When it all comes down to it, football is about putting the ball in the back of the net. And as Fredrikstad's strikers spurned chance after chance, one of their former frontmen produced two neat finishes and sent last season's runners-up in the Tippeliga crashing into Adeccoliga-obscurity. FFK-manager Tom Nordlie will no doubt have been thrilled to note that the club he left to save Fredrikstad, Kongsvinger, casually climbed their first hirdle with a 3-1 win over Sogndal.

As the curtains close on part one of the Tippeliga, the 18th round proved a highly appropriate ending: Rosenborg won without impressing anyone, Molde won and impressed everyone, Lyn shot themselves in the foot and the rest was all a bit random.

Now, nothing would be more gratifying than to report that the bullies from Bergen where humped, thumped, thwacked and indeed wallopped by a magnificent Molde.

Haka (2nd) TPS (3rd), Monday 7 PM
Live on Urheilukanava and streams

PREVIEW: This week and the next are of definitive nature as far as the title race is concerned. TPS will play both Haka and table-topping HJK this week, and two wins could see them occupy the driving seat.

Veikkausliiga heads north today, with long journeys deep into the countryside for HJK and Tampere United. RoPS, KuPS and VPS all have nice grounds but terrible pitches, and the difficulty of getting results there has been evident in recent seasons, with VPS acting as a bit of a bogey side for TamU and KuPS getting a memorable 3-2 win against HJK late last season to help them to a play-off spot.

You heard me. And after a fairly hectic summer-period one imagines quite a few of the Tippeliga players could do with a rest as well, which is why it's so convenient that after this weekend the Tippeliga takes a two week holiday. Before that though there is a potentially cracking round of matches to be played, including the ultimate showdown of doom.

FC Inter (6th) IFK Mariehamn (4th), Saturday 6:30 PM

The weekend (Monday included) has a full round of Veikkausliiga in store for football fans. Tonight's game is first of the seven matches to be played, and NFN will treat you to minute-by-minute updates of the game in this post.

The biggest story of the Sixth Round was Tampere United's decision to play their home tie against Jaro at Tammela Stadium, a ground considered by many to be Finland's best. The significance of this is not obvious to those who have not been closely following Tampere football in recent years, so I will recap briefly.

Ilves have been playing again for a season and a half now, and for the most part they've been up near the top of the Kakkonen group B table. Tampere photographer Petteri Lehtonen has been following them, and has kindly agreed to allow NFN to use his photos to bring a little bit of Kakkonen to our readers.

The preview of the sxth round should take many forms, the first one being a homage to Pasi Rautiainen. This Monday's match between Honka and TPS in Tapiola turned into something of a media event, with most of the Finnish under-21 squad presented with roses for their achievement in failing to win a single game or point, and scoring a solitary penalty during their three matches in Sweden.

Well, terrific if you like your games full of goals and incidents. No so much if you like, youknow, vaguely competent defenders.

After a couple of pretty stale rounds the Tippeliga perked up a bit in round 17, with goals flying in at a fairly bonkers rate of 4,4 goals per game. Still, no matter how hard the ever-excitable TV2 tried to talk it up, it was hard for the discerning viewer to watch the weekend's highlights without being slightly troubled by the hopelessly poor defending displayed by most of the Tippeliga outfits.

FC Honka (5th) TPS (3rd), Monday 7 PM
Live on Urheilukanava and streams

Ilta-Sanomat's Ville Väänänen already declared that the title race will be run between three teams. There are 13 games to be played, but he is on the right track. Haka and HJK are five points adrift from TPS, who are third with a game in hand.

Watching Tampere United struggle to a single goal victory over JJK at Ratina yesterday, it occurred to me just how astonishing it is that anyone watches Finnish football. The first half was enjoyably predictable, as TamU attacked and JJk attempted to string a few passes together. JJK's South Korean striker Nam was brought off injured, and someone curled a shot against the bar for the Jyväskyläns (it could very possibly have been Koskela), and Rafinha got the winner when Sinisalo's headed past his own keeper, but overall it was a pretty run of the mill Veikkausliiga match.

Last night, a great night from brand new KuPS signing Dickson Nwakaeme helped KuPS to a 3-0 win over RoPS, while TamU did exactly what was needed and overcame JJK with the scoreline 1-0. A more detailed round-up is on the way once the round is completed, but for now we are taking a look at today's games

FC Inter (7th) FC Lahti (9th), Sunday 6:30 PM

As the league table indicates, both sides are underperforming.

Really, this has to stop now, this wonderfully stereotype-busting weather currently enjoyed in most of the country makes it virtually impossible to get anything done.

Saturday

Sandefjord (9th) Odd Grenland (3rd)

Right, the fact that this game is well underway at the time of writing renders this preview utterly pointless.

I'm just getting the hang of this twitter business, several decades after most other journalists in the western hemisphere, and as such I thought I'd give it a go while here waiting for TamU v JJK to start. Live updates will be posted throughout the game, if you are at all bothered you can read them from my twitter page.