On Friday evening, AB played the second-to-last match of the 2025–2026 season. The game was played at JHH Park, where Næstved were the hosts. Næstved, who after today’s match sit in 3rd place in the CampoBet Liga, once again showed that they are a very strong team. From the start of the match it was clear they were keen to finish the season well at home in front of the 787 spectators in the stands. They played well and won 4–1. AB’s only goal was scored by Noah Engell.
Næstved controlled the play for long spells and, with their familiar, strong combination play, they put AB under pressure. In several situations, AB weren’t close enough to the Næstved players in their build-up, and the pressing just didn’t click today. AB also created chances, but Næstved goalkeeper Albert Gaub-Jakobsen made several big saves and was also named Næstved’s Player of the Match. It was a wake-up call for AB, because nothing went as expected, and it gives food for thought.

AB’s line-up
For today’s match against Næstved, the coaching staff made a few changes compared to the game against HIK. Marcus Bobjerg started in goal in the absence of Adam Ingi Benediktsson, who is with the Iceland national team in Japan. In central defence, Noah Ibsen replaced Adrien Koudelka, who was injured. At left back, Alfred Horup replaced Travian Sousa, who was also injured. Tobias Lykkebak took over in midfield for Søren Ilsøe, who was suspended.

The starting XI was then as follows
In goal: Marcus Bobjerg; right back: Jeppe Gertsen; centre backs: Noah Ibsen and Marc Dal Hende (captain); left back: Alfred Horup; in midfield: Marco Vesterholm and Marco Vesterholm. On the left wing: Jonathan Mathys, and on the right wing: O´Vonte Mullings. Up front, Milan Silva Rasmussen and Noah Engell played.

Match report
After just 3 minutes, Næstved won a corner, but AB’s defence was in place. Less than a minute later, a ball was played long into Næstved’s half, where Milan Silva Rasmussen was waiting. The defender mistimed his jump, the ball dropped in behind him, and Milan Silva Rasmussen picked it up and ran at goal. At the last moment he squared it to O’Vonte Mullings, who had joined the attack. He drove into the box, but was brought down, and from the outside it looked like a penalty—yet the referee’s whistle stayed silent.

After 10 minutes, a good pass sent one of Næstved’s quick attackers sprinting towards goal, but Marcus Bobjerg forced him into an overhit pass, and Jeppe Gertsen tracked back to clear the ball.
Just under half an hour in, the scoring got going. A pass went through AB’s defence and, arriving at the back of the box, Marius Olufsen Christiansen got a foot to it and made it 1–0.

A few minutes later, Noah Engell picked up a loose ball and dribbled from his own half towards Næstved’s goal, where he equalised to make it 1–1.


The pattern of the game didn’t change much in the second half. Næstved continued to control much of the play and create chances.

After 53 minutes, Noah Engell had a chance to shoot, but it was blocked. The ball rolled towards goal, but Næstved goalkeeper Albert Gaub-Jakobsen just managed to punch it away. A long pass then found Næstved’s Tinus Olesen, who whipped a sharp cross into the box. As Noah Ibsen tried to block a free Næstved player, he slid into the ball and scored an own goal, making it 2–1 to Næstved.
Then came the substitutions. Tobias Lykkebak left the pitch, Casper Grening came on and took over at left back after Alfred Horup, who moved into midfield. Tobias Damtoft came on at right back, and Jeppe Gertsen had to go off injured. Tobias Hageltorn came on and replaced Jonathan Mathys in attack.
Just four minutes later, a long cross to the far post was headed in by Marius Olofsen Christiansen to put Næstved 3–1 up. With 15 minutes left, Næstved scored again when Benjamin Luka Kold Rasmussen struck the ball into the net from the edge of the box to make it 4–1.
Emil Mygind came on and slotted in at left back, replacing Milan Silva Rasmussen, while Casper Grening was pushed up to the left wing.
Late on, AB had several opportunities, but neither Casper Grening nor Noah Engell could pull one back.


Captain Marc Dal Hende said that trees don’t grow to the sky: “It was a very deserved win for Næstved. We’d talked about how they like to build up with a lot of passing moves, and we also knew we had to invest in the press to be able to deal with it. At no point in the match did we make our mark. We punish them for some of their mistakes, but it’s not something we create ourselves. They score four against us—put mildly, it was a very, very bad day at the office for us.”
It’s a good reminder that trees don’t grow to the sky. If we don’t put 100% into it, then we’ll also lose every match in the 1st Division. So it was a good reminder, and there’s no doubt we have something to put right in the last home game, where hopefully a lot of people will come to the stadium and we need to deliver a completely different performance.
Næstved were good at dropping off and creating overloads out wide. We talked about that at half-time, that we needed to try to adjust. We have to admit we didn’t really manage it. And then there’s also duels and intensity—we lost that today as well.
With our style of play, and for us to be dominant, we have to be good and be the best team. So we all have to go home and take a long look at ourselves.”
“It looked like Næstved wanted it more than us today, and that’s obviously disappointing, because when you play with the AB badge on your chest, it demands an extraordinary work rate—and we didn’t deliver that today,” Marc Dal Hende concludes.

Head coach Fannar Berg Gunnólfsson was very disappointed with today’s match: “Næstved put far more energy and effort into the game than we did today. They challenged us and they won all their duels. It’s not a performance that is acceptable at AB. We can find faults in our play, but Næstved did what it took to win the duels, they won the second balls, and they fought for everything. Maybe one explanation is that we were missing some players from the starting XI, but that doesn’t help us.”
All the players did what they could, but there isn’t a single player who can be proud of themselves after the match. That’s not what we will accept at AB. We can lose matches, and that’s fine, but to lose a match the way we did today—it really hurts. The players have to understand that nothing is given, even if we are where we are right now. We have to work hard every single day. We can’t just choose to relax. Being a winner means wanting to win every day. We’ve lost matches this season, and some of those defeats were acceptable in my eyes. Today we didn’t do what we could.
I hope all the players will take a long look at themselves and also stop thinking about what’s going to happen next weekend or next month. We have to be present in the moment every day and in every match,” concludes Fannar Berg Gunnólfsson.

The next match will be played on Saturday 6 June 2026 at 14:00 at Gladsaxe Stadium, where Thisted FC will visit. It’s also the last match of the season, so mark your calendar now and keep an eye out for information on how promotion and 1st place in the 2nd Division will be celebrated.