Cup final in Oslo, October 29, 1995 =================================== Brann - Rosenborg 1-1 (0-0) aet Ullevaal stadion Att: 27 561 0-1 Roar Strand (61) 1-1 Frank Strandli (pen. 72) Referee: Jon Skjervold, Fet. Red card: Eivind Karlsbakk (31), Brann. Yellow card: Eivind Karlsbakk, Magnus Johansson, Geir Hasund, Brann, Steffen Iversen, Bjørn Otto Bragstad, Bent Skammelsrud, Rosenborg. Line-ups -------- Brann (4-4-2): Vidar Bahus - Geirmund Brendesæther (Erik Skjælaaen from 112.), Roger Helland, Inge Ludvigsen, Claus Lundekvam - Agust Gylfasson, Magnus Johansson, Per Ove Ludvigsen, Geir Hasund - Eivind Karlsbakk, Frank Strandli. Rosenborg (4-3-3): Ola By Rise - Karl-Petter Løken, Erik Hoftun, Bjørn Otto Bragstad, Ståle Stensaas - Roar Strand (Vegard Heggem from 110.), Bent Skammelsrud, Trond Egil Soltvedt (Tom Kåre Staurvik from 67.) - Steffen Iversen, Harald Brattbakk, Jahn Ivar Jakobsen. Match report ------------ - The Norwegian cup final in 1995 will most of all be remembered for the bad refereeing by Jon Skjervold. He managed to destroy the game, by giving Karlsbakk his second yellow card for filming after half an hour, when most referees would just waved play on. Later, he compensated for this decision by not awarding RBK a penalty, despite some very strong cases, and also awarding a host of yellow cards, most of which were probably correct by the book, but wouldn't have been necesssary, had the ref used some common sense throughout the game. Despite the one man advantage for 60 minutes plus extra time, despite their total domination of play, and despite taking the lead, the champions and huge favourites RBK still didn't manage to win, much to the relief for the neutral observer I might add. Their play lacked the extra finesse, and up front Brattbakk didn't have one of his best games. Brann on the other hand started brightly with Strandli hitting the woodwork, but after the sending off went completely into a defensive shell, which was quite understandable. That they still managed to earn a replay next Sunday was unbelievable, but just reward for a courageous and strong fight. The goals: Strand shot an excellent shot from 20 metres, giving the man of the match, goal keeper Bahus of Brann, no chance. On their only chance in the second half, Ludvigsen was fouled by By-Rise when clean through, but not in a scoring position as he was heading towards the byeline. The Brann player clearly went for the penalty, but still that decision was correct, and Strandli converted the resulting penalty kick, although By-Rise went the correct way. Cup final replay in Oslo, November 5, 1995 ========================================== Rosenborg - Brann 3-1 (2-1) Ullevaal stadion Att: 20 076 0-1 Inge Ludvigsen (21) 1-1 Tom Kåre Staurvik (pen. 23) 2-1 Erik Hoftun (37) 3-1 Steffen Iversen (50) Referee: Rune Pedersen, Sprint/Jeløy. Yellow card: Geirmund Brendesæther, Brann. Line-ups -------- Rosenborg (4-3-3): Jørn Jamtfall - Karl-Petter Løken, Tom Kåre Staurvik, Erik Hoftun, Ståle Stensaas - Roar Strand (Arne Winsnes from 90.), Bent Skammelsrud, Vegard Heggem (Jon Olav Hjelde from 90.) - Steffen Iversen, Harald Brattbakk, Jahn Ivar Jakobsen (Espen Solheim from 90.); Bjørn Tore Kvarme. Brann (4-4-2): Vidar Bahus - Geirmund Brendesæther, Roger Helland, Inge Ludvigsen, Claus Lundekvam - Agust Gylfasson, Lars Bakkerud, Per Ove Ludvigsen, Erik Skjælaaen (Roger Norstrand from 67.) - Eivind Karlsbakk (Erik Johannessen from 57.), Frank Strandli. Match report ------------ - As expected Rosenborg Ballklub won the cup final replay. The win was deserved based on the play, but things could have been differently had not RBK equalised so soon after Brann had taken the lead. The penalty to Rosenborg was debateable, but probably justified after Mini had been dragged down. When the champions made it 2-1 with goal keeper Bahus in no man's land it was almost over, and it definitely was when Iversen scored the third goal with a excellent header just after the restart. For the rest of the game, Brann tried to lift their game, but never really threatened the RBK goal. At the other end of the field, Rosenborg could easily had extended their lead as they were given lots of space when Brann was pressing forward in search for the equaliser. The consolation for the losers, though, was that they will represent Norway in the 1996/97 Cup Winners Cup, and with the new players Brann have bought lately, that shouldn't be a bad representative.