Stripes News

A busy week for the Stripes last week saw a victory and a defeat. After a good performance against Olympiacos on Tuesday, Långholmen played away to Järla on Friday night and were beaten 2-1. Meaning that it all comes down to the last game of the season and a derby match against Reymersholm at Stora Essinge.

The home side need to win and hope that at the same time Marieberg lose away to Boo. Whatever the outcome it has been an exciting season for a team that were tipped to fall back down to division 5 by many.

There should be a bumper crowd for the game on Sunday afternoon and hopefully come a quarter to four it will be celebrations all round.

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OLYMPIACOS FC (1) 1

LÅNGHOLMEN FC (2) 4

This match was a crucial one in Långholmens push for league title glory and although the scoreline reads like an easy victory it was far from it as Olympiacos pushed the league leaders all the way in an uptempo affair.

Colm Kenny will relish in the fact that he got another brace of goals to try and creep nearer Chris Allen at the top of the goal scoring charts for the Stripes. The first of his strikes was an absolute peach as he steered the ball home from the edge of the box, the geniune happiness on the forwards face is a joy to behold, it doesn’t matter if he scores in the reserves, on the training ground or in the first string, it’s the same gleefull expression you get with the likeable Irishman.

From the off Olympiacos showed they were here to put a dent in Långholmen aspirations to be top dogs this season and this was reflected in the no nonsense approach of Zegai Habtam, who was red carded in the first encounter between the sides, he hassled and bustled and covered every blade of grass in an intense opening.

The nerves were settled for Långholmen when Derri Thomas stepped forward on 20 minutes when he took on a super pass from captain Robbie Graham steered the ball into the net via the right hand post.

Better teams would maybe have crumbled at this point but the home side kept plugging away and were rewarded with an equaliser on 29 minutes when Byamhi played in a perfectly flighted free kick to the head of Adabi to make it all square.

Approaching half time and that man Thomas again was in the right position to give the Stripes the lead after knocking home a fine ball from Kenny.

Kenny recieved some hard treatment from his marker in the first ten minutes of the second half but silenced him later with his fantastic double. Andy O’Sullivan should of made it three when he squandered a great chance on 55 mins , keeper George Shabo coming out to make a great one on one save and keep his side in the game.

Stripes keeper Edwin Bergquist also produced the goods at the other end with a couple of world class stops. The second of these with an outstretched leg on 76 minutes, the strike looked as if it was going back to 2-2, but much to the relief of the away teams defence Bergquist saved the day.

The last twelve minutes belonged to Colm Kenny. First his low effort to make it three, Andy O’Sullivan the provider and  then he sealed things with five minutes left to play by turning his marker inside out before rifling home, revenge was indeed sweet.

An away win against Järla will almost secure the league for Långholmen, but as manager Latham will tell anybody this is just the third of four cup finals for the Stripes.

Next match away to Järla this Friday night details can be found at www.langholmenfootball.com

Report Scot James

Photo couirtesy of Per Hägglund

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LÅNGHOLMEN FC (6) 10

STUVSTA IF (0) 1

Långholmen take no prisoners in ten goal romp.

The outcome of this game was very apparent at 3 minutes past two at Stora Essinge. That is the moment when the home team netted the first of ten goals to send sorry Stuvsta packing. The away team had nothing to play for apart from pride and even with that they failed miserably. Långholmen showed absolutely no mercy in a ruthless display of attacking football and could easily of walked off the pitch at the end with at least fifteen goals to their credit.

Andy O’Sullivan played a typical old fashioned poachers role with all of his strikes coming from close in. None of his five counters were stunning efforts but the bustling striker won’t be worried about that as he gave his team a much needed boost to their goals for account. Stuvsta had no cause for complaint at any point in this game. They could not get to grips with Långholmens midfield supremacy, so well orchestrated by Robbie Graham.

The Ultras on the sidelines could not believe the goal feast they were witnessing, but strangely enough they were very subdued in the first half, but livened up in the second period. Colm Kenny managed to bolster his scoring account with a brace, the first of these coming from a penalty after Allen was brought down and the second was a well taking effort when he rounded Lockner in goal. It was a tough day for the Stuvsta goalkeeper who actually made some fantastic stops, disorganization and lack of experience in defence can be put down as the main reasons for such a landslide.

Långholmen kept on relentless and started the second half in the same manner as they left the first, goals were the order of the day. O’Sullivan grabbed another two to take him to five and Derri Thomas got in the act also with a nicely taken effort. Thoughts of a club record for the first team scoring in a single match came to mind, that record was 13 scored against Sarajevo a few years back. Charly Vera claimed a fine goal for the away team to make the score 9-1 before Anton Björlund Bergström completed a good day at the office for the Stripes.

Stuvsta will focus on strengthening their squad for a tough division 5 season next year and will hope to avaoid similar humiliations in their remaining games.

The Stripes go into a tough away fixture against Olympiacos who will be more than keen to upset the momentum of their visitors. Tuesday night at Spånga IP will play a big part in deciding where the division four title will land this season.

Match report by Scot James LFC

Image courtesy of Per Hägglund

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Name

Billy Harkness

Age

29

Billy you chose to come from a club higher up in the league system, what is the main difference in the standard ?

Since coming to Sweden I’ve noticed that there is a very rigid Swedish way of playing football, and that seems to be the same even after dropping down 2 divisions. Teams like Ängby, Ekerö & Boo play exactly that same type of football as most of the teams in div. 2, however the biggest difference is the overall fitness of players and the quality in the final third.

What is your other favourite club apart from Långholmen Fc ?

Ha ha, apart from Långholmen… is there such a thing? Seriously though I’m a true Mancunian so it’s Manchester United for me all the way.

If you weren’t playing football on a Saturday afternoon what would you be doing ?

Oooh now that’s a tough one! Before I came to Sweden I’d spent 5 years travelling the world, and one of the most tempting reasons (aside from my girlfriend Anna of course) for settling down again was to start back up playing football. So I’d like to think that if I wasn’t out kicking a ball around in Stora Essingen then I’d have convinced my missus to join me on a beach somewhere in Central America, Asia or Australia! I’d still be kicking a ball around on that beach though of course… I’m sure Anna would make a top goalie!

Who has been the biggest influence on your football career to date ?

My old fella, he’s the one who had me kicking a ball when I was still in nappies and the one who passed on the religion of Manchester United to me. He wasn’t the most gifted of players himself though, a no-nonsense centre half, so I reckon I must’ve got the sport gene from my mum who was a very good athlete in her teens.

If you had the chance to have a pint with anybody in the world who would it be and why?

If the girlfriend would let me then it would be Kate Beckinsale, just to hear that gorgeous English accent for a while. If that was called off limits then my second choice would be King Eric… I was going to say Eddie Izzard but imagine the rumours if a transvestite comedian was my second choice!!!

Do you have any particular match day ritual you go through. Like for instance maybe you like to wear pink underwear on the way to a match ?

Well apart from the pink thong I do have a few other things I always do on match days. I eat a bowl of pasta and pesto 3 hours before kick-off, I have a strict getting kitted up routine, and I always start my warm up with this strange little right foot-left foot (in the same movement) passing thing.

What has been your favourite Långholmen moment so far in your short time at the club ?

We were 2-1 up away to bottom of the pile Bromsten and cruising, but we switched off at the start of the second half and then gave away a penalty. The referee had no choice but give our keeper Edwin his marching orders and from looking like we were on our way to a routine win, it felt to me that if they were to level the scores with the penalty then we were in for an almighty struggle and possibly our title dreams in tatters. With no substitute goalie on the bench we had no choice but to put the player in goal who could fill up as much of the net as possible, step up Stu Lascelles who then pulled out a wonderful diving save to his left and turned the penalty around the post. We regained our composure shortly after and went on to win the match at a canter even with 10 men, but for me that penalty save could turn out to be a defining moment in our push for the title.

More information about Sweden’s premier ex pat football club can be found here

www.langholmenfootball.com

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EKERÖ IK (2) 2

LÅNGHOLMEN FC (3) 5

Långholmen take a step towards league title

When the referee blew his whistle for half time their were a few concerned expressions on the faces of the Långholmen faithfull. Cruising with a three goal lead the away team just seemed to fall into a coma midway through the second half and let Ekerö back into the match. It was a strange sort of a first half with Långholmen being gifted the opener after a horrendous mistake in defence, the ball fell kindly to a very keen Colm Kenny and he wasted no time at all in showing the ball the taste of the netting. Ekerö were by no means bad performers in a topsy turvy first 45 and will feel cruelly done by when Billy Harkness stepped up to take a free kick on 21 minutes, the industrious midfielders effort cannoned off a defender and nestled in the netting behind Peter Björklund.

Ekerö tried to raise their game and created a couple of clear cut chances, notably from Victor Sjöberg.

The third goal was a well worked effort and once again Chris Allen showed an essence of flare and creativity when he paraded down the right flank before delivering a pass of precision to the oncoming Derri Thomas and the third goal was a fact.

Then the whole pattern of the game changed with Ekerö being handed a lifeline. First up and a very scrappy effort crawled over the line after a scramble in the box on 37 minutes. Nerves were on full alert right on the half time whistle when Sjöberg was awarded a dubious penalty and up stepped Jeff Braun to convert the spot kick and give his team real hope for the second period.

The talk on the sidelines was just how Långholmen would cope in the second half and how they would approach the game tactically, the general concensus was that they would close up shop, but in fact they did the opposite and within a minute of the restart they increased their lead. Once again Allen was the provider with another fine ball into the box and the foot of Colm Kenny, the striker hitting the ball first time and sending it to the back of the net for one of the goals of the season.

The away fans were in fine voice and lapping up a spirited performance by their team. They were given more to cheer about when man of the match Kenny seemed to take on the whole of the Ekerö team on his own before delivering the ball to Pete McConnell who added number five.

From then on in it was case of doing all the right things. Young Wilhelm Karlsson in particular showing the way with another fine defensive display. In all fairness it was a good workmanlike performance from all and sundry including stand in coach for the day Mattias Larsson.

Ekerö may feel that they have blown their shot at the title and now need to depend on other results to go their way. Långholmen keep plodding along and will approach every single remaining minute of football this season like it is a cup final.

Crowd: 161

Report by Scot James

Images courtesy of Per Hägglund

Next home match Saturday 19th Sept versus Stuvsta at Essinge IP .Why not come and support Swedens premier ex pat footballing club in action.

www.langholmenfootball.com

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