Bergsøy beat HK Sandnes 29:26 in the NM Cup on Tuesday evening. The result came as a surprise given the form both sides had shown in recent weeks. We had backed Sandnes with 95% confidence, but the match took a different turn entirely. Sometimes the table tells only half the story.
Bergsøy entered this fixture having lost four of their previous five games. Their last outing saw them go down 36:39 at home to Sandefjord TIF. Before that, losses to Nerbo and Kolstad had left them searching for momentum. The win against Gloppen in August was the exception, not the pattern.
Sandnes were not faring much better. Three defeats in their last five matches had done little for their confidence. They had fallen to Elverum and Viking in their two most recent outings. A win against Varhaug in August and a victory over Bødø in April were their only successes in the sample we had.
So two teams coming off poor runs met in the cup, and the underdog delivered. The margins were tight — three goals separated them. It was not a game where one side dominated from the start. Things came to a head in the final period, and Bergsøy held their nerve.
The result ends Sandnes' hopes of progressing further in the competition. For Bergsøy, it is a point to build on, though they will want to show more consistency than they have managed recently. The cup path narrows, and there is no room for error from here.
