Stordal-Blink cruise past Melhus in NM Cup opener
Stordal-Blink saw off Melhus 3-0 in the first round of the Norwegian Cup on Friday evening at Aastolt Banen Kunstgress. The visitors made no mistake in the opening fixture of the competition, taking all three points with goals from A. Kvalvik, P. Einarson and G. Lewis.
And here's the thing about the twenty-first minute — or rather the forty-ninth, when Kvalvik struck. Melhus had not threatened at all before that, and the visitors made their superiority clear. It was a clean break from the first half, where neither side had registered a single shot on target.
By then, the away side had already established a rhythm. Einarson doubled the advantage in the seventy-second minute, and the home side simply could not respond. You could see the difference in positioning, in how Stordal-Blink moved between the lines without Melhus managing to close the gaps.
The third goal came in stoppage time, ninety-plus-one, through Lewis. It was not a moment of drama so much as a final confirmation. Melhus had one shot off target all game, and that was it. Stordal-Blink matched that number.
To be fair, the statistics tell a flat story. Both sides recorded zero corners, zero shots on target, and possession split at fifty-fifty. The data does not capture the movement, the pressing, the moments that decided the contest. Three goals from limited attempts suggests efficiency rather than dominance on paper.
Melhus arrive with mixed recent form. They lost 2-0 to Trug/Lade in March and were beaten 5-1 by Kristiansund BK earlier, though they did edge Stordal-Blink 2-1 in February. The visitors, meanwhile, have won their last two — a 1-0 victory over Trug/Lade and a 4-0 dismantling of Brattvåg.
What this means is straightforward. Stordal-Blink hold a three-goal cushion heading into the next stage, and they did it without registering a single shot on target in the first half. Melhus will need to find something more than they offered on Friday.