Third place was Hacken's before a run of three games without a win saw Djurgarden, Elfsborg and AIK occupy the final European place in recent days, yet Getingarna knew it would be theirs again if they could beat the strugglers at home.
They managed to do so, scoring only once, but it was a goal of real quality - in the final 10 minutes of the first half, David Seger and Abdoulaye Doumbia combined to work the ball into the centre, where Julius Lindberg was waiting to open up his body and curl a firt-time strike into the top corner from 25 yards out.
The visitors seldom looked like getting back into the game as Hacken looked the more likely to score a second after the break, but no further goals were enough for the home side to go back above AIK on goal difference, while a third loss in a row for Halmstad keeps them nine points adrift of the relegation play-off place, and 11 shy of guaranteed safety.