We played the Norwegian Cup quarter finals today, and as I know from past experiences, Cup games are always huge here in Norway. Just as we did last year, we managed to defeat Kolbotn  by 2 - 1.

 

Foto: Foto Ned Alley

 

I woke up in the morning with a bad chest cold and, to be quite honest, to play in this game sounded like the worst possible thing. I was not at all in the mood to run around. In fact, I think I would have much rather have stayed in bed. Eventually I did crawl out and was basically bundled into the car and driven to the Kolbotn ground.

 

Once there, my mood and condition changed. The spirit and excitement of the team definitely started to kick in. The mood at LSK can be very mercurial, with our League performances sometimes up and sometimes down. However, it always seems that for Cup games we always, and I hope I didn't just jinx us, seem to come ready and on a high.

 

The first half was a battle with both teams playing well. There were quite a few long stoppages as both teams had three or four injuries that required quite some time to sort out. We actually had to make to subs in the first half because of injuries. At 25 minutes we lost Dorte with a thigh injury and soon afterwards Moe had to come off. This meant two switches in defense which caused us to lose our rhythm for a while. This was not the kind of start we had all hoped for.

 

We did get some good chances on net, with the Kolbotn keeper making one great save off of a 25 yard shot from D. The Kolbotn keeper made good stops after good stops, and kept the game level as we went into half time.

 

In the second period, a Kolbotn player received a second yellow card, this time for a late tackle, and after conferring with the linesman, the referee ejected the Kolbotn player from the game. I did not see the tackle that pushed the ref over the edge. However from what I have heard, the red card was awarded for a series of consistently bad tackles from the player, instead of one incident in particular.

 

The double yellow card leading to a red is a soccer rule, but I don't think I have ever seen it happen before. I was perplexed when the red was shown, although teammates of mine were much less so.

 

We scored our first goal when I fed D on the right at the top of the 18. She threaded the ball through to Nasra who did a great job in steering it inside the far post with her left foot. It was a skilled play and, I think, a deserved lead for us.

 

The second goal was scored at 80 minute, when the canaduian connection worked again. I played the ball to D and she played me brilliantly through the backline of Kolbotn on the right of the field. I took a touch and pushed it inside the far post of the goal. This second goal came late in the game, and I know my teammates were as relieved as I was to see the insurance goal in the net.

 

That relief was even more palpable when Kolbotn scored a goal at 93 minutes after a a messy play in front of our goal. Ingrid Bruserud, our goalie, made two or three amazing stops before the ball finally rolled in. She deserved a clean sheet and I was sorry that we could not give this to her. However, no one seemed that bothered , as we had won.

 

Kolbotn played a great game against us, and even though a player short they ran their tails off all game long. We were exhausted at the final whistle as they had pushed us with everything they had. I do think that we were the better team on the night, but we definitely did not dominate proceedings.

 

We are very grateful for all the LSK fans who made the trip to support us at Sofiemyr, some arriving on the Canary yellow bus. We enjoyed the LSK flags and the singing They were a large group in the 256 strong crowd, and we hope to see them out supporting us again. 

 

The draw for the semi-finals sees Arna - Bjørnar playing away against  Trondheim-Orn Eagles, while LSK plays away against Roa. However, there remains some controversy about dates and the result. It appears that because of European commitments Roa must play against LSK on 28th September 2010. This depends on an appeal of the result of Saturday's game predicated on the referee awarding a red card.