Breiðablik 1 v 1 FH

After extra time, 1 v 3 on penalties 
Thursday 3rd June 2010
Icelandic FA Cup Third Round
Kópavogsvöllur, Kópavogur
Admission: 1200 ISK (approx £6.50)
Programme: N/A
Attendance: 1012
Match Rating: 4

The final game of my stay in Iceland turned out to be the best of the lot, with a battle of the major clubs from the southern part of the Greater Reykjavik area in the Icelandic FA Cup 3rd Round, between Breiðablik, the reigning cup holders, which was the first major trophy in their history, and FH from Hafnarfjarðar, who have enjoyed remarkable success in recent seasons, having won the league title in five of the last six seasons, although this season they had not been quite so dominant so far, having gained seven points from their opening five games.

The Kopavogsvollur is based in the characterless commuter town of Kopavogur, but is conveniently located right next to the main dual carriageway heading south of Reykavik. Half hourly buses connect Reykjavik city centre and the stadium, however I decided to take a pleasant hour-long coastal walk, stopping off in another of the glorious geothermal swimming pools in Kopavogur. The Kopavogsvollur is set amongst playing fields and has one large, modern all-seater stand, with a much smaller old fashioned all-seater stand on the opposite side which is barely used on match days. Hard standing is available around the ground, which is not used as there is also an athletics track around the pitch. As with most Icelandic stadia, no floodlights are present.

The game was an even affair throughout, with Breiðablik probably just shading possession and chances, but it was little surprise that the game was scoreless at half time. Breiðablik took the lead on 70 minutes, but their lead lasted barely a minute, as FH equalised. 1-1 was how it stayed for the rest of the 90 minutes, and despite a few near misses in extra time, the match went to penalties. After the first three penalty kicks, it looked almost certain that Breiðablik would win the penalty shoot out, scoring with their penalty whilst FH missed both of their opening two penalties. However, Breiðablik missed all of their remaining penalties, FH scored their remaining three to send the away team into the next round.

The atmosphere at this game was excellent considering the size of the ground and crowd, with both sets of fans providing excellent and consistent vocal support