AB Gladsaxe played to a draw today, Easter Monday, in the final match of the regular season in the CampoBet 2nd Division. It took place at Brøndby Stadium, AB’s temporary home ground, and ended 1-1 between AB and VSK Aarhus. The match was watched by 409 spectators.

It was a match where, despite a very strong crosswind across the pitch, both teams played some very good football.

VSK Aarhus went 1-0 up in the referee’s stoppage time in the first half through Jonas Yderholm, and that scoreline held until the 83rd minute, when Marco Ramkilde calmly converted a penalty won by Adrien Koudelka to make it 1-1.
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AB start the CampoBet 2nd Division promotion play-offs in first place. Næstved BK are six points behind in second, and Vendsyssel FF are nine points behind in third.


AB’s Lineup
Compared with the most recent match against Skive IK, there were changes and rotations in several positions. Tobias Damtoft was back from suspension and took his place at right-back, replacing Adrien Koudelka, who returned to central defence after filling in at right-back, and Noah Ibsen started on the bench.

Travian Sousa took over at left-back and Mikkel Brund took a seat on the bench. Up front, Casper Grening started and Tobias Hageltorn started on the bench.

The starting lineup was then as follows
In goal: Adam Ingi Benediktsson; right-back: Tobias Damtoft; centre-backs: Adrien Koudelka and Marc Dal Hende (captain); left-back: Travian Sousa; midfield: Marco Vesterholm and Søren Ilsøe. On the left wing: Jonathan Mathys, and on the right wing: O’Vonte Mullings. Up front: Casper Grening and Milan Silva Rasmussen.


Match and highlights
AB started with a very high press, which created chances, and although two corners didn’t pay off, AB set the tone. It took 6 minutes before VSK Aarhus got into AB’s half and had a shot. VSK Aarhus did, however, grow more and more into the game and moved the ball around well. They were good at playing out from the back and in several situations avoiding AB’s press.
At times, AB didn’t mark VSK’s players tightly enough, giving them too much space to play in.

Both Milan Silva Rasmussen and O’Vonte Mullings had several chances where quick passes were played into the box for them. Travian Sousa had a good opportunity, but his finish—trying to lift the ball over VSK’s goalkeeper Casper Andersen—was turned behind for a corner.
After 20 minutes, Jonathan Mathys had a chance to score when he went through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, who made several good saves today—this one as well. A few minutes later, Marc Dal Hende played a long, precise pass from the middle to Jonathan Mathys, but his shot was pushed over the bar.

VSK also played their part and pressed AB into losing the ball. A cross into the box was, however, turned behind for a corner, which AB’s defence also dealt with. In the final 10 minutes of the half, Casper Grening had a good chance, but VSK’s goalkeeper Casper Andersen was alert again. VSK came closer and had three corners in the same attack, but AB’s defence managed to clear the ball each time.

In stoppage time, Jonas Yderholm got his chance when the ball fell between two AB players, and he ran at goal and scored into the far corner to make it 1-0 before the referee blew for half-time.

AB came out with great energy after the break. O’Vonte Mullings, Tobias Damtoft and Jonathan Mathys in particular created chances, while Søren Ilsøe and Marco Vesterholm really battled in midfield and the defence stayed solid. Tobias Damtoft made one of his energetic runs down the right and delivered a good cross into the box, where Jonathan Mathys was close to getting on the end of it. A few minutes later, Jonathan Mathys’ sliding finish went just wide.

With half an hour left, Tobias Damtoft was substituted and Noah Ibsen came on. Marco Ramkilde came on and took over Milan Silva Rasmussen’s spot up front. Defensively, Adrian Koudelka moved to right-back, and Noah Ibsen took a place in central defence alongside Marc Dal Hende.
VSK had several chances, but both AB’s back line and Adam Ingi Benediktsson were fully ready to deal with them. Marco Ramkilde made his mark on the match just a few minutes after coming on. One shot hit the side netting, while a header went just wide.

Tobias Lykkebak came on and Jonathan Mathys took a seat on the bench. Tobias Lykkebak was placed up front and Casper Grening moved to the left wing.
With just under 10 minutes to go, Adrien Koudelka was brought down in the box after a cross from Casper Grening from the left. Marco Ramkilde confidently scored the penalty to make it 1-1 in the 83rd minute.

Tobias Hageltorn came on in the final minutes and was placed up front, while Tobias Lykkebak moved into midfield. Søren Ilsøe took a seat on the bench.
AB put on huge pressure in the closing minutes, but the draw was the final outcome.

Captain Marc Dal Hende felt we lacked ruthlessness in the final third: “It was a tough game today. We knew VSK are a team that plays good football. They did well playing out of our press in the first half. I think the effort from our side was good. There wasn’t a single player who didn’t give 100%. But VSK play well and go ahead with a great goal, where we also have to look at ourselves.
In the second half, I think it’s a bit like against Skive, where we dominate really well but have trouble just getting the goal. In the end we managed it, with Ramkilde putting the ball in the net. Great to see Ramkilde getting going now too.” We were a few fine margins away from scoring goal number two.
We have to look at ourselves—there’s just that final bit missing. We lack ruthlessness in the final third, and it’s something the whole team has to work on. At half-time we agreed to just release the handbrake, go for it even more and be even more aggressive in the press. VSK also dropped deeper and defended the one point. They defended well and respect for that, but we’re missing the last few percent and that’s not good enough. Because we want to win every single match, both away and at home, there’s something to work on,” Marc Dal Hende concludes.

Head coach Fannar Berg Gunnólfsson is absolutely certain the players’ motivation is top: “I’m disappointed that we concede a goal shortly before half-time. On the video it’s clearly offside, but it wasn’t given. It was a good time for them to score. In that moment we were a bit sloppy defensively, and we were punished for it.
In the second half, I think the players did a really good job, and we just needed a little bit of luck to score in the final part of the match.
The wind sometimes made it a bit difficult to control the ball, but that’s football. Towards the end we tried to bring Adrien in from the wing and create the chance for a cut-back. When Adrien gets into the box, their goalkeeper comes out a bit too aggressively and tackles Adrien, and it was a correct penalty. Marco Ramkilde calmly put the ball in the net.
Now we haven’t taken maximum points in the last two matches, but I have a clear feeling I won’t need to spend much time motivating the players for the upcoming games. After the match the players were very disappointed not to win, but the motivation is definitely there. We’re on our mission, where we have to win every weekend.” The players are extremely hungry and aggressive and want to win every match.
Now we’re going into the promotion round, and we’re looking forward to it. We know all five teams and it will be 10 matches where we have to stay focused. Every team has its strengths and weaknesses, but they’re all strong sides and we’ll have to fight for every metre against everyone,” Fannar Berg Gunnólfsson concludes.


The first of the 10 matches in the promotion round will be away against HIK. We’ll share the date and time as soon as the match is confirmed.