FBI Tullinge - Hagunda IF 4-5 SD (0-1, 1-2, 3-1, 0-1)

A day after the Floorball Club Champions have been determined without any German competitor, I went from Scandic Hotel Gävle Väst to the South of Stockholm to pray heroics on the German player side. Right after German national floorball hero Fredrik Holtz finished his career in the Swiss NLA, he contracted in 2nd class Allsvenskan team Hagunda IF. To make the story short, Holtz is doing there what he did his whole career as a player: scoring, assisting, making own supporters love him – and give some opponents very opposite feelings. I felt absolutely happy to see one of his matches after a long while.

In a very close league, Hagunda was one of the top teams before the matchday (3rd place), while host Tullinge rather faced the risk of relegation as 7th placed, but just had four points less than the guests. Thus, everything seemed to be ready for a tough and entertaining match, especially as Tullinge won the match at Hagunda at a close battle.

There is a full size picture gallery for this match.

FBI Tullinge – Hagunda IF – Match Report

The match started dynamically and physically from the very beginning. Both teams tried to fight themselve a way to the oppononent’s goal, but the defenders did a great job in a hectic beginning. The match started to calm down slightly after some ten minutes, in which none of the teams really looked better than the other. It looked like the first period would stay scoreless, but you should always keep the German Floorball Wunderkind in mind when you play him. In the 18th minute, Holtz managed to fight into the slot and score after a Jakob Arvidsson pass. Hagunda took that lead and controlled the remaining period.

Ooops… He did it again!

The hosts had a good opportunity to score right at the beginning of the second period, when Alexander Johansson had been sent off for hands. The Hagunda boxplay did a good job and the match was a tight battle again thereafter. In the 30th minute, Holtz scored his second goal of the game. He did not look to be in a really good scoring position with a defender next to him. But his unique way to find a way out of these situation and a good shot made the Hagunda fans in Fleminghallen party. This goal gave a boost to the guests, who added a third one four minutes later, when Johansson completed a fast break.

Hagunda could have scored even more goals in these minutes, but they gave Tullinge the chance to come back. After an unconcentrated substitution, they played with too many players in the rink – and Niklas Schüler scored after about one minute of power play in the 37th minute.

Tullinge? Not dead yet!

The third period started with good news for the Hagunda fans: Niklas Wik scored the fourth goal after one minute after a quick attack play. But Tullinge did not give up and came back to the match. Calle Heinby was a bit lucky when the ball somehit passed the goal line after a free hit situation. So far, Hagunda seemed to control the match and when Dennis Schmuck tripped Holtz in the 49th minute, the power play situation seemed to be the perfect chance to close the match. However, Hagunda gave it away. The only team which had dangerous opportunities were the short-handed Tullinge boys. First, they had a great fast break opportunity and nearly scored, but then, they did better after a free hit in the 50th minute somehow made his way to the goal with Niclas Johansson being the man in the scoresheet. Hagunda heavily complained about this score, but I could not spot the reason for it.

Tullinge was on fire now – and also took perfect profit of Hagunda’s mistakes. The guests had a massive fast break chance in the 54th minute, but instead of doing an easy pass to free Holtz, they allowed the turnover. Tommy Schibort said thanks and nailed the ball from the right wing into the net, right into the Hagunda heart. In the next attack, Daniel Wadberg had the massive chance to give back the lead to the Uppsala region team, but he failed. Despite several nice attacks on both side, the match went into overtime.

Overtime is Drama Time

The Overtime (played 5-on-5) was just epic. I guess the Tullinge president already was ready to open the victory champagne, when Dennis Forsgren was able to shoot twice right in front of Niklas Söderström, but the goalie was victorious by two massive saves. After 3:28 minutes in overtime, the ball was in the Tullinge net. Kristian Adolfsson served Fredrik Holtz in the slot, who hit the ball in a battle with Schüler. The referees refused that goal due to an incorrect hit, which I could not reconcile from my position. One minute later, the guests finally did it, when Johansson scored from the right wing for the Sudden Death – what a massive battle of both teams in this Allsvenkan Norra match!

FBI Tullinge – Hagunda IF – My View of the Match

Wow, what an amazing and close match! Hagunda dominated the first part of this amazin Allsvenkan Norra fight, but acted too nervous after leading 3-0 and 4-1. Congrats to Tullinge, who came back in the match and will definitely think about some of their missed chances. While Fredrik Holtz was Hagunda’s man of the match at the beginning, goalie Niklas Söderström more and more came into focus the longer the match lasted. Tullinge could rely on a strong netminder with Philip Berkvens as well.

And my German heart? I could write a sportive love letter on his play whenever I see Fredrik Holtz. It is amazing to see him standing very often somewhere in the opponent’s half, bending his blade. Sometimes, he looks as if he is not in the match at all. But when he is needed, he is positioning with a short sprint, an intense physical action. With him in the rink, there is constant danger. He did perfect at the beginning of the match and then became a bit more unlucky. Nevertheless, enjoyed watching him playing the whole match. To me, he is maybe the most entertaining floorball player out there.

FBI Tullinge – Hagunda IF – Lineups

FBI Tullinge: 95 Philip Berkvens, 86 Fredrik Stach – 2 Dennis Forsgren, 3 Kasper Malmsten, 7 Fredrik Gustafsson, 8 Rickard Rydell, 10 Niclas Johansson, 12 Dennis Schmuck, 13 Calle Heinby, 16 Johnny Fjärdsjö, 18 Niklas Schüler, 20 Axel Ekström, 21 James Fowler, 23 Anton Andersin, 26 Fredrik Morberg, 27 Tommy Schibort, 36 Niklas Granevi, 39 Patrik Kalte, 42 Rasmus Ekberg, 46 Matthias Andersson

Hagunda IF: 16 Niklas Söderström, 93 Martin Cyren – 4 Jesper Svärd, 7 Felix Abrahamsson, 8 Fredrik Holtz, 11 Charlie Hellström, 17 Niko Lehtonen, 21 Martin Holm, 23 Linus Nyström, 25 Daniel Wadberg, 28 Markus Akerfeldt, 29 Alexander Johansson, 53 Fredrik Hast, 71 Jakob Arvidsson, 88 Joel Ahlin, 91 Niklas Wik, 96 Kristian Adolfsson