Edwin stars to sink Reymers

Reymersholm IK 0-3 Långholmen FC Colm Kenny 23 mins, Mattias Larsson 44 mins, Chris Allen 88 mins

• Långholmen FC and the teams to beat (13 Apr 09)
• Långholmen advance to cup quarter finals (5 Apr 09)
• The Local and Långholmen - a winning team (19 Jan 09)

Reymersholm were left with a headache after this league opener at Zinkensdamn as they were outplayed and outclassed by a solid Långholmen side. Earlier in the day the management team had a few call offs due to injury, but as in the cup match last week the selected squad did a fantastic job.

The Stripes donned their new strip on a chilly night and certainly gave their fans a great deal to cheer about. After a nervy start by both sides the game settled and would have been a better spectacle had referee Ekwall let the game flow instead of blowing his whistle every thirty seconds. It was the young official's first division four game and you could tell.

Reymers were awarded a penalty on 12 minutes when Ciaran McCormack was adjudged to have obstructed the Reymers forward just inside the box. It was a well placed kick but Edwin Bergquist was equal to it as he got down to his left to block the kick. The ball was then crashed onto the upright before being cleared to safety, much to the jubilation of the large travelling contingent.

Reymers did pose a few threats to the Stripes early, particularly in the form of Thomas Engström who was by far their best player on the night. Robbie Graham and Mattias Larsson really got a grip of the midfield and put in a performance that inspired the whole team.

A neat passing game with penetrating balls forward to Kenny and Allen up front meant that a goal was inevitable. Ciaran McCormack picked the ball in midfield and delivered the ball with pin point accuracy to Anton Björlund Bergström who completely outran the hapless full back before supplying a fantastic cross to Colm Kenny who met the ball with his head and watched as the ball flew past Niklas Holmberg in goal.

Once again Bergquist was called into action when he tipped over a looping header on 34 minutes. Kenny should have doubled his tally minutes later when he was through on the keeper but he placed his shot straight at Holmberg. Andy McClelland made a great challenge to break down the play when Engström made a rare breakthrough. The quiet spoken lad from Northern Ireland really is a great addition to the team and never put a foot wrong all night.

Goal number two was bagged by Mattias Larsson after the ball was played in to Kenny. The burly striker collided with the keeper and the ball bounced up to Larsson who nodded home to send the Långholmen Ultras into raptures.

The atmosphere at Zinkensdamn was electric and Långholmen's 12th man spurred them onto victory and a third goal. A mix up in the Reymers defence gave Chris Allen the opportunity to take the ball past the keeper and roll it into the gaping net. The home side were unable to unlock The Stripes' rearguard and can thank themselves lucky they walked away with only 3 goals against a much better Långholmen team.

Långholmen will certainly surprise a few teams this term and on this showing do not look like a team that will finish mid-table as so many neutrals have tipped. It’s back to Stora Essinge for the black and white stripes on Saturday where they meet Järla.

Stripes Man of the Match: Mattias Larsson.

Crowd:148 (138 Långholmen fans)

Refwatch: Over ambitious performance by the referee this evening.

Next match: Långholmen FC v Järla IF

Venue: Essinge IP (Map)
Kick-off: Saturday April 18th, 2pm