March 7, 2007: Lions Cup 2007 (= "Charity Shield")
B36 Tórshavn - HB Tórshavn 1-1 (1-1) 0-1 Rókur av Fløtum Jespersen
1-1 Fróði Benjaminsen
B36 win 5 - 3 on penalties (no extra time played)
Shoot-out:
B36 - HB
1-0 Jákup Mikkelsen
1-1 Christian Høgni Jacobsen
2-1 Fróði Benjaminsen
2-2 Jákup á Borg
3-2 Alex dos Santos
3-2 Páll Mohr Joensen misses for HB
4-2 Mikkjal Thomassen
4-3 Rasmus Nolsøe
5-3 Allan Mørkøre
On aggregate: B36 - HB 6 - 4
Last years's Cup winners B36 Tórshavn won the Lions Cup 2007 after beating Champions HB Tórshavn in the a new "Charity Shield"-inspired Super Cup.
But it was HB who made the perfect start to the game when they scored after just 2 minutes. Rókur av Fløtum Jespersen received the ball about halfway on the B36 half slightly to the left and was allowed to run towards the penalty area more or less unchallenged, and from the edge of the penalty area, slightly to the right, he fired a low diagonal shot into the left bottom corner.
10 minutes into the match, Rókur av Fløtum Jespersen tried again from long range, but this time Jákup Mikkslsen in the B36 goal was up to the task.
HB dominated the first 15 minutes and seemed to be cruising towards the victory. HB played the ball around well and seemed very comfortable on the ball and let B36 do a lot of chasing.
But however, B36 improved and gradually took the control of the game and halfway into the first half, B36's pressure resulted in an equalizer, when HB's off side trap was beaten and Fróði Benjaminsen was played completely clear in the penalty area, and he hammered the ball behind HB's goalkeeper, Marcin David.
Shortly after, Hanus Thorleifsson went close for B36 with an header, but goalkeeper Marcin David tipped the ball over the bar.
Also Bergur Midjord was close for B36, but his shot went just wide of the right post.
From the start of the second half, HB upped the tempo a notch and with quick passes, they put a lot of pressure on B36.
Christian Høgni Jacobsen who had come on for the 2nd half was immediately in action and was close to score on two occasions early on.
Also Rókur av Fløtum Jespersen went close when his thunderous volley hit the top of the left post. – Could have been the goal of the season already!
But B36 also created chances at the other end with their quick breaks, and for the last 15 minutes of the match, it was B36 who had the initiative and created the better opportunities.
Twice Allan Mørkøre was in a good position to shoot from long range, but the somewhat acute angle made it difficult to score and in one case he was maybe distracted by a photographer's bright flash just as he was about to shoot.
Also Fróði Benjaminsen went close for B36 with a free header, but it was right at the goalkeeper.
And as the result was 1-1 after the 90 minutes, they went straight to the penalty shoot-out.
B36's goalkeeper, Jákup Mikkelsen scored on B36's first and then saved HB's 3rd penalty. This was the only miss of the evening and B36 therefore won the shoot-out 5-3 and the game 6-4 on aggregate, and moreover, The Lions Cup, played for for the first time in what is planned to become an annual cup between the champions and the cup winners from the previous season – as in the English Community Shield.
After tonight's match, it's probably safe to say that both B36 and HB will be amongst the top teams this season, but although B36 were victorious this time, I'll argue that if HB can play for 90 minutes like they did in the start of both halves (and I'm sure they are able to do exactly that), then HB will be the team to beat in 2007!
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