against Västerås SK, but were 13 points off of safety and were all but mathematically down.

Our new board indicated their immense satisfaction with the victory, which was pretty gratifying.

[kamikazecf]

Midweek games in the First Division – which we were not a part of – included a surprising result when Landskrona won 5-1 at Falkenberg, which was an excellent result as far as Kiruna were concerned. Kalmar FF could only manage a draw at home to Sandvikens, so we would go into our Sunday match at Landskrona one point ahead of Kalmar with a game in hand. Assyriska did not play either, and so stayed in 14th, a point back of Kalmar and two back of us.

Hmm. Perhaps I’d underestimated Landskrona. They were on the best form in the First Division and in addition to the 5-1 demolition of Falkenberg, they’d beaten Kalmar FF 6-1 away a couple of games ago as well. Certainly they will not be without confidence at home against us. Jonatan Boström was back in light training and so we put him on the bench, because I desperately wanted a goalkeeper there.

2.10.2005 at Landskrona IP, Landskrona

First Division Game 24: Landskrona (16th) vs. Kiruna (12th)

Last meeting: Kiruna 2-1 Landskrona; overall vs. Landskrona: 1W-0D-0L

F. Henriksen; M. Lindmark, F. Langseth, B. Andersson, G. Teigen; J. Bergström, K. Haglund, N. Labba, M. Jönsson; J. Gunillasson ©, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, R. Kjellin, K. Haaland, E. Lantto, J. Tuominen

In our worst-refereed game of the year, Mr. Lars Krantz came out with a Landskrona-colored whistle and won the game for them, awarding a penalty in the 18th minute after a phantom foul by Geir Teigen and sending off Frank Langseth with two questionably-motivated yellow cards. This was in addition to the countless retakes he allowed Landskrona to take after failed free kicks and the three legitimate Kiruna penalty claims that he turned down.

Landskrona 2-0 Kiruna (result under protest)

A. Dodoo pen 18’; D. Milovanovic 55’

Subs: K. Haaland for N. Löfgren, 64’; J. Tuominen for J. Gunillasson, 64’

Misc.: F. Langseth, yellow card, 63’, 79’ (s/o 79’); N. Labba, yellow card, 66’

Att.: 4548

***

The good news was that both Kalmar FF and Assyriska had lost as well, so we were still in 12th and two points above the drop zone. Landskrona, upon whom I wish relegation most sincerely, are now 8 points away from safety with five games left for them. Some of the teams in the First Division were on 25 games and some (including us) had played 24; we would make it up mid-week.

[kamikazecf]

It was another important match coming up for us, at home against Assyriska. Frank Langseth was suspended due to his ridiculous sending-off and there were some tired legs, so a few changes were commissioned for this one.

5.10.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 25: Kiruna (12th) vs. Assyriska (14th)

Last meeting: Assyriska 3-2 Kiruna; overall vs. Assyriska: 0W-0D-1L

F. Henriksen; T. Johnsen, B. Andersson, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; K. Gjesdal, N. Labba, S. Merkesdal, D. Solbakken; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: J. Boström, K. Haaland, K. Haglund, E. Lantto, J. Gunillasson

Assyriska knew they really ought to win this game if they wanted to stay up, and they took a step towards doing it with a seventh-minute goal past the statuesque Frode Henriksen. Three failed Kiruna shots intervened between that and Assyriska’s next strike, which put them 2-0 up in the 32nd minute. Again Henriksen’s effort was found wanting.

Well, Kiruna pushed forward a bit for the rest of the half but couldn’t come up with anything despite an interesting sequence of corner kicks. A loss here wouldn’t put us in the relegation zone, but it certainly wouldn’t help, so in the second half we came out fighting and scored quite quickly. Ståle Merkesdal gave Geir Teigen the chance to set up Kristian Gjesdal for his fifth goal of the season after a purely Norwegian attacking move. Less than twenty minutes later, Juha Tuominen also scored his fifth of the season – and first in what seemed like forever – after controlling a long overhead pass from Björn Andersson.

With the scores tied at two apiece and Assyriska decidedly on the back foot, we continued to press for a winner and it came in the 81st minute courtesy of Merkesdal’s left foot. Frode Henriksen was entirely untroubled during the entire second half and the win was a real boost for our hopes of staying up.

Kiruna 3-2 Assyriska

A. Jacob 7’; J. Tainio 32’; K. Gjesdal 47’ (G. Teigen); J. Tuominen 64’ (B. Andersson); S. Merkesdal 81’

Subs: -

Misc.: -

Att.: 3104

***

Up to 11th!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Norrköping 25 9 4 0 32 13 4 3 5 25 25 46

2nd IFK Malmö 25 9 2 1 25 12 4 4 5 21 26 45

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd Öster 25 7 3 3 16 10 6 2 4 22 19 44

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Värtan 25 8 4 1 23 8 3 4 5 13 17 41

5th Umeå FC 25 8 2 3 25 11 3 4 5 12 18 39

6th Västra Frölunda 25 9 3 1 28 18 2 3 7 9 19 39

7th Västerås SK 25 5 6 1 20 9 4 3 6 18 23 36

8th Brage 25 7 3 3 31 22 3 2 7 20 25 35

9th Häcken 25 9 1 3 21 10 1 4 7 6 15 35

10th Café Opera 25 6 2 4 26 19 2 6 5 15 22 32

11th ***Kiruna*** 25 7 3 2 23 13 1 4 8 10 22 31

12th Sandvikens IF 25 6 4 3 17 15 2 3 7 11 21 31

13th Kalmar FF 25 3 4 5 21 26 4 2 7 21 23 27

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14th Assyriska 25 5 2 5 20 16 2 3 8 11 20 26

15th Falkenberg 25 4 3 5 13 22 2 2 9 11 30 23

16th Landskrona 25 2 5 5 16 21 2 2 9 20 32 19 </pre>

[kamikazecf]

Värtan, who boasted the best defense in the First Division, came to Kiruna for our 26th match of the season. Jonatan Boström replaced Frode Henriksen in goal – Frode was still sulking about his official warning for his sending-off seven games ago.

16.10.2005 at Lombiavallen, Kiruna

First Division Game 26: Kiruna (11th) vs. Värtan (4th)

Last meeting: Värtan 0-0 Kiruna; overall vs. Värtan: 0W-1D-0L

J. Boström; T. Johnsen, B. Andersson, R. Kjellin ©, G. Teigen; K. Gjesdal, N. Labba, S. Merkesdal, M. Jönsson; J. Tuominen, N. Löfgren. Subs: F. Henriksen, K. Haaland, J. Bergström, K. Haglund, J. Gunillasson

Last game between these two sides ended in a tough 0-0 draw. This one did too, though this one was a bit different in that Värtan didn’t get off a single shot. That was mostly due to having just 10 men for 86 minutes of the game after one of their strikers got sent off for head-butting Nils Johan Labba. The visitors mustered themselves well in defense, though, and none of our seven shots went in. It was a legitimate point apiece.

Kiruna 0-0 Värtan

Subs: J. Bergström for K. Gjesdal, 82’; K. Haglund for S. Merkesdal, 82’

Misc.: -

Att.: 2717

***

Most teams in the relegation battle drew, too – Landskrona and Kalmar held IFK Malmö and Nörrkoping, respectively, and Assyriska got a point from Sandvikens. Falkenberg lost their fourth straight. The most important thing was that we had a five-point safety net.