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Giza/Hoyvík v Undriƌ

5pm  26 July 2014

Faroe Islands, Ólavsøka Game
Giza/Hoyvík 2 Undriƌ 1 (att 20)


Having had enough of pre-season friendlies I had no intention of watching any non-competitive football during this trip, but that was before I learnt about this game.

Ólavsøka is 
Tórshavn's big festival, primarily on Monday and Tuesday this year but handily encompassing the entire weekend. Local sport plays a significant role in the many events (along with music, culture ... and drinking).

All the town's three premier league teams had home games over the extended weekend, but with the lower divisions still on their mid-summer break groundsharers 
Giza/Hoyvík and Undriƌ FF staged this match as part of the celebrations.

I only found out about the game when I asked in the Tourist Information Centre if they had an English language guide to the weekend's Ólavsøka events. That listed the fixture for 7pm on the Sunday, but an online search for more info revealed it was 5pm on Saturday, when I had no other games to watch.

The clubs are currently second (Giza/Hoyvik) and bottom (
Undriƌ ) of 2 Deild, the Faroe Islands' third division. Both teams play at the third of the three grounds at the Gundadular, known as the Niƌari vollur and adjacent to Tórshavn's national stadium and to the ground shared by HB and B36. 

It's an enclosed and floodlit ground with a 3G pitch. No cover, but there's a elevated standing area, and a few steps of terracing, on one side. 

It wasn't a bad game, although the standard wasn't brilliant. Giza/
Hoyvík  made hard work of winning despite looking the better side. The crucial goal came in the 90th minute. They'd earlier taken the lead five minutes into the second half, but failed to take chances to extend the lead and looked to have been punished for it when Undriƌ's efforts were rewarded with a late equaliser. Although he failed to keep out the late winning goal, Undriƌ's goalkeeper was excellent.

For anyone interested in the convoluted histories of lower league Faroese clubs (not many I suspect) ... FF Giza were formerly Nólsoyar Ítróttarfelag (NIF), FC 
Hoyvík  were formerly IF Fram 
Tórshavn. They merged in 2012 to form the unimaginatively titled FF Giza/FC Hoyvík

Undriƌ FF were formed in 2006 and take their name for their first sponsor, an Icelandic washing powder!









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