Welcome back to Norway, where Lyn are halfway through their first season in the 1. divisjon. Despite starting off slowly, recent results have picked up, and now Marit Enstad’s men are setting their sights on back-to-back promotions.
I’ll now hand over to Marit as we pick up the story in July 2022, following the mid-season break. You can find Part 3 here if you want to catch up on that first.
SUMMER BREAK
Hi, det er Marit, and after a three-week break, we’re fully refreshed for the second half of the season. During this interval, I also managed to tie down some of our best players to longer contracts.
The big news was that Benjamin Zalo would be staying at Lyn until 2024 on a new €325-per-week deal. Zalo had been in excellent form at centre-half and was fast becoming one of the Bastionen’s most popular players. Our skilful inside-forward Kot Chol Tafesse would also be here for the long term after signing a similar two-and-a-half-year deal.
Left-back Joackim Olsen Solberg had been in sensational form too, for which he was rewarded with another year at Lyn. The other player to sign fresh terms was playmaker Gaute Høberg Vetti, who was now contracted for a third season, despite only having started two matches so far in his second.
For one player, though, it was time to move on. Former youth graduate Granit Berisha was having an awful season at left-back for Lyn 2, so I allowed him to consider contract offers from several lower-league teams. The 19-year-old eventually signed for Holmen, who play in the 4. divisjon.
SANDEFJORD vs LYN 1896 (1. divisjon – Match 15)
We resumed our 1. divisjon season in the middle of July at the Komplett Arena – the home of leaders Sandefjord. Like us, the Whalers had been in good form before the break, going eight matches unbeaten. Would either team show any sign of rustiness?
We certainly didn’t! In fact, we produced one of our most clinical first-half performances this season to stun the title favourites! It was a match to remember for right-back Markus Frydenlund, who scored his first career goal in the 9th minute after Joakim Olsen Solberg‘s free-kick came back off the woodwork.
Another of Jokke’s set-pieces caused Sandefjord further problems in the 17th minute. The veteran left-back’s corner was nodded goalwards by Tobias Ødegård. Home goalkeeper Reidar Hvidsten almost caught the header, only to spill it towards Martin Trøen, who finished with ease.
Trøen looked for a double four minutes later, after a mazy run into the penalty area was ended by a mistimed slide tackle from Sandefjord left-back Ridouan Essaeh. After dusting himself down, Martin stuck the rebound away to give us a 3-0 lead at the break! He would later find the net yet again from Adil Zahid‘s 73rd-minute through-ball, but an offside flag denied him a hat-trick.
To the hosts’ credit, they never gave up hope of saving anything from this match. Baby-faced would-be assassin Noah Solskjær [Ole Gunnar’s son] had his chances, but it was winger Aron Elís Þrándarson who ruined our clean sheet 10 minutes from time. Even so, there was just no halting our mid-season surge!
LYN 1896 vs ARENDAL (1. divisjon – Match 16)
That surge continued the following week, though mid-table Arendal gave us an early fright in front of the live television cameras. The match was not even 90 seconds old when 17-year-old midfielder Stian Solberg lashed in an early opener for the visitors. Thankfully, Eirik Haugstad needed barely five minutes to erase their lead through a superb headed finish from Olsen Solberg’s deep cross.
Then it was a case of ‘Enter Sandmen’, as we moved ahead midway through the first half. Jesper Sandberg played a first-time ball ahead of his fellow midfielder Mads Sande, who took a touch before driving in a cool finish from the ‘D’.
For our third goal just before half-time, we again sought inspiration from Olsen Solberg. Another killer cross from the evergreen left-back was poorly dealt with by his Arendal counterpart Simen Alexander Santos Lyngbø. Kot Chol Tafesse burst into the box to intercept the clearance and flick it to Trøen, who nodded in his seventh goal of the campaign.
Another stunning display from Jokke ended with him setting up our final goal, in the 68th minute. He swung in a left-sided free-kick to the near post, where Big Ben Zalo put us on course for a 4-1 victory. Arendal had their moments, but they were too few and far between to put our winning run in danger.
FLORØ vs LYN 1896 (1. divisjon – Match 17)
Florø might’ve been rock-bottom with only two wins to their name (both at home), but we needed to work very hard to get past them here. Although Sandberg put us ahead in the fourth minute after some intricate passing from the Lyn midfield sliced through their defence, the underdogs fought back well.
We could – and perhaps should – have moved further ahead before first-half stoppage time. Our missed chances were eventually punished when long-serving Florø playmaker Stefan Aase crossed to winger Erik Eikeng, whose calm finish left us on our backsides.
Further catastrophe was narrowly avoided in the 65th minute, when Eivind Aalvik produced a stunning save to stop centre-back Yngve Syversen from putting Florø 2-1 up. Our young goalkeeper had already denied striker Kaddu Aton just moments earlier.
Another turning point came after 68 minutes. Florø’s aggressive midfielder Emil Skomedal put everything into a slide tackle on Sande, but tore his own anterior cruciate ligaments in the process. The on-loan Sogndal teenager was stretchered off, and the hosts were cruelly deprived of a key player.
Sande hurt his groin in that challenge and was also substituted. His replacement Gaute Høberg Vetti would turn the game firmly in our favour, floating in a breathtaking 25-yard strike to shatter the hosts’ resistance in the 90th minute.
A lengthy period of injury time followed, during which Ødegård secured a 3-1 Lyn victory from another killer corner by Olsen Solberg. Guess who was named ‘man of the match’ yet again?
That was our fifth straight league win – and our ninth in 10 matches since the start of May. With Bodø/Glimt having lost their most recent match at Arendal, our latest victory took us above them and into the automatic promotion places!
Sandberg’s all-action performances saw him come 3rd in the Player of the Month voting, while I celebrated winning my second Manager of the Month award this season. It would take something incredible to make it a treble in August, considering that our very next match was away from home against… Bodø/Glimt.
BODØ/GLIMT vs LYN 1896 (1. divisjon – Match 18)
Before kick-off at Aspmyra, Bodø/Glimt’s manager Even Sel kindly congratulated me on my latest award. Come full-time, I was commending Even after his possession-hungry side had overwhelmed us to not only take 1st place, but also knock us back down to 3rd.
Glimt attacked us straight away, and a right-wing cross from Magnus Langseth produced the opener after just 12 minutes. Ødegård was completely flat-footed as he hopelessly deflected the cross beyond a helpless Aalvik and into the net for a calamitous own goal!
Though we struggled to create chances, Haugstad gave the hosts a scare just before half-time, when he fired a deep Trøen cross against the woodwork. Trøen then had an opportunity of his own in the 62nd minute, but he fired Tafesse’s delivery into Ricardo Friedrich’s hands.
Barely a minute later, a potential 1-1 scoreline became 2-0 Bodø/Glimt. Måns Saebbö flicked in a dangerous corner from midfielder José Ángel, but that might not have been the case had Olsen Solberg not been caught sleeping at the far post. Jokke’s loss of concentration was fatal for our five-game winning run.
The summer transfer window closed with very little activity at Lyn. Following Berisha out of the door was backup midfielder Martin Holmen, who was released by our Director of Football on deadline day.
You probably couldn’t blame Holmen for thinking that I was literally adding insult to injury, seeing as he’d strained his calf only a few days earlier. Unfortunately, having used Martin only five times this season, we really didn’t need him anymore. Despite that, he’d always have a place in our hearts after scoring the goal that confirmed promotion last season.
I didn’t sign anyone to replace Holmen, instead choosing to register teenage midfielder Reidar Huus as our 25th and final player for the league squad. We now had four homegrown players in our squad – the others being Frydenlund, Marius Skorpen and Tor Gulbrandsen.
LYN 1896 vs BRYNE (1. divisjon – Match 19)
Olsen Solberg wasn’t happy at being given a formal warning for his mistake against Bodø/Glimt, so I dropped him for the visit of Bryne. The much-loved Oskar Hansen had a great game in his absence, starting off by setting up an early Tafesse goal from a corner. Tafesse found the net again soon afterwards, but he was flagged offside after heading in a Frydenlund cross.
We continued to dominate Bryne, and when Trøen was fouled in the area by Rógvi Baldvinsson in the 41st minute, we had a fantastic chance to go 2-0 up. What followed was a comedy of errors, as Martin’s penalty came back off the post, and goalkeeper Herman Fossdal fumbled the rebound. Our number 10 tried to have another crack at goal, but Fossdal nicked the ball from his feet before he could.
Bryne’s frontman Paul Akstun then headed the ball into our net twice, either side of half-time. His first ‘goal’ didn’t count, as he was offside when he converted Sivert Bukten’s injury-time free-kick. The prolific 20-year-old did get his equaliser eight minutes after the restart, turning right-back Bjarne Langeland’s delivery past an on-rushing Aalvik.
We spent much of the second period pursuing a second goal, eventually succeeding in stoppage time. Hansen drilled the ball across the Bryne area to Zahid, whose first-time hit was parried by Fossdal. The deflection fell kindly to substitute winger Yannis Moula, whose first goal of the year sent the home fans wild!
We had even more cause for celebration at the final whistle. Bodø/Glimt had lost 2-1 at Mjøndalen, and Sandefjord had only managed a 1-1 draw at Åsane. Those results meant we moved up from 3rd place to the top of the 1. divisjon!
Hansen’s renaissance was sadly brief. Five days later, Oskar twisted his ankle in training, putting him out for at least a month. This was yet another setback in a frustrating year for one of our longest-serving players, and it meant Olsen Solberg was reinstated for our next game against mid-table Mjøndalen.
LYN 1896 vs MJØNDALEN (1. divisjon – Match 20)
After another struggle at the Bislett, we came away with another victory to keep ourselves in 1st position. Had Mjøndalen been more clinical in front of goal, it might have been a different story, but they were so wasteful despite enjoying noticeably more possession than us.
We were more adept at getting our shots on target, though the only one to get IN the target came from – you guessed it – an Olsen Solberg set-piece. Jokke’s laser-like vision allowed him to pick out Ødegård with a corner in the 62nd minute, and Tobias’ header comfortably beat the goalkeeper.
Høberg Vetti and Zahid each hit the woodwork with opportunities to double our lead late on. Meanwhile, Aalvik’s goalframe denied Mjøndalen’s Didrik Fredriksen an equaliser, having earlier frustrated his midfield team-mate Kornelius Hansen. This match did no good for my heartrate, but at least our excellent run continued with a 12th win in 14 league outings!
HØDD vs LYN 1896 (1. divisjon – Match 21)
We should have made it 13 in 15 against Hødd. However, the side who’d thrashed us 5-0 at the Bislett in April launched a staggering recovery from 4-1 down to draw what was probably THE most ridiculous match of my Lyn reign!
The madness started when we went 2-0 head in the opening five minutes. Zalo set the ball rolling by heading Fredrik Sannes‘ well-weighted corner in at the far post after four minutes. Just moments later, Haugstad played a killer ball out left to Tafesse, whose centre was thrashed home by Trøen.
Another corner saw Hødd get their first goal back in the 12th minute, when vice-captain Marius Hagen’s delivery was finished by his midfield partner Andreas Breimyr. We hit back about four minutes later, thanks to yet another set-piece. Assist machine Olsen Solberg added to his collection when Zalo pounced on a brilliant free-kick to send us 3-1 ahead.
That was where the first-half scoring ended, but we didn’t take long to pick things up again in the second half. Big Ben’s brace was matched in the 55th minute by Martin, who got his head to a Haugstad cross and planted a fourth Lyn goal past Jan Lennart Urke. Surely there was no way back for Hødd?
Ah, but there was. When Zalo messed up an interception from a Hagen cross in the 61st minute, he allowed his opponent to retake the ball and set up a simple tap-in for Ole Sebastian Sundgot. Seven minutes later, Hagen completed his hat-trick of assists by playing a one-two with Breimyr, who hammered in a 25-yard stunner.
Though Tafesse found the net from a Rishovd cross in the 75th minute, the offside flag stopped him from making it 5-3 Lyn. The momentum was now all Hødd’s, and a killer counter-attack got them back level with nine minutes remaining. Substitute Andreas Fantoft crossed from the right wing to pick out Sundgot, who became the fourth player in this match to net a double.
The hosts had a couple of late chances to complete the turnaround. Fortunately, both winger Lars Malvin Sorbonne-Knudsen and defender Markus Ryland narrowly missed the target, and so an extraordinary contest finished 4-4.
Despite seeing his team fight back to steal a point, Hødd’s manager Arne Sandstø was not happy that they had not got a vital win in their battle against relegation. Indeed, he was asked about Zalo’s performance at the post-match press conference, Sandstø stormed out without warning! [That’s what we at Fuller FM call “doing a Walter Mazzarri”.]
I obviously wasn’t too pleased either. Victory would have kept us at the top of the table, but our late slip-up allowed Bodø/Glimt to overtake us by beating relegation-threatened Jerv 2-1. As it happened, Jerv were our next opponents!
LYN 1896 vs JERV (1. divisjon – Match 22)
This was another mad game, with THREE second-half penalties being scored in a dramatic 2-2 draw. We were arguably the better team for most of the match, but carelessness in our box cost us.
Even the one goal that we scored from open play was a bit silly. An awful free-kick from Jerv left-back Andreas Uran deep in his half was intercepted by Haugstad, who crossed it into the box. Right-back Jens Nilsson tried to clear the danger, but forward came Marcus Mehnert to volley in just his second goal for Lyn this year.
Haugstad and Mehnert each hit the woodwork later in the first period as we failed to build on our lead. By the 69th minute, I was feeling like hitting another piece of woodwork in my Bislett dugout, as my captain Anders Lübeck had given away a penalty for pushing Lars Ove Bakkane. That spot-kick was confidently tucked away by Jerv playmaker Thomas Zernichow.
Then, in the 80th minute, a second penalty decision went in our favour. Sander Eng Strand was apparently pushed by Stian Michalsen to stop him reaching a free-kick from Olsen Solberg, who was chosen to take the set-piece. Jokke calmly finished, and we were 2-1 up…
…until our hero became a villain three minutes from time. After Aalvik saved a free-kick from Daniel Aase, the ball went loose, and Olsen Solberg clumsily brought down Marius Bratberg Lund as both men went after it. The referee pointed to the spot once more, and another clinical penalty from Zernichow levelled the scores.
We were now regretting two more wasted points that cost us another league position. Sandefjord leapfrogged us into 2nd on goal difference following a 5-0 thrashing of HamKam.
There was more disappointment for Lyn the following weekend. Left-back Glenn Shaswari – one of the more exciting prospects from this year’s youth intake – tore his ACL while sprinting in an Under-19s friendly match against Sprint-Jeløy [how ironic].
Glenn was obviously distraught at facing a long absence from the game. I visited him in hospital the following morning, just before the first-team flew to Bergen for our league game with Åsane. I promised him that we would do all we could to get a result in his honour.
ÅSANE vs LYN 1896 (1. divisjon – Match 23)
Sorry, Glenn. Åsane were right at the top of their game, and when we did finally start to compete with them, it was too late.
Our defence was all over the place when conceding the first goal after 20 minutes. Åsane’s right-winger Jonas Hestetun crossed to an unmarked Tuomas Lindberg in the box, and the left-winger didn’t miss a clear opening at goal.
The hosts then managed to put another two shots past Aalvik in the second half. Hestetun claimed another assist in the 60th minute with an excellent square ball to midfielder Tomas Kristoffersen, who drilled the ball home from just outside the area. Seven minutes later, Lindberg doubled his tally with a fine long-ranger that effectively sealed our fate.
We showed some defiance over the next few minutes, as Olsen Solberg and Sandberg each powered in 20-yard scorchers to reduce a 3-0 deficit to 3-2. However, we couldn’t build on that mini-surge midway through the second half, and Åsane were still victorious come full-time.
Defeat saw us fall four points behind Bodø/Glimt (who drew 0-0 at Levanger) and Sandefjord (who won 2-0 at Tromsø). More importantly, the ten-point lead we had on 7th-placed Levanger was cut down to nine – and we would lose another three points on them if they beat us at the Bislett a week later…
LYN 1896 vs LEVANGER (1. divisjon – Match 24)
…but we made sure that didn’t happen! Our defence was back to its brilliant best, keeping out everything Levanger threw at us after we’d clinically put three goals past them in the first half.
It won’t surprise you to read that Olsen Solberg set up each of our first two goals. Jokke opened the scoring on 14 minutes, when his drilled cross to Trøen was turned into the net by a mistimed slide tackle from Levanger defender Thalles Lynton Monteiro. Our left-back did find his target with another cross 10 minutes later, as Haugstad volleyed us into a solid lead.
Our second shot on target led to a third goal just before the break. The away defence were in disarray when Trøen nodded in Zahid’s left-wing cross for his 10th goal this season.
The last three-goal lead we had did not survive, and there were times during the second half when I feared history would repeat. Thankfully, Aalvik played out of his skin and the back four all made vital interceptions to consistently keep Håkon Opdal’s side at bay.
That resounding win leaves us 12 points clear of 7th with six games left to play, which meant we only need seven more points to secure a play-off place. We’re also right in contention for another promotion! Could we really do it?!
I think a certain Scottish manager would call this “squeaky-bum time”! Please come back next week to read the thrilling conclusion to Marit’s fourth season at the Bislett!
“Takk for lesing!”
Fuller FM 
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