Damallsvenskan 2010, round 22

This week saw the final round of Damallsvnskan 2010. All games were played simultaneously, 16 oktober 2010, at 14.00. Final standings for all teams are in parentheses. Sunnanå and AIK are relegated to the second tier; Piteå and Dalsjöfors will be promoted to Damallsvenskan next year.


(10) Hammarby IF DFF v. (9) Kristianstads DFF 2 - 0 (2 - 0)
Goals: 3' Annica Svensson (passning Lena Andersson) 1-0; 26' Leena Puranen (passning Kristin Bengtsson) 2-0
Warnings: KDFF Julia Molin 36'
Source: damfotboll, HIF, svenskfotboll, my own eyes
Pictures of happy players at HIF

"It feels fantastic and is a big relief for everyone," said veteran Kicki Bengtsson of her team's season-saving win. "It's unbelievably great to win this game, to make [their Damallsvenskan] contract for next year, and to end my career with a win. I didn't get that last autumn [her first last game]." The second-happiest player for HIF may have been birthday-girl Puranen, who scored the insurance goal for HIF, on a corner kick assist from Bengtsson. HIF's win combined with Sunnanå's loss to Linköping means that they will return to the top league in 2011.


(3) Linköpings FC v. (11) Sunnanå SK 3 - 0 (0 - 0)
Goals: 54' Linda Sällström (passning Josefine Öqvist) 1-0; 65' Linda Sällström (passning Maria Karlsson) 2-0; 79' Josefine Öqvist (passning Linda Sällström) 3-0
Warnings: SSK Emelie Lövgren 45', LFC Maja Krantz 76'
Source: damfotboll

Those of us at the Hammarby-Kristianstad game had our eyes on the scoreboard (which was reporting the results from all the games) almost as much as we had them on the pitch in front of us, as a win by SSK would have negated any heroics by Hammarby; these results were cheered mightily. Both teams had a tough time converting in the first half, as each team's defense played strong. LFC dominated the second half, and SSK was forced to play higher than they would have liked, according to SSK defender Hanna Marklund. She added that they are disappointed, and were not mentally tough enough, which lost them several matches.


(5) KIF Örebro v. (2) Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC 2 - 2 (2 - 2)
Goals: 3' Jane Törnqvist 0-1; 28' Sara Lindén 2-0; 36' Sanna Valkonen (passning Edda Gardarsdottir) 1-2; 45' Elin Magnusson (passning Hanna Ågren) 2-2
Source: damfotboll

K/G has for some reason had trouble with KIF at KIF's home arena— K/G's Stina Segerström, who played for KIF previously, said she can't remember K/G winning there, whichever team she was playing for at the time. Earning a draw with K/G tied KIF with Jitex on points, but put them ahead and into 5th place as a result of having a better goal differential. K/G coach Torbjörn Nilsson singled out the good play of defender Marlene Sjöberg, especially in the first half, and Johanna Almgren. KIF's asistant coach Bernard Nilsson named four players, Marie Hammarström, Marina Pettersson, Valkonen and Magnusson. (The svenskfotboll report lists Gardarsdottir as having both the assist and goal, but the damfotboll description gives the goal to Valkonen.)


(8) Djurgårdens IF DFF v. (12) AIK 2 - 0 (1 - 0)
Goals: 37' Sarah Michael (passning Ahkeela Darcel Mollon) 1-0; 47' Sarah Michael (passning Natalia Rickne) 2-0
Warnings: AIK Alexandra Lindberg 43', DIF Alexandra Höglund 74'
Source: damfotboll

The final Stockholm derby of the year, pitting DIF against already-relegated rivals AIK. "The match meant nothing for our placement but there's always prestige in a derby. It was good to win," said DIF coach Daniel Kalles Pettersson, and he reminds everyone that DIF still have one more game, the Swedish cup final against KIF Örebro on October 30. AIK coach Patric Jildefalk thinks that DIF's Elin Cederroos should have been shown out of the game for her handling of AIK's Tiffany Weimer. An apparently comic moment was had when a DIF player ran headlong into the referee, causing her to have to stop the game to catch her breath.


(6) Jitex BK v. (4) Tyresö 0 - 2 (0 - 0)
Goals: 62' Kirsten van de Ven 0-1; 65' Lisa Klinga 0-2
Warnings: JBK Elinor Ragnvaldsson 49'; TFF Azra Durakovic 51'; TFF Johanna Frisk 67'
Source: damfotboll
Pictures (see if you can spot the celebrity)

A 'derby' of sorts between this year's promoted teams, with TFF coming off the better in both this game and overall standing. It has never happened before that both newcomers have done so well, coming in 6th (JBK) and 4th (TFF). "We stayed with them well in the first half and a couple good chances were created from Kathlene Fernström's throw ins," said JBK assistant Mats Heed. Elin Sandgren in midfield was JBK's best player, while middle back Karin Lissel was singled out for TFF.


(1) LdB FC Malmö v. (7) Umeå IK 5 - 0 (3 - 0)
Goals: 12' Therese Sjögran 1-0; 22' Pavlina Scasna 2-0; 45' Manon Melis (passning Nilla Fischer) 3-0; 49' Frida Nordin (passning Therese Sjögran) 4-0; 51' Manon Melis 5-0
Source: damfotboll, LdB

A year-record-high crowd of 3546 were on hand to watch LdB cap their gold-medal season with a 5-0 pasting of UIK. UIK had trouble keeping up with LdB's tempo and play; according to national team coach Thomas Dennerby, LdB were simply in a class of their own this year. Go to the damfotboll report to see pictures of the orange-clad LdB players wearing tiaras and piling on; also, at the LdB site, there's a short video of season 'highlights' including clips from their fashion videos.