Sarpsborg were looking to build on the foundations of a very strong previous campaign under Geir Bakke and immediately hit the ground running in the early weeks. Anders Trondsen assumed his leadership role as a main provider of assists from dead balls, while also being very influential in midfield, while the likes of Matti Lund Nielsen, Patrick Mortensen and Sigurd Rosted started on a very high level of performances too. Four wins in the first five games made the locals dream big as the team was playing expansive, attacking football and looking potent and exciting. They were brought down to earth by Rosenborg in a late 2:1 home loss but maintained a very consistent level of results and established themselves as the second best in the league after the champions. Kristoffer Zacharienssen emerged a real driving force in midfield in his debut season at this level and proved a superb addition to the squad while the goals continued to come at a steady rate. Indeed, the team went on a superb run of one loss in 15 games from June to late September and they remained somewhat close to the leaders as the season went on. Yet the Blues started to draw too many games at one point of the season and never really looked like a serious challenger for the title. Moreover, the loss of talisman Trondsen to Rosenborg in August proved a major blow to the squad and, even if results remained pretty steady and there was no collapse, he did leave a major hole in the squad. One of the reason that he was not so badly missed initially was the quite brilliant run of form of youngster Krepin Diatta. The Senegalese forward commanded a starting place midway through the season with a series of eye-catching performance, belying his tender 19 years of age, and he maintained superb consistency until the end of the season. The team slowed down and was eventually overtaken by Molde at second place in the standings but they still finished in a superb piston at the end of the season and could look back on a campaign in which they certainly punched above their weight. They also went very close to getting their hands on the NM Cup as well but Lillestrøm just got the better of them in a pulsating, see-saw final at the start of December that they lost 3:2. It leaves a bittersweet feeling at the end of the season but Bakke deserves a lot of credit for the way Sarpsborg have played and developed in the past year.
