Cup final in Oslo, October 23, 1994 =================================== Molde - Lyn 3-2 (2-1) Ullevaal stadion Att: 24.524 0-1 Jo Tessem (9) 1-1 Tarje Nordstrand Jacobsen (12) 2-1 Ole Bjørn Sundgot (42) 3-1 Arild Stavrum (48) 3-2 Jan Derek Sørensen (59) Referee: Terje Singsaas, Rosenborg. Yellow card: Sigbjørn Kolnes (6), Lyn, Ulrich Møller (7), Flaco (58), Molde. Line-ups -------- Molde (5-3-2): Morten Bakke - Trond Strande, Sindre Rekdal, Jose Maria Glaria Avizanda "Flaco", Knut Anders Fostervold - Ulrich Møller, Tarje Nordstrand Jacobsen (Andre Nevstad from 86.), Kjetil Rekdal, Daniel Berg Hestad (Tor Gunnar Johnsen from 80.) - Ole Bjørn Sundgot, Arild Stavrum; Petter Rudi, Berdon Sønderland, Jan Berg. Lyn (4-3-3): Ståle Oldeide - Thomas Østvold (Tom Buer from 90.), Thomas Wæhler, Anders Eriksson, Sigbjørn Kolnes - Axel Kolle, Stein Amundsen, Sture Fladmark - Jan Derek Sørensen, Jo Tessem, Tommy Bergersen (Anders Rønnevig from 75.) Match report ------------ After spending a long Saturday evening/night on various pubs, drinking and teasing a few Molde fans (which wasn't hard as they were everywhere :-), it was hard to get up in time for the big game. But as this was my first ever cup final, and additionally Lyn were one of the teams, I couldn't afford to miss it. I arrived at Ullevaal at noon, where I met the friends I was going to the match with. Even though the game wasn't about to start until 13.15, we decided to find our seats (or rather our standing space as we had tickets in the stands in the VG-curve). It was obvious that there were a lot more Molde fans than Lyn supporters in the stadium. Their blue/white flags were everywhere. Would we be the only ones cheering for Lyn? Fortunately my fears were unfounded as many Lyn supporters arrived just in time for the kick-off. Still, the Molde supporters were in majority. They didn't make much noise though. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed by the whole atmosphere, as neither of the sides were able to create any. After the awarding of a few prices to Rosenborg and RBK players (which gave both sets of supporters a welcome opportunity to do some serious booing :-)), the singing of the national anthem and the salute to King Harald, it was finally time for the kick-off. Molde started best and only a good save from Oldeide prevented Sundgot from scoring after only two minutes. Then, two yellow card followed in the space of one minutes, and the game was really underway. After 10 minutes Lyn took the lead on what is best described as one of the worst goalkeeping errors of any time, worthy of being included in any collection of stupid errors. A long ball forward towards Tessem was hit too hard and seemed to go straight into the keeper, Morten Bakke, who had come out of the penalty area. Instead of just kicking the ball up front, as every decent keeper would do, he decided by some reason to wait and pick it up inside the area. However, the ball bounced on the very wet field and went straight past him! Tessem, who had followed up, managed to get his foot to the ball ahead of the keeper, who was now throwing himself backwards towards the goal, and scored with ease. Unfortunately the lead was only to last two minutes before Molde equalized on another goalkeeping error, although not as bad as the first one. Perhaps the Lyn-keeper had been inspired :-) A cross from the left was hit to hard and the keeper only had to pick it down. Somehow he managed to lose the ball straight out in front of him, and into the path of Jacobsen, who had no problems scoring in the empty net. After these eventful 15 minutes the game settled down, and the rest of the half was fairly even, with neither side able to string more than a few passes together. In fact, it was very boring at times. However, a few minutes before half time, Molde took the lead for the first time. Again, it was a very lucky and scrappy goal. Sundgot was sent through in the middle. His shot from 16 meters was blocked, but the rebound hit his left arm (unintentionally), and sailed over Oldeide, who of course had come out of his line, and into the open goal. A lucky deflection indeed. In the second half, the game was virtually decided after 5 minutes, when Molde scored their third. Sundgot took the ball from a Lyn-defender on the left, when it would have been easier to send the ball into the stands, and passed to Stavrum. Surrounded by three Lyn-players, he fooled two by going straight into the penalty area, and then shrugging off the last before placing the ball between Oldeide's legs and into the goal. A great goal by the best player on the field, I must admit. One would imagine that Lyn were now almost down and out after conceding goals bott straight before and after the break. However, that was not the case. Instead they raised their game, and for the rest of the half they clearly dominated the play, and played really well at times. The only Molde chances came on counter-attacks, but they were few and far between, even though on one of their quick attacks Stavrum hit the bar. The rest of the oportunities fell to Lyn, who got their important second goal with more than half an hour left to play. Again, the play which lead to the goal started by a mistake. Now, it was the Norwegian international Rekdal who sent the ball straight to a Lyn-player. He said thaink you, and passed into the middle to Sørensen, who sent the ball past Bakke. On this occasion the keeper could not be blamed, but the defenders in front of him could have done a much better job. The last 30 minutes, Lyn pressed for the equalizer. They created quite a few chances and a handful of corners, but the ball stayed out of the Molde-goal. The closest they came was when Amundsen kicked air straight in front of goal, and when Tessem shot over alone with Bakke, after a beautiful back-heel by Sørensen. In the dying seconds the drama was completed, when Lyn felt they should have had a penalty when Fladmark was brought down. I had a difficult view of the situation, and at that time it was hard to tell whether the claims were justified, or not. However, after watching the incident on replay back home, I think a penalty should have been given as the Molde-player didn't hit the ball at all, even though the tackle wasn't that bad. The referee though, decided otherwise and blew his final whistle one minute later. All in all, the game was a very scrappy but entertaining affair. At times the play was so bad, that you wouldn't want neither of these teams to play in Europe next season. However, the tension was always there, especially in the second half when Lyn pressed Molde backwards in search for the equalizer. With the risk of being accused of bias, I felt that Lyn at least deserved a draw and extra time, as Molde were far from being superior. The game could really have gone either way, and what is probably a correct description is that Molde were the more luckier side on the day, making the fewest mistakes in defense. This was Molde's first ever major trophy, after losing two cup finals (Brann, 1982 and Viking, 1987) and finshing second in the league on two occasions as well. They will now represent Norway in the 1995/96 Cup Winner's Cup.