Surprised by how much of a cut above McCowatt looks at this level. Endless energy, looks two or three steps quicker than he was in NZ/the Olympics/the Phoenix, extremely tight ball control and agility which i thought was lacking previously. Absolutely terrorised the Jammerbugt defense today in a 6-0 win. Early goal from a free kick, and a beautiful Singh-like pre-assist to Just, who squared it for a tap-in.
He was played on the left of a midfield four mostly at the Phoenix and the Olympics, which really didn't play to his strengths, often recieving the ball too deep to really hurt teams.
Don't know if I'd call his role at the Nix on the left of a four-man midfield - though he didn't play on the shoulder, he was definitely an attacking player in a wing role. In the Olympics too, he played in a front three as a left-winger in the first two games, followed by more of a free role.
I reckon the lower level of competition means he can show us what he's really capable of (not the hottest take, I know) - but I hope he can translate those flashes into consistent output against high-level defense. Jammerbugt really were terrible.
Excellent news, but equally well deserved for both these guys.
Without looking to far into the future, hopefully Helsingør can maintain their excellent start to the season and look towards promotion to the Danish Superliga. Still a long way to go yet however.
Denmark (and the rest of Scandinavia too) continuing to be an excellent developing ground for Kiwi footballers wanting to make their way in the professional game.
Two other Kiwis chasing promotion in Scandinavia. Just & McCowatt both subbed off at 75 mins (up 2-1) as Helsingør (1st) draw 2-2 with Hvidovre (4th). Liam Jordan with 67 mins & an assist.
First action for returning AWs, as Helsingør (1st) beat Esbjerg (7th) 3-0. McCowatt subbed on at 84 mins, and Just 93 mins. Score already 3-0 in both instances.
Pijnaker stays on the bench. Liam Jordan got 75 mins. I notice he hasn't played for senior South African side since 2019.
Helsingør remain top, but Lyngby (2nd) are 4 pts with 2 games in hand.
Helsingør have 6 more games before the winter break (up to 6th Dec), with Danish 2nd tier to resume 28th Feb 2022 - so almost a 3 month break!!
McCowatt & Just both start in a big game as Helsingør (1st) travel to Lyngby (2nd - but game in hand). 5 rounds to go before the winter break. Liam Jordan on the bench.
No Pijnaker in match day squad. FYI - his parent club Rio Ave are currently 3rd in Segunda Division Portugal. But with Benfica II atop the table, I guess that makes Rio Ave effectively 2nd re promotion race. Top 2 promoted.
McCowatt (5 goals season to date) with the 8th min winner in a 1-0 victory.
85 mins for him, with Just (6 goals) subbed off at 71 mins (1-0). Breaks a club drought for McCowatt, his first goal since August last year (he had 4 in that month!).
With 2 rounds left, before top 6/bottom 6 split, Helsingør are 5 pts clear.
McCowatt & Just both starting as Helsingør (1st) host Jammerbugt (last) in final round before top 6/bottom split.
No matter what happens today, Helsingør will go into split round (a further ten games against other 5 teams H&A in top 6), minimum 5 points clear in first spot.
Just, McCowatt & Stamenic should all make it to Qatar to at least be on the bench against Fiji in need. Also Pijnaker who plays later today in Ireland for Sligo.
Helsingør (1st) with a 0-1 loss to Horsens (3rd). Helsingør had their keeper sent off at 59 mins (score 0-0). Horsens got a pen not long after at 63 mins.
Both Kiwis started. Just subbed off at 62 mins & McCowatt at 76 mins. No Liam Jordan.
Helsingør with consecutive losses and their lead now reduced to 4 pts. Though I see is top 2 teams that get promoted, and they are still 7 points clear of the 3rd placed team. 8 rounds to go.
Helsingør with consecutive losses and their lead now reduced to 4 pts. Though I see is top 2 teams that get promoted, and they are still 7 points clear of the 3rd placed team. 8 rounds to go.
Not sure if its injury related but it's interesting they start McCowatt ahead of Just, as I'm sure most NZ fans (and Danny Hay) rate Just higher than McCowatt?
Previous 5 games, they both started 4 of them, and Just started once on his own (first game after winter break). I say like Hay, Helsingor see little between them. And knowing each other so well for so long, they are better on the park together than apart.
I think Hay will pick both in his 23 man squad. Others (Champness, Rogerson, De Jong, Waine, Old) will miss out before them I reckon. Maybe even Barba, esp if Rojas comes in.
Not often we get Shakespeare here, but “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.
Helsingør have officially imploded!! A 2-1 loss at Lyngby (53 pts), who overtake them to go top. Helsingør drop to 3rd (51 pts), with their 5th consecutive loss. Horsens (also 53 pts) are 2nd on GD. Top 2 teams promoted.
5 games to go. 3 of which are at home. Last game 29th May. Unlikely the Kiwi duo will be joining the AWs before then. That's unless Helsingør keep on losing and fall out of contention entirely! But hopefully they can turn this terrible form around.
Not often we get Shakespeare here, but “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.
Helsingør have officially imploded!! A 2-1 loss at Lyngby (53 pts), who overtake them to go top. Helsingør drop to 3rd (51 pts), with their 5th consecutive loss. Horsens (also 53 pts) are 2nd on GD. Top 2 teams promoted.
5 games to go. 3 of which are at home. Last game 29th May. Unlikely the Kiwi duo will be joining the AWs before then. That's unless Helsingør keep on losing and fall out of contention entirely! But hopefully they can turn this terrible form around.
Hamlet was based in Helsingør, so maybe it was destined that it all fell to pieces towards the end
Flying Kiwis match summary from weekend. Hopefully Helsingor can turn it around.
As Helsingør kicked off against Lyngby, they found themselves in a very unfamiliar situation: second place on the ladder. A win for Horsens the night prior had taken them ahead of FCH whose horrid run of recent form had finally, officially, blown the lead they’d built up for themselves. They were eight points clear when the league split into the championship phase. No longer... though of course they could always go back first with a win in their own fixture.
FCH began brightly by pressing high and looking to play direct. Eli Just had a number of nice touches. All of which ensured that most of the early stages were spent in the Lyngby half of the field. So of course they conceded first. Similar pattern to a lot of their games recently, they didn’t have to do too much defending but when they did they looked brittle at the back and a sharp low cross on 19’ was turned into his own net at the back post by Nicklas Mouritsen.
It remained the case that FCH played quick and on the front foot.
Eli Just had a running volley that he didn’t really get a hang of (and took a slight knock in the process) which went well wide, for example. But now Lyngby were the team creating the more dangerous openings and but for a couple instances of average finishing and a few great defensive blocks it might have been 3-0 at the break. It was also a pretty physical game, as Eli Just’s shins can attest to...
Also ready with a personal reference to that tune was the Lyngby keeper who had to be patched up early second half after FCH’s captain got booked for accidentally kicking him in the head. Several stitches by the looks of it. Caused an extended halt in proceedings after what had been a promising few minutes for Helsingor following the restart. Took about ten minutes for the physios to do their thing.
Right on the hour mark Helsingor equalised, which was more like fifty mins in by match standards considering the treatment for the goalie... who might not have been a hundy percent because it looked like he should have done better in attempting to save the effort from Tonni Adamsen. Some quality stuff from McCowatt in that move managing to maintain the ball in the area and then flip it back to Adamsen... although the last touch came from a defender so no assist.
It’s often the case that a single goal can change the entire feel of a match. So it was here. At 1-0 Helsingor’s attacks felt frantic and a little panicked. At 1-1 they felt menacing and assured. Perception is reality and chances flowed. You never rusted them not to concede a silly one but their defenders were winning their 1v1 challenges and you had Eli Just slicing in from the right and unleashing shots.
Until 80 minutes gone when Just and McCowatt were both subbed off together. Bummer. Strong showings from both, especially Just, but they were swapped out before being able to find a clincher.
In the end they lost. About halfway through the thirteen minutes of stoppage time, Emil Nielsen broke the line after an FCB fullback had completely misread the situation and he buried the ball for 2-1. Lyngby had been applying a decent spell of pressure... but there was that soft goal FCH had been flirting with conceding and they couldn’t find a response in time. The 2-1 defeat makes it five losses in a row for a team that previously had only lost one game all season. Not only do they drop out of first place but they’ve in fact sunk to third and out of the promotion spots as things stand. Quite a concern. The lads have got five more games to fix things.
Up Next: FCH vs Fredericia on Saturday at 5am (NZT)
Huge game for Helsingør (3rd, 54 pts). Travel to Horsens (2nd on GD, 56 pts). Lyngby 1st also on 56 pts - who won yesterday.
Win & Helsingor would go top, but lose they could end up 5 points behind Horsens, likely fighting Lyngby for the 2nd promotion spot. 3 rounds left after today.
Hvidore (4th, 53 pts) who are still a very slim mathematical chance of promotion, whilst Lyngby (2nd, 59 pts) and Horsens (1st, 60 pts) travel to teams 5th & 6th who both have nothing to play for.
Edit - sadly the implosion is completed. Helsingør (drop to 4th) with a 2-0 loss. So they go from leading the league by 8 points at one stage (back in March from memory) to not being able to make the top 2 and promotion, with a round still to go.
Not that it mattered, but Horsens won & Lyngby drew. They will both be promoted.
Full game Just & Jordan an unused sub. Bright side the 2 Kiwis should be free to join the AWs now a week early. They probably will want to get away from Denmark ASAP for awhile! Hopefully McCowatt is not injured at the moment (missed last 2 games).
1BF2EA36-EBD6-4EEC-94C6-B7ECB54F4FC4.jpeg484.77 KB Missing promotion might see them get some interest, especially from Superliga teams. There’s a podcast which probably explains a bit more than the tweet, but it’s in Danish. Also wonder if elsewhere in Scandinavia might show interest, Sweden and Norway both have 16 team leagues vs Denmark’s 12 so more opportunities to play top tier football there, but the Danish league is probably stronger.
McCowatt on at 66 minutes with the goal conceded after 75.
Tough, tough times in Denmark for Just and McCowatt. Across the last 12 games, from the start of the promotion series campaign last term up until today's result. 1 win 1 draw 10 losses 13 GF & 31 GA.
Being a pretty aspirational club, you get the feeling that push is going to come to shove over there very soon...
