There was a split pot in HIF’s home premiere. Taylor Silverholt had Olympia cheering with his equalizer in the 73rd minute at home to Brage.
HIF–Brage 1–1
0–1 Johan Arvidsson (38, assist Kevin Appiah Nyarko), 1–1 Taylor Silverholt (73, assist William Westerlund)
HIF (4-4-2): Kalle Joelsson – Benjamin Örn, Jon Birkfeldt, Wilhelm Nilsson, William Westerlund – Wilhelm Loeper, Ervin Gigovic (Adam Hellborg, 79), Lukas Kjellnäs, Milan Silva Rasmussen (Arian Kabashi, 85) – Benjamin Acquah, Taylor Silverholt.
Brage (4-4-2): Viktor Frodig – Cesar Weilid, Alexander Zetterström, Oskar Ågren, Christopher Redenstrand (Filip Sjöberg, 83) – Johan Arvidsson (Pontus Jonsson, 61), Gustav Berggren, Henry Sletsjøe, Emil Tot Wikström – Kevin Appiah Nyarko (Ömür Pektas, 79), Yeltsin Jeronimo Semedo Camoes.
1. Premiere!
After a hot spring day that turned into an April light rain just in time for kick-off, Bengt Streuli welcomed the audience back to Olympia.
A new season was here.
A new season with new hopes, fueled by the first premiership win in five years, a young, hungry, HIF team and a new coach in Klebér Saarenpää.
Björn Helgesson was there and sang live and it didn’t feel like Superettan.
22 players stepped out to play what is called in the cliché the chess of the green field.
And that’s exactly what happened.
2. It started as a game of chess…
Last year, Jan Mian was assistant coach to Klebér Saarenpää in Brage. Now he (and new coaching colleague William Bergendahl) was pitted against his old boss in his new home arena.
The teams played roughly the same, formed in some kind of 4-4-1-1 formations. The match started like a game of chess where the players Saarenpää and Mian sat deeply focused and tried to find the holes, the gaps, in the other’s low defense lines.
Cracks appeared, chances were created. HIF started with two good attacks. Brage got past on HIF’s left flank and Kalle Joelsson had to make a good save when left-back Christopher Redenstrand pulled over after Ervin Gigovic covered a shot.
Wilhelm Loeper came close to forcing the ball in when he pressed Viktor Frodig high and his play went to Loeper and over Brage’s crossbar.
The match status was a draw after about 30 minutes. Then something happened.
3. Brage strikes
HIF began to be more exposed in their own plays, got rid of the ball earlier after about half the half.
It took a while before it led to anything, but when it did, the HIF defense was forced to capitulate.
Milan Silva Rasmussen, who started weakly, had a nice dribbling raid in the offensive penalty area in the 38th minute. His hard pass towards the goal area was parried by Ågren and then everything went very quickly.
The ball was sent away, Kevin Appiah Nyarko won a duel against Wilhelm Nilsson in midfield. Nyarko freed Johan Arvidsson, who scored the lead goal for Brage.
1–0 to Jan Mian.
HIF: Harshly punished by the counter medicine that they like to feed the opponents themselves.
4. …and ended with a Silver Lightning
Victor Blixt left HIF after last season, but there can still be lightning and thunder at Olympia.
The equalizing goal came out of absolutely nothing.
A classic bolt from the blue.
The second half had been uneventful, bland. HIF had had an awfully hard time worshiping a low defending Brage. When the counterattacks came, they had not had enough quality to exploit them.
Janne Mian was about to win the chess game. Brage felt comfortable in their 1–0 lead.
Too comfortable, it would turn out.
In the 73rd minute, William Westerlund sent a cross ball from his left back position, at the center line.
There it came, the well-balanced ball into the back, which HIF had not found earlier in the half.
Taylor Silverholt ran, got the ball with the first strike, past center back Oskar Ågren. Then he sent the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Viktor Frodig.
The second half had been nothing.
HIF equalized out of nothing.
5. One point
As you know, goals change matches. In the final minutes, an equaliser-doped HIF was close to a decision several times. Wilhelm Loeper and Benjamin Acquah forced Frodig into one-handed saves and the latter thundered a shot, on a pass slanted to the back from the former, over.
The chess game ended 1–1. Chance and game fair. Match wise reasonable.
HIF has thus started the Superettan with four points in two games.
Given the conditions clearly approved.
Given how the 2020, 2022 and 2023 seasons started off less successful.
Then HIF had zero points at this point and had to work uphill for the remaining 28 games.
The most important thing about this start of the season was that something like that would not happen again.
And that there was something game-wise to build on.
For HIF, it is gratifying that this is the case.
Photo: Mauri Forsblom
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