Marienlyst Stadion, Eliteserien, 5/8/23
Me 289, Wee Man 162
Strømsgodset Toppfotball
Founded – 1907
Nickname – Godset
Honours – Eliteserien – 1970 and 2013. 1. Division -2006. Norwegian Cup – 1969, 1970, 1973, 1991 and 2010
Random Fact – The club gave Scottish fitba the laugh that was Ronnie Deila.
We got out the cab into the deluge of Drammen, after an enjoyable taxi ride with driver Mahmood (a Godset fan) who had a reasonable knowledge of Scottish fitba and fitba as a whole. (Interestingly he said “100% Hearts will win” when we talked about the upcoming Rosenborg game. As we were already ringing we weren’t giving to many fucks now about our soaked through everything. In the lead up to this I was panicking that we would not make it to the game in time as we had one hour to do so. Twenty minutes it took between jumping in the taxi to jumping in the supermarket to grab a bag of sweeties and a couple of cans prior to kick off.
The first thing of note on entry was two scarves cost me £36 quid. Dearest to date, I am more than sure about that. The second was the impressive travelling support numbers and the din they were making. But it was not to last. This because we witnessed something I have never seen in all my days. A silent protest. From both sets of fans. From the first whistle until the 15th minute. It was a strange time. I even felt the Godset goal wasn’t celebrated fully when Brunes netted in the eighth minute. There was an almost eeriness to it all but great to witness. As was the thunder and the rain falling which eclipsed what we heard up the road earlier. It was rumbling intensely, I was waiting for some Dave Lombardo drumming to kick in. But nothing was as great as the aftermath as when the 15th minute struck, both teams ultras lit up in style and smoked the place out with some brilliant levels of pyro. This with the atmosphere being electric at both ends of the pitch. Again for a second day in a row Wee Man was delighted to see it all unfold. As stated Godset went up 1 v 0 early on. This coming from a howler from Vålerenga keeper Storevik who rush out to clear but miss hit straight to Jonatan Brunes who immediately chipped the ball back over him fro 35 yards. A decent finish but awful goalkeeping. They also should have doubled the lead when Sondre Hanssen headed a set piece wide. Target at least was surely the outcome but no. The same can be said for Bjordal for Vålerenga who walloped an effort from the edge of the box wide. There was no excuse for not hitting the target. Petter Strand was next up to with an effort for the visitors but it was too close to Mhyra in the home goal. As the half was exhaling its final breath the Oslo side did breach the Godset goal when a rapid fire break saw Ofkir gallop through on the left to fire across to Hakans who tapped in at the back post. An incredibly quick breakaway goal with the last kick of the half.
HT 1 v 1
The half wasnt long started before the visitors were in the lead. This came from from some horrific defending, this as the defenders seem to look at each other instead of Storeviks lengthy clearance which just seemed to sail through the centre defenders leaving Ofkir to run in and slot home. Route one at its best but awful all the same. Godset had the ball in the net through a cracking finish from Thereksen but Brunes had handled in the lead up which both of us did see. The fans continued to back their side to hilt but the game lulled for a while until Seedy Jatta killed the game with a third as he tapped home a rebound from Myhra save after he palmed a long range Ofkir effort straight to him instead of wide and that was that. A good win for new manager Geir Bakke who gets his team up to third bottom for the time being. The fans were clearly loving it as smoke billowed out of the ground as we headed back into the the centre to find the bus stop. This took hardly any time an gave us a chance for a drink (Pidgen was the place) and to reflect on things. A good football day albeit still being wet at the back of 8 from 2pm but Wee man was delighted, i was fair tricket and I had a local beer looking out at Drammen thinking it would be a great Euro away day given the amount of bars and big square to invade. Once we had finished up we headed to the bus which inevitably was a Vålerenga express and full of “Bohemians”. This as I carried four scarves of other teams. including two Strømsgodset.
Entrance – Me 250 NOK (approx £19), Wee Man 150 NOK (approx £11.50)
Attendance – 6860 (official)
Pie – Pøls i Lompe (Sausage in pocket) 40NOK (approx £3.10)
Pint – Scoofed a couple of cans outside
Score Predictions – Me 2 v 0, Wee Man 2 v 1
Score Prediction Season Totals – Me 0 v 0 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 