Season match reports

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Ladies season 2023
First half summary

LFC Ladies Div 5 have had an amazing first half of the season! Founded in great team spirit and fantastic efforts, we have accomplished third place both in the league and in Korpen and we're ready to fight for the top places this autumn.

This season has really been a great development for the team, with so many players progressing and improving on an individual level, combined with the growth of the team and a real sense of togetherness both on and off the pitch. Many new faces continue to join and add to the strength! Adding to the deed in the last games of the first half we didn’t have a coach present, so we had to do substitutions ourselves. In one game we recruited an excellent guest coach from the UK (fan crowd) - support us at our next game and maybe you will be our guest coach! ;)

LFC Ladies are truly on a roll and with spirits this high we are excited to keep pushing ourselves and getting the results! Come and watch a game this autumn and see for yourself!

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7-a-side results

Our last match in Korpen was played against Blazing Locas. Without substitutes, against a team that was twice as many, we fought and managed to stay one step ahead throughout the match. Blazing Locas equalized later on, but in the second half we scored the decisive 4-3 goal and walked away with a well-deserved win! Just one example of the great efforts and fighting determination the team have displayed so far this season.

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11 a-side results

Played 8 games, won 6, lost 2: 18 points in total. With a +40 goal difference.

  • 16th June vs Fisksåtra IF won 15-0

The last game of the first half of the season saw the team make the trip to play Fisksåtra IF. It was a lovely sunny Friday evening and the girls were lucky enough to have a great fan base on the sidelines! The first 10 minutes started off slowly but in the eleventh minute Askefors was able to slot one home. This built some momentum and Van Tol, Martinez, Frengen and Cartwright were able to add to the tally in the first half. Långolmen weren’t finished there, and after an inspiring team talk from Yacoub the team were determined to make it to double figures. The second half started off with a bang with Martinez adding two goals in quick succession, followed by Askefors adding another two! Martinez was hungry for more and made it 10-0 in the 61st minute. The crowd went wild for Meggitt’s goal which was closely followed by two goals from Dempsey. As the final minutes of the game were drawing to a close Baker and Frengen were able to secure their goals making the final score 15-0. A fantastic way to finish for summer.

  • 9th June vs Tekniska Högskolan FC lost 4-1

We knew the game against Tekniska would present a real challenge following their incredible track record so far this season. We went 1-0 down in the early stages but that did not deter us. Martinez scored in the 18th minute making it 1-1, game on! With Tekniska netting 3 more, the final score line was 4-1. The game was a well fought battle and the team gave 100% for the full 90 minutes. We are more than ready for the rematch in the next half!

  • 2nd June vs Solberga BK won 10-0

It was a very chilly Friday evening, but Långholmen were determined to heat things up on the pitch! No matter the score, the team gave it their all throughout the entire match, bringing home another win we can be proud of.

  • 28th May vs Gustavbergs IF FK won 2-1

This has to have been one of our closest games yet! An incredible show of defensive grit and attacking tenacity. Goals from Meggitt (19th minute) and Martinez (64th minute) secured the win.

An unfortunate red card for Kreutz in the 85th minute left us down to 10, but the determination of the team meant that we were able to keep Gustavbergs at bay and secure all three important points!

  • 21st May vs Järla IF FK won 5-1

Traveling quite a way to Björknäs on a Sunday evening left us very eager to make sure it would be worth our while! And that’s exactly what we did. 20 minutes in and we had secured a 2-0 lead over Järla IF FK. As a team we were organised in our positioning, effective in our passing and brave in our attacking. This continued to pay off and we went in at half time 4-0 to the good. Järla came back out fighting strong in the second half scoring quite early on to make it 4-1. They managed to restrict us to the net just one more time. A really enjoyable game all round.

  • 6th May vs BK Träsket won 16-1

A beautiful (but chilly) sunny afternoon on Sodermalm’s Zinkensdamm IP set the stage for LFC Ladies biggest win to date! With a fantastic turn out from the team and some support on the sidelines we were able to showcase our skills, play with ease, in sync, and net 16 goals. We kept up the intensity right through to the end - a momentum we will look to carry forward in every future game.

  • 29th April vs Örby IS lost 5-1

For the second game we welcomed Örby to our home pitch on Stora Essingen. Not getting off to the best start, we found ourselves 3-0 down in the first half, but as has been a continuous positive throughout this season we did not let that get us down! Baker pulled one back just before half time and the game was on again. Unfortunately we were unable to build on that further in the second half, (credit to Örby for their organised and hard fought defending at every turn!). Final score 5-1. A challenging and intense game, but a great test for us to understand our level and how / where we can improve. On we go…

  • 23rd April vs Boo FK won 3-1

As it was our first game of the season, with people having left and new people joining the team, we did not know for sure how good this year’s squad would be. Receiving some words of warning about the opponent’s qualities from coach Garvey, we were ready to fight and bring home our first win. But there was no need to worry! From the very first second it was clear that this season the team’s spirit is what would set us apart from others. This amazing start to the season meant the first 3 points on the board!

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Korpen 11 Match Reports - Brought to you by Jonas

Långholmen FC vs Bärshajar FC
Date: 8th May
Location: Lisebergs BP
Score: 3-0
Goals (assists): Yurii (Cameron), Cameron (Dan), Cameron (Dan)

Daffodils and chirping birds are both lovely things, but there is surely no sweeter sign of spring than the return of Korpen football. On a sunny May evening, the Långholmen lads made their return to the first division and were promptly made aware of the difference in levels from last year from against a skilful and energetic opposition team. 

The first half saw the Långholmen boys dig in with a rugged defensive display while threatening with the occasional counter-attack. It was one of these quick breaks that saw Cameron and his healed collarbone released down the left to take on the defender on the outside and float a left-footed cross to the back post for Yurii to nod home fifteen minutes into his debut. 
Other first-half highlights included a Claudio nutmeg followed by a sumptuous through-ball for another Långholmen goalscoring opportunity, showing us at last that his nutmegs are not always a complete waste of time. Habil, who was our goalkeeping hero on the day, permeated calm assurance at the back and pulled off a vital save onto the post right before half time followed by a huge last-ditch clearance by Jasper “Puyol” Holleman. 
The start of the second half was not too different from the first, with the opposition team still young, still skilful, and still in control of the majority of the ball. Our incredibly solid back four, however, deprived the opposition of any clear cut chances. While the entire backline was hugely impressive, a special shoutout goes to Adam making his return to the Sunday league after a couple of tough years on the sidelines. The Långholmen left-back impressed throughout with his well-timed interceptions (did he get into triple digits?) and precise passing. 
It was Dan’s continuous battling against physical centre backs that payed off when he fed Cam to secure the second goal with a clinical finish from a tight angle. The two-goal cushion allowed a rather composed finish to the game which was helped further by Cam spanking in the third from 30 yards in characteristic fashion.

All in all a great start to the season against a team that finished second in the top division last year. Our game was quite good even yesterday, but we are hopeful there is still plenty of improvement to come! 

Starting lineup (4-3-3):

Habil
Adrien, Jasper, Max, Adam
Olle, Claudio, Jonas
Yurii, Dan, Cam
Subs: Sean, Davide
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Ängby Elit vs Långholmen FC
Date: 22nd May
Location: Lisebergs BP
Score: 6-3
Goals (assists): Cameron (Jacob), Cameron (Carlos), Jonas (Carlos)

This early kickoff against top of the league meant there were unfamiliar risks to consider before kickoff and at least one Brit was heard complaining about his forgotten sunscreen as we tried on our new kit for the first time. Once we got on the pitch, we found ourselves distracted by other threats as a team full of young, fit footballers strutted their stuff. Considering we play against grown men of considerable footballing ability every week, it is an odd fact that we could be impressed by the opposition’s ability to kick a ball really far, but that was the case here as the boys in green held on to the ball comfortably and threatened with dangerous diagonal switches of play in behind our defensive line.
Going on previous results alone, the Långholmen team set out to keep their defensive shape and remain patient even without seeing much of the ball. Our tactics were successful for about five minutes until a through-ball required Hamza, our keeper on the day, to come off his line to clear. An unfortunate coming-together saw Hamza with a pretty nasty knee injury while the opposition were awarded a penalty kick. They made no mistake from the spot and blasted into the roof of the net to add to the pain of our friend in goal.
In the following stages the promise of our approach was made clear as we looked threatening every time we managed to get on the ball. Cameron was unlucky to see a dinked effort go just wide after we robbed their back line of the ball. Carlos made a couple of trademark runs down the flank and probably could have earned us two penalties had it not been for his impeccable balance fooling the ref that he had in fact not been repeatedly kicked in the box.
It was a killer cross from Jacob that created the equaliser as Cam tucked home to give us hope we might get something from this game after all. Cameron soon added his second with a tidy finish from a tight angle, set up by one of Carlos’s aforementioned charges down the wing, and the stripes found themselves in front with the hope of pulling off a famous hit-and-run.
Shortly before half time, we failed to clear an Ängby cross at the far post and one of the spring chickens made decent contact from the edge of the box to make it 2-2 going into the break. Spirits were generally high during the halftime chat as we realised we could have been ahead and remained confident in our game plan.
While the opponents were impressive on the pitch, their analysis team must have done a sloppy job and not been bothered to dig out any footage from last season’s second division. Having only studied older footage, it would be understandable that they advised their team to leave yours truly unmarked at the near post from a corner. His new-found heading ability, however, meant Carlos’s pinpoint corner was confidently buried to put us back in front.

What followed from that point was heart break, and we all deserved more for our committed performance. A floated cross from the left looped over our keeper, who’s swollen knee was at this stage preventing him from backpedaling to catch the ball. 4-3 followed soon after from a similarly loopy wide free kick finding the side netting. 5-3 would likely have been ruled out for offside had Korpen not refused to join the rest of the elite and implement VAR. 6-3 came from a counter-attack against a morally and physically deflated team.

This was a tough one to take on a day that could have constituted one of our most famous wins during my time at the club. The truth is though, that a keeper less injured, more experience, or both, would have been enough to take all three points, and so we look forward to putting things right when we meet again after the summer!

Starting lineup (3-5-2):

Hamza
Adrien, Jasper, Adam
Jacob, Mike, Claudio, Jonas, Carlos
Samarth, Cameron
Subs: Sean, Yurii
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Långholmen FC vs Årsta AIK
Date: 29th May
Location: Lisebergs BP
Score: 2-1
Goals (assists): Carlos (Ali), Cameron (Samarth)

WIth the help of a couple of first team players we managed to get to eleven players for this battle against the boys from Årsta. Joshua, on his way back from injury, came down to act as backup-and-cheerleader-in-one!
We created a couple of good chances in the first half without playing particularly well, but went behind to a half chance from the edge of the box. The opposition midfielder struck it as sweet as you like and it was in off the post out of reach for our imposing keeper.
The equaliser came in the second half after Ali spotted Carlos gliding in between the opposition centre backs. A couple of neat touches saw him shake off the defenders, round the keeper, and calmly slot home with an elegance which could be replicated by none other than our friend from Catalunya.
With the ref understandably annoyed with the whining boys in stripes, and looking for an opportunity to discipline us, Ali proved he was capable of assisting with more than just goals and was given his marching orders by the man with the whistle. With 10 men on the pitch, some of us were set on sitting back and hanging on to a sole point, but our attackers had other ideas as they continued to create opportunities throughout. Mike, from his starting position as a holding midfielder, continued to charge down the right flank and created a beautiful opportunity with a peach of a pass, which was surprisingly missed by our man in form at the back post. In true Harry Kane fashion, however, Cameron didn’t let that affect him one bit and had his head in the right place when he was soon set up by the lively Samarth and the winning goal was tucked away as clinically as ever.
An unnamed right-back on a yellow card finding his best form late on, meant there was reason to bring on Joshua for a short cameo and so the long-awaited return to the pitch was a reality! He had time for a touch and a clearance down the line before the referee confirmed our three points with the final whistle!

An unlikely comeback with ten men who had all played the entire game is just another reason for our opponents to fear our fighting spirit this season - on to the next one!

Starting lineup (4–3-3):
Giacomo
Joost, Carlo, Jasper, Adam
Mike, Samarth, Jonas
Carlos, Ali, Cameron
Subs: Joshua
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Långholmen FC vs Husaria Stockholm
Date: 12th June
Location: Lisebergs BP
Score: 1-1
Goals (assists): Ilya (Samarth)

This clash between the two promoted teams saw us face our Polish rivals again at last, after they had to cancel our friendly this spring due to a covid outbreak in their camp. Having gotten one win each last season, we knew we were in for a tough battle against a team that is probably the most physically robust team I can remember playing in this league. While it is a stereotype, the size of their biceps suggest several of them do a lot of heavy lifting as part of their day jobs, and they no doubt know how to take advantage of that throughout a football match.
While terrible kit clashes are not unheard of at Korpen level, this setup between black and white shirts with black shorts vs white shirts with smaller black stripes and black shorts really made playing as difficult as the reading of this sentence.
After we made a promising start with a couple of slick attacks, Husaria were awarded a corner only five minutes into the game. In a flurry of black and white, one of the Husaria center backs managed to shake off his unnamed marker and bury a header for an early opener.
With the help from some yellow bibs that were delivered fifteen minutes into the half, we managed to find our rhythm a bit more and largely controlled the game. It should be said that Husaria defended admirably and very aggressively, giving us little time to settle on the ball. Nonetheless, we created plenty of scoring opportunities in the first half without conceding anything of note at our own end. The second half saw more of the same, with us continuing to push for the equalizer. While Husaria for the most part struggled to create scoring opportunities, we should all take a moment to remember the sequence of events that saw a Husaria striker slide a ball across the six-yard box to be tapped in by his team mate at the far post, only for Jasper to come sliding along and poke the ball just between the striker and the post for what looked like an impossible interception!
This meant we were still in the game and with ten minutes to go Mike broke from midfield and fed Samarth the ball down the right. He in turn produced a beautiful cross to the back post, where Ilya nodded home to score on his first appearance this season after his injury woes!
We continued to push for all three points right until the end but were ultimately unsuccessful. Considering Husaria really are a very good side who defend well and play composed passing football all over the pitch, our disappointment at full time about coming away with only a point against a team that finished above us last year should at least give us plenty of encouragement as to our progression this season.

With Samarth’s parents coming to town next week, let’s encourage our friends and families to come down and join them on the sidelines on Sunday for our last 11 aside game before the summer! It is a late kickoff, but surely that just makes it easier to justify making it a boozy occasion. I, for one, might pick up an injury just before half time if I see Mr. and Mrs. Samarth bringing out the Belgian beers. Comment below if you plan on bringing anyone along, and then everyone else can use that as an argument to convince their own folks! I still have to check with my mom if there will be a repeat of the apple cake, but stay tuned!

Starting lineup (4–3-3):
Giacomo
Simon, Jasper, Jonas, Adam
Davide, Mike, Claudio
Samarth, Ilya, Mohamed
Subs: Joshua, Luciano

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Långholmen FC vs IFK Göteborg, 20.08.12, Grimsta IP, Svenska Cupen. Swedish SVT1 report.

Robbie G shows his love and respect for the Långholmen massive! What a great day and a fantastic season!

Retro video footage of LFC Legend Morty McCarthy for a BBC interview about the Irish football club Cork City FC:
Watch video here

Many thanks to: Scot James, Jen and Dave  from LFCSC for the audio and texts and all the other people involved in making these programs and audio archives over the years. We’re very humbled that you took your own time and energy to promote the club and our football. Respected members of the LFC family!