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| Strange reunion for Viking |
Viking South Utsira got their Division 1a campaign up and running this past Tuesday with a one-sided away victory at Kalkbrottet FC. Anneke Hovland put the Blood Eagles in front after 18 minutes, Tove Kvalvik doubled the lead on the hour, and 19-year-old sub Ingeborg Bjørnsmoen hammered a clincher with two minutes to play and send Viking up to 2nd in the table. Next however comes a tough home fixture with the only team to start with two wins, JAV Idols FC.
Saturday meanwhile brought a tricky conundrum of a very different type, as VSU made the trip to Division 5 side Dealu for the first leg of their Xpert Ladies Cup second-round tie. With the home side's manager missing in action, and his team left with instructions to, er, deal with opponents as aggressively as possible, Utsira boss VelvetAndroid was facing the task of protecting as many of his key players as possible whilst still producing a decent result.
It was already a fixture freighted with baggage, though for reasons other than the above.
Just last week Viking started their league campaign against Spearwives of Ygritte, in their first such meeting since Season 52. Curiously the two clubs only ever previously shared a division in Seasons 51-52, also in 1a, and in the former of those they also faced off on the first and last days of the season just like this time around -- meaning that the Spearwives were the Utsirans' first ever opponents at Division 1 level. That debut encounter back in March 2018 produced a surprise 2-1 home success against Bromis' fine side, with a first-half goal from club legend Manuças Fudida and a 72nd-minute winner from Heidi Hovland. More than that, though, Ygritte were (naturally) also the opposition in the closing game of that season -- and thus the very team against whom Android's women produced a shock 2-0 away victory, goals from Loba Deparvada and "Heidi-Ho" providing a result that meant VSU leapfrogged the Spearwives on goal difference to finish 2nd... by 1 goal.
In a division where just 5 points spanned 1st-16th in the final standings, the combination of final-day outcomes necessary for the Norsewomen to stumble into that playoff spot at the very end of their maiden visit to this height in the Xpert Ladies pyramid had seemed so unlikely, manager Android infamously did not even check the results until more than 48 hours later... by which point the playoff game for the top flight had already been and gone. In his absence the rudderless Utsirans had naturally lost to Div 1b runners-up GOD-LESS -- and history would record this was their first, last and only shot to date at reaching the Xpert Ladies' highest level. The team would finish 4th the next season, and it was all downhill from there as relegation back to the third tier followed, then two more demotions in the next four seasons to leave VSU down in Division 4 for Seasons 58-60, prior to battling their way right back up the ladder again to reach Division 1 once again currently.
And what became of GOD-LESS after their good fortune at the end of Season 51? Well they only ever spent two seasons among the elite, lost their manager soon after and sank back through the pyramid like a stone, even overtaking Viking on their descent and hitting the very bottom of Division 6 by the end of season 58 before staging a mini-revival in recent times. In that period they have gone through four different managers and changed name four times as well. Their current identity? Dealu.
This weekend's Cup meeting was the first competitive encounter between the two clubs since that none-more-frustrating playoff debacle, and it was a highly atypical VSU lineup that took the pitch for the 'reunion' with five players aged 20 or under in the starting XI and another two off the bench, plus 38-year-old Monike Austrheim in goal and 37-year-old Mette Hovland shoring up the defence. The game itself proved an almost non-event, with just one shot per side all day, although Elza Klovning netted Viking's one in the 21st minute to hand the Blood Eagles a narrow advantage to bring back to Ragnar Rock next weekend.
After dodging injuries nearly all game, though, 18-year-old Ida Økland took a knock in the 88th minute -- and then in the time added on there was a disaster at last as new 17-year-old forward Ingrid Killengreen, on for her debut as a substitute just 17 minutes earlier, was carried right back off again. The home leg next Saturday will now be awaited with trepidation.
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