Analysis: the crucial mistake of Hekari United against Lae City FC

In one of the most important football matches of the year so far in Oceania football, Lae City FC beat powerhouse Hekari United in Port Moresby. The team – now coached by Bob Morris – was able to overcome their difficulties – travelling with only 14 players for the game – to beat Hekari in the debut of the star duo Raymond Gunemba and Nigel Dabinyaba, both of them former Lae City players now part of the Red Army.

Jerry Allen is temporarily unavailable for Hekari due to border restrictions; the Solomon Islands coach is back in his country, and he is on the staff of Honiara City’s newly-formed team in the Telekom S-League as he cannot currently return to Papua New Guinea. The coach and his assistant Jerry Sam will return to Papua New Guinea as soon as possible to train the Reds. While Allen is unavailable, Eric Komeng is responsible for leading Hekari from the sidelines.

In such an important match – with the addition of the Gunmeba-Dabinyaba recent transfer situation issues adding to the already fierce rivalry – both sides were not allowed to gamble: Lae City used a strong back line formed by Emmanuel Airem, Alwin Komolong, Philip Steven and Thomas Yagum – with the well-known goalkeeper Ronald Warisan completing the defensive system – having Felix Komolong, Jacob Sabua and Emmanuel Simon in the midfield. On one flank, the PNG National Soccer League top-scorer Stahl Gubag was placed alongside the Ecuadorian Abdias Aguirre as a central striker, while Obert Bika floated from one flank to another during the game, completing the offensive trio. Despite playing Felix Komolong in an unusual defensive midfielder position, Morris knew the capabilities of the star player to cover the back line and provide even more defensive power to cover the box attacks from Michael Foster and Kolu Kepo. The most unusual choice of Lae City’s head coach was to place Abdias Aguirre as a forward – the young South American player is a natural central midfielder, but his choice is understandable due the lack of quality options the coach currently has up front; and we can say Aguirre performed well in his new position.

Hekari started the match with the experienced goalkeeper Ishmael Pole and with a very different back four: Junior David, Carlos Onne, Vito Laloata and Daniel Joe. The fans might be very used to David, Onne and Joe in the back, but the Samoan Gem Vito Laloata was something very new – and wrong. The Samoan international is a central striker, tall, and he can provide strong presence in the box when necessary for Hekari United. Laloata already scored once for Hekari during the season and has also provided assists in both OFC Champions League and PNG National Soccer League – he is a useful player for the squad that can provide good options for Hekari’s coaching staff in certain areas of the game.

When a Lupe o le Soaga player in Samoa, Laloata played in more defensive roles – but never as a central defender. The 23-year-old player was sacrificed when played in a position he is not used to. In his former club in Samoa, Laloata started as full-back, then moved to the attacking wings and started to be more effective for the team in this position – his strong long-range finishes and tall stature started to work for Lupe and then he was placed as a central striker, his stand-out performances as a striker were the main reason that Laloata was called up for Samoan national team and scored three goals – including one against New Zealand – in the 2019 Pacific Games, when he caught attention of Hekari United and was signed for the 2019/20 season.

The choice was wrong – and it did not take Eric Komeng long to realise this: the first and only goal of the match came from a defensive blunder from the entire defensive system of Hekari United. First, Ishmael Pole came out too early from his posts and was out-foxed by Lae City’s forward, then Onne recovered the ball from the opposition player and left it to Laloata; they took too long to clear it and Abdias Aguirre pressed them. The ball ended up at Jacob Sabua’s feet, and he found the empty net to finish and score the winner for Lae City – you can watch the entire sequence of play by clicking here. After watching the failure and seeing Hekari’s defence was exposed, Komeng decided to do the obvious: replace the forward in defense for a natural defender: Langarap Samol. Daniel Joe then moved to the central defense alongside Onne and Samol was placed in the right back. The Hekari defence now seemed much better – and this was not Laloata’s fault.

Lae City always seemed much more organised on the pitch rather Hekari United. In the midfield, both Gregory Togubai and star David Muta could not provide proper movement in the midfield and neither could protect their back four. Kolu Kepo, alongside Dabinyaba and Gunemba upfront, could not provide enough danger to the defensive system of Lae City. The match was stuck in the midfield – where Lae was much more present than Hekari, as Obert Bika and usually Gubag and Aguirre moved back to cover spaces.

And it was not a fantastic performance for Lae City – that needs to improve a lot if they want to be a real contender for OFC Champions League as they expect for the next season -, but the lack of efficiency and a gamble in the most important match of the season made Hekari pay a huge price in front of a better organised Lae City; it seems Hekari United’s coaching staff is still unable to take the best of their players. Hekari United is now placed 3rd in the PNG National Soccer League standings and will need some extra work to recover the top-two spot in the process.