AB played today Saturday against Thisted FC, and it was truly not a spectacle worth watching. AB’s play was far too disjointed and slow throughout. The match ended in a 3-2 defeat, where Marcus Immersen equalized to 1-1 from the penalty spot, and Tobias Hageltorn equalized to 2-2. Thisted’s goals were scored by Emil Steen Lagergaard, Jonas Graabæk Hansen and Christian Wagner. The match was watched by 547 spectators.

AB’s starting line-up

The coaching team had shaken things up considerably regarding the starting lineup compared to the match against Ishøj three days ago. Five positions were changed:
Tobias Damtoft started at right-back instead of Frederik Lindgaard, Frederik Jørgensen took over left-back from Marc Dal Hende. Søren Ilsøe started instead of Ægir Jarl Jonásson. O’Vonte Mullings also started on the bench and was replaced by Tobias Hageltorn. An injured Casper Grening was replaced on the left wing by Jonathan Mathys.

The starting lineup was therefore: Adam Ingi Benediktsson in goal, at right-back Tobias Damtoft, in central defense Adrian Koudelka and Noah Ibsen and at left-back Frederik Jørgensen. In central midfield were Mikkel Brund and Søren Ilsøe (captain), on the right wing Tobias Hageltorn and on the left wing Jonathan Mathys. Up front were Marco Vesterholm and Marcus Immersen.

Match Report

As expected, it became a physical match from Thisted’s side, but AB didn’t hold back either. Thisted took their time on all set pieces and managed to drain the tempo from the match. This made it difficult for AB to get their usual tempo and continuity in their play. AB lost most second balls and aerial duels. Despite the five goals, it was a chance-poor match.

Already after two minutes, Thisted got a throw-in, which was thrown far into the box. Chaos ensued in AB’s defense, and it ended with a goal by Emil Steen Lagergaard for 1-0. AB got a golden chance when there was a handball in Thisted’s penalty area. Marcus Immersen placed the ball on the penalty spot and prepared to score against his former teammate – it didn’t work. Fortunately, the referee ordered a retake because Thisted’s goalkeeper Andreas Raahauge had moved too early. Marcus Immersen thus got a new chance and this time equalized confidently to 1-1.
The match was now open, but AB didn’t know their luck, as after 25 minutes came another long throw-in from Thisted from the same side of the pitch. It was basically a copy of Thisted’s first goal, but it was scored by Jonas Graabæk Hansen for a 2-1 lead to Thisted.

Generally, AB “s play was chaotic, and there were quite a few misplaced passes. Thisted had the spirit thanks to their lead and fought bravely. The many changes to AB” s team and the resulting lack of partnerships meant that much of the play fizzled out. After 41 minutes came the chance, where Jonathan Mathys received a good pass close to the penalty area, and Andreas Raahauge misjudged the ball, which ended up with Tobias Hageltorn, who was up front and he equalized confidently to 2-2.

After the break, Noah Ibsen, who was carrying a yellow card, was substituted with Jeppe Gertsen. AB came into the game better and occasionally played the ball nicely around in good combinations. However, the match was still characterized by many interruptions due to throw-ins and many free kicks.

After 63 minutes came the long-awaited substitutions for many spectators. Off went Tobias Hageltorn and on the right wing came O’Vonte Mullings, Marcus Immersen left the pitch and Marco Ramkilde took over the position up front, and Marco Vesterholm left the pitch and Noah Engell took his place in attack.

Already a minute after the substitutions, a fine pass from O’Vonte Mullings to Noah Engell created a chance, but Andreas Raahauge saved the shot. With just under a quarter of an hour remaining, Thisted’s Christian Wagner stood free in the box, where he received a cross from the right side. It was a simple and harmless cross, but it still ended with a goal by Christian Wagner for 3-2. Søren Ilsøe left the pitch and was replaced by Ægir Jarl Jonasson in midfield.
AB got another chance when O’Vonte Mullings came completely free in front of goal, but Thisted’s goalkeeper was again in position with a great save.Then the referee blew the final whistle.

Captain Søren Ilsøe says there are no excuses: “It just wasn’t good enough today. It was throughout that they win far more second balls than us, and they win far more aerial duels than us. It’s the most simple things they do better than us. I think we do everything we can to get rhythm in our play. They break it up well and that’s also credit to them, because they play a good match.

They get two goals from throw-ins from the same spot. We knew it was coming and we had trained for it. It’s not good enough and we need to go home and look at it right away. It must never happen and certainly not twice in a row. All eleven who were on the pitch when those two throw-ins came, yes we need to look each other in the eye. It wasn’t good enough at all, especially not when we knew the long throw-ins were coming.

The level wasn’t high enough from us who were on the pitch today – and it has nothing to do with us having played a midweek match. It’s only ourselves, there are no excuses. Now we need to prepare for next week’s match in Vendsyssel. It’s a long season and if you keep dwelling on the latest match, then it becomes far too difficult. Good things also happened for us in today’s match that we can take with us. It just happened too few times and then they are clinical and they scored on the three chances they have – and we don’t create nearly enough chances today”, concludes Søren Ilsøe.

Head coach Joey Gudjonsson said they couldn’t handle it: “We weren’t good enough and Thisted had a gameplan so they could dominate us. We knew they would make it difficult for us. At certain times it seemed like it was a match of men against boys. It was of course AB who were the boys today. Thisted did well today. They had two strikers up front, who they played to with long passes and throw-ins. We were soft throughout the match. We knew the right spirit when we equalized, but the way they scored the third goal was embarrassing. We had all players behind the ball, but we just stood back and let them find the spaces they needed. We had told the players that Thisted were good at playing the ball into the box and the players in the box went for the ball with intensity. We gave them plenty of time to do it, so they got several good crosses. We couldn’t handle it.

For me as a coach, it’s hard to see such talented players play without fight, who don’t follow up on situations, are scared and stand on their heels – because we won’t win anything with that. We then have to concede two goals from two long throw-ins, where people wait for others to take responsibility instead of being forward and being aggressive.

We needed new energy after the match two days ago, so I changed the lineup and also to give these players a chance to play. If they’re not good enough to play against Thisted, then it can be difficult to play their way into the team. There were quite a few question marks about several of the players who started today. Some of those questions have been answered, but much more work needs to be put in if you want to represent AB”, concluded Joey Gudjonsson.

The next match will be played Friday, August 29th at 7:00 PM in Hjørring, where AB will face Vendsyssel FF