SC Heerenveen failed to properly dispose themselves of Helsinborg IF in the first match of two for a spot in the UEFA Cup group stage. The hosts came ahead with three to nothing after some solid first half football but gave away two very easy goals in the first ten minutes of the second half. Heerenveen recovered well by bagging another two but again they allowed Helsinborg to come back into the game as they gave away a clumsy penalty kick. The Dutch side did deserve to win as they were simply a class above their Swedish opposites but since they conceded three goals Helsinborg still have a good hope of qualifying.

The Frysian side have been playing the first four games of their domestic league without last year's revelation and top scorer Alves. They really missed him up front and they had some trouble scoring goals. Nonetheless they finally seemed to have solved this problem as they attacked freely in this game and scored from several fluent attacks. The other problem they have been experiencing seems far from solved though. After the departure of their former captain Hansson it seems their defense has never really found a proper replacement. Helsingborg proved to be very alert and efficient when it came to punishing mistakes in the Dutch defense.

The Swedish side didn't come to The Netherlands to defend and they should be praised for such an attitude. On the other side coach Baxter might have done better to play a bit more defensively since his side gave away too much spaces. They posed danger themselves in the beginning but not as much as Heerenveen did over the whole game. It still took them a little over twenty minutes before opening the score though. After Bradley signed for the opening goal with a well aimed shot, Sibon soon bagged a second when he headed in a Beerens cross ball. Again a couple of minutes later Sibon could easily tap in a low cross from close range after Beerens put Sulejmani in front of goal. The hosts helped Helsinborg back into the game in the second half as they made some big mistakes in defense. First goalie Vandenbussche completely misjudged a deep ball and Larsson could easily score from a Omotoyossi pass and a couple of minutes later Omotoyossi himself scored as he took maximum profit from a breakdown in communication between Vandenbussche and one of his defenders.  Heerenveen's answer came within a couple of minutes as Bak Nielsen put a rebound behind  Andersson. The next minute he also conceded a fifth goal. Bradley scored his second as finished off a Beerens pass clinically. The hosts failed to control the game though even after they were three goals ahead. This was further illustrated by the foul Bradley made and which resulted in a penalty kick. Larsson converted the spot kick with ease to settle the final score.

SC Heerenveen showed some brilliant moves at times but in the end they can't really be pleased with the way they gave away three goals. I think they are surely stronger than Helsinborg and especially with Alves back in the squad they should be confident to beat the Swedish even on their own ground. Helsinborg were a bit lucky to score three goals here since they didn't really account for much played out chances. Nonetheless there is still hope and they will surely put up a better fight on their own turf.