Älmeboda/Linneryd (Kullbergsplan)

Ground: Kullbergsplan

Visits: 1

Date: 7th April 2019

Match: Älmeboda/Linneryd - Råslätt 0-1 (Division 2 Östra Götaland)

Attendance: 310

The first weekend of April was also the first weekend of football in some of the lower leagues in Sweden. Älmeboda/Linneryd somehow managed to finish ahead of Växjö United in Division 3 Sydöstra Götaland meaning the club from southern Småland will play in Division 2 this year. Älmeboda/Linneryd was formed in 1994 as a merger between Älmeboda IF and Linneryds IF and in recent years they have played mostly in Division 3. The club plays the first half of the season at Linneryds IP and the second part at Kullbergsplan in Rävemåla meaning I have two grounds to visit this year to once again recomplete Division 2 Östra Götaland. The pitch in Linneryd was apparently not good enough to host the opening game of the season though and the match was consequently moved to Kullbergsplan. From where I live it takes around 80 minutes by car to reach Rävemåla and in the glorious weather (+17 °C) it was a very nice drive through parts of Sweden most people have never heard of. Anyway, as I arrived an hour prior to kick-off there was already a lot of activity at Kullbergsplan. The carpark next to the ground filled up quickly and I was obviously not the only one looking forward to this match.

Råslätt, from Jönköping, are tipped being in contention for one of the top spots and they had a great start to their season. In the 7th minute a home defender cleared off his keeper and the ball ended up in the back of the net, 0-1. The rest of the first half was then quite even but not many clear chances for either team. In the second half Älmeboda/Linneryd had most of the possession and really should have equalized from one of their many chances. Råslätt had some good central defenders though and in this match that made the difference. The official attendance this sunny afternoon was 310 and most of them returned home disappointed. I have to say Älmeboda/Linneryd can to take a lot of positives from this match and when I go to Linneryds IP later on this season they will hopefully score a few goals.