A Viking South Utsira side increasingly stuffed with youngsters are already concentrating on looking ahead to next season after a three-game winless streak ended their hopes of material success in this one.

Despite leading at home to an equally development-heavy Homemaker Blues in Division 3d action last week through captain Emilie Klovning's strike early in the second half, Viking were pegged back by Alexandra Myhren's 86th-minute equalizer and that, in hindsight, seems to have marked the point in the campaign where things went over the hump and started their downhill slide. The following Tuesday saw the Utsirans put in a fine backs-to-the-wall performance against Division 1b leaders Triestina in their 6th-round Xpert Ladies Cup clash, but another late goal ended their hopes of a fourth-ever trip to the last 16, Danljela Svetec heading the winner from an 87th-minute corner.

Then, with the youth ranks swelling ever further, this Tuesday saw latest arrivals Bodil Hovland and Bella Austrheim make their joint debut as part of a surreal starting midfield quintet that included four players with the initial B, joining as they did two of the survivors from the last generation of that ilk, Birgit Austrheim, and Bergljot Kvalvik -- not to mention Britta Klovning in defense, for a record 5 players with the same initial in the same lineup. It was not a day to remember otherwise, though, as visitors Drakaina plundered all three points thanks to Susanna Barry's 17th-minute header, strengthening their position at the top of the table but putting the brakes firmly on Viking's lingering hopes of making a push for the upper reaches.

This latest pair out of the academy have swelled the Blood Eagles' ranks to a maximum 23-strong, including 8 teenagers and no fewer than 12 players aged 22 or under. With funds stretched to breaking point, the hope now is that with just one game a week over the run-in, development for the full squad can be successfully funded and relegation to the fifth tier avoided. Four points separate 5th-placed Viking from the dropzone, but a trip to bottom side Championettes next offers the chance to grab some breathing space.