Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Veikkausliiga week 19 - Jaro in seventh heaven

After a humiliating week in the Europa League, where all three Finnish clubs were eliminated at the first round (TPS, Inter and IFK Mariehamn), normal service resumed this weekend. Apologies for the delay, I went to see Book of Mormon on Monday...

Jaro 7-1 Lahti

Saturday afternoon saw a complete drubbing in Pietarsaari, and Jaro finally putting some of their recent good play to devastating use. Things got underway after nine minutes, with Markus Kronholm slotting home a deep cross from the right. Ten minutes later, Canadian striker Frank Jonke got his name on the scoresheet, heading in a free kick. It wasn't his only contribution...

Jonke flies in (photo via Markuu Jokela)

Lahti had a chance to halve the deficit straight after but Kullström cleared off the line. Jonke rounded off the first half latching onto a through-ball, and pushing the ball past Joronen with his first touch. He then completed his hat-trick after 58 minutes, firing in neatly. A minute later, Jonas Emet's lovely finish capped off a nice move, making it 4-0 on the hour. Chief creator Hendrik Helmke turned finisher, poaching a pass from Jonke after 72mins.

Jonke with his hat (photo via Jaro's Twitter)

Lahti pulled a goal back with 12 minutes remaining, Vini Dantas lashing home from the edge off the box. But there was still time for drama - Kullström stumbled when trying to receive a pass, and when Rafael pounced on the ball, and was prompted hacked down on the edge of the area as he was turning towards goal. The red card promptly followed, his second of the season. Jonke scored his fourth, and Jaro's seventh in the 87th minute, heading in another Helmke free kick.

Highlights of Jaro 7-1 Lahti

Jaro move up to fourth, with 26 points from 18 games. Lahti remain 11th, with 18 points from 18 matches.

HJK 3-0 VPS

The weekend had opened with first playing third - leaders HJK hosted VPS for the second time this season (VPS won the fixture 0-2 in May). The visitors were without key players Dafaa and Parikka, while HJK were fresh from a week off, after their match against TPS was postponed.

The second goal flies past VPS keeper Sillanpää

Any fears of a similar result were dispelled by the champions, thanks in main to two stunning strikes. The first was from an unlikely source, Sakari Mattila smacking in from 25 yards out, just before half time. A second goal wasn't far away, eight minutes into the second period. Rasmus Schüller scored a fantastic half volley from outside the box after VPS failed to cleared a corner. Two-nil up, and VPS's plan had gone to pot. A coolly taken finish from sub Mikael Forssell in injury time sealed the points.

Forssell makes it three (photo via Nikolai Alho's Instagram)

VPS lost another key player, Henri Sillanpää was injured in a clash with Nikolai Alho in the second half, and had to be replaced. At the time of writing, there's no word on how serious his knee problem is. The result was good preparation for HJK's opening Champions League qualifier against Estonians Nõmme Kalju on Wednesday.

Highlights of HJK 3-0 VPS

HJK remain top with 36 points from 18 games, with a goal difference of +22 (ahead of Honka), VPS are third, with 29 points from 18 games.

IFK Mariehamn 1-4 Honka

Mariehamn had suffered hugely in the last ten days - losing Diego Assis and Dever Orgill for the season, and being elminated from Europe at the first attempt.

Honka on the defensive (photo via Peter Eriksson)

They did take the lead in this match, Pekka Lagerblom's Gascoigne-esque volley on 13 minutes. But it served to wake Honka - Tim Väyrynen equalised on 36mins after a move starting with the keeper, to make it 1-1 at half time. Henri Aalto then gave the visitors a spectacular lead 11 mins into the second half from the edge of the area, quickly followed by a goal from Kastriot Kastrati. Väyrynen scored again with 15 minutes to go from a Baah cross, catapulting himself to (at that point) joint top of the scoring charts, level on eight goals with Orgill.

Highlights of IFK Mariehamn 1-4 Honka

IFK Marehamn are now eighth, with 25 points from 19 games. Honka open their Europa League campaign on Thursday, and they are joint top with HJK, with 36 points from 19 matches, but a GD of +8.

KuPS 2-1 JJK

JJK had spent much of the last week in the press for the wrong reasons. Still bedding in with a new coach, it was revealed last week that they'd need to raise 100,000 EUR in order to keep going. At the time of writing (Tuesday), they'd reached the halfway point, with four weeks to spare. Some of their fellow Veikkausliiga clubs had helped out - but rivals KuPS weren't in a charitable mood.

Crazy dancing (photo via Vartaloharhautus)
KuPS had the freedom of their left wing for the majority of the first half, Gambian defender Omar Colley crossing the ball in with alarming regularity. With 15 minutes gone, Ilja Venäläinen got on the end of a Colley cross and beat the keeper at the near post. KuPS created chance after chance, mostly down the left, but a combination of poor finishing and reckless final balls meant it stayed 1-0 until the last minute, when Chris James handled in the area. JJK sub Eero Korte stepped up and scored the penalty, and everyone thought JJK had secured a vital point.

Ketsbaia? (photo via Vartaloharhautus)

But Venäläinen had other ideas - in the 92nd minute, he played the ball out to the left (again), and got on the end of the resulting cross to score his ninth goal of the season, taking him top of the Maalikuningas chart. KuPS had won, and crushed their rivals in the process.

Highlights of KuPS 2-1 JJK

KuPS move up to seventh, with 25 points from 19 matches. JJK remain stuck at the bottom, with fourteen points from 18 games.

MYPA 2-1 TPS

After being knocked out of Europe by Luxembourg's Jeunesse Esch on Tuesday, midfielder Wayne Brown said "we have to make it up in the league and push for the title". They took on a MYPA side with one win in six - and TPS lost again.

Midfielder Jonathan Okafor's first goal of the season gave the hosts the lead on 36 minutes lashing home while virtually unmarked, before Pekka Sihvola's first goal in nine games on the stroke of half-time made it 2-0. TPS got a consolation in injury time, MYPA sub Patrick O'Shaugnessy unfortunately poking in while trying to defend a cross.

 Highlights of MYPA 2-1 TPS

MYPA leapfrog TPS with that win, moving up to fifth with 26 points from 18 games, a GD of +2. TPS have 26 points from 17 games with a GD of +2, but have scored fewer goals.

Inter 0-0 RoPS

Inter complained to UEFA after their defeat to Vikingur on Thursday, amid strange betting patterns in relation to the 'both teams scoring' market. There was little danger of that happening on Sunday. Inter had only scored three goals in their last nine league games, while RoPS had scored four times in nine away league matches.

If I had a few extra quid, I'd have put it on this being a 0-0. Sorry, but I don't think I'll bore you with highlights or a photo. Inter are tenth, with 22 points from 19 games. RoPS are ninth, also on 22 points from 19 matches, but with a slightly better goal difference. Phew.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Save JJK! Buy a jersey! (Or other merchandise)

I'll admit it. I'm a KuPS fan. My wife is from Kuopio. My first Veikkausliiga game was KuPS 1-2 Honka in 2008. I own a KuPS shirt.

But there is something is going on down the road in Jyväskylä - JJK (Jyväskylän Jalkapalloklubi) are in deep financial trouble, and they're attempting to raise money just to try and complete the league season. They need to raise €100k by August 15th to complete the season, and to provide a foundation to build on in the future.

Help to save JJK!

The club are selling a number of items of merchandise in order to raise funds, including stickers, posters, signed player jerseys and scarves.

I've spoken to the club, and have found that the club's Nike fan jerseys can be purchased overseas - and I'll be buying one. This isn't a Real Oviedo style ownership model, but what better way to spread the word that you supported a struggling club? 

Home (burgundy) and away (pink)

Buy an adult JJK shirt for just €40 (plus €6 for postage, so a total of €46 = about £39) - wear it when playing 5-a-side, or at the gym, or just because you like the colours. Do something! Scarves are also €20 (plus postage extra).


If you're interested in purchasing a jersey (or anything else for that matter), let me know via the usual contacts. JJK are posting regular updates on Twitter with how they are getting on.

JJK are a quarter of the way there - they need your help.

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Update 24/07/2013 - JJK have since raised €60k in two weeks, so well over half-way there. I've managed to establish that if buying the shirts from abroad, a bank transfer is required. Rather than expensive IBAN transfers via banks, TransferWise works very much like Paypal, and is a lot cheaper (and legit).

The person at the club I have been dealing with (Sanna) has been incredibly helpful, and hopefully you can help.