The record continues looking good: Last evening, RBK won comfortably with two goals, tough without impressing.

MANY DUELS: The bumpy pitch called for lots of fighting. Here illustrated by Essediri and Marius Johnsen. Photo: Thomas Myren

"It was a useful match for us. We got matched against a team that are very good at set pieces, and we won. Ourselves, we created two goals from setpiece situations, without letting any ball into our own net. That's a nice result," Per-Mathias Høgmo tells rosenborg.info.

RBK's gameplay was, however, not impressive.

"The field didn't invite to fancy gameplay. It caused a high number of ball losses, somewhat unusual for us," Høgmo says.

A thing he could enjoy, however, was Ørjan Berg's comeback after having nursed his operated ancle for some weeks. The midfield veteran played the first half - without setting any big mark on the game.

Bjørn Tore Kvarme, however, did. The defender continued where he left off last year, and delivered a great game. Together with co-defender Miika Koppinen he cleared off all of Start's attempts.

Both the RBK goals came after Mikael Dorsin corner kicks. Thorstein Helstad sent the 1-0 into goal from point blank, while the numerous audience still were pouring in through the gates; while Steffen Iversen scored his first RBK goal in ten years halfway through the second half. The International headed the ball in by the far post after a situation where the Start defenders cleared the ball out to Dorsin, who passed back in.

This was Iversen's first goal in eight months.

"I didn't give it much of a tought. The goal was a plus, but most important for me is to get matched and get into shape before the league starts," the player himself says.

PS! Roar Strand (toe), Vidar Riseth (ancle) and Espen Johnsen (ill) were all out.

Match Details

ROSENBORG	2-0	Start
Thorstein Helstad 6 Steffen Iversen 61

Thursday 16 March 2006 16:00
Friendly, Lerkendal idrettspark
Attendance: 1300

Rosenborg [4-3-3]
Lars Hirschfeld - Christer Basma, Bjørn Tore Kvarme, Miika Koppinen, Mikael Dorsin - Ørjan Berg (Frode Johnsen 46), Jan Gunnar Solli, Per Ciljan Skjelbred (Ståle Stensaas 81) - Karim Essediri (Øyvind Storflor 61), Thorstein Helstad (Yssouf Kone 70), Daniel Braaten (Steffen Iversen 46)

Yellow card RBK: Christer Basma