After facing difficulties in the first half, Henderson Eels got back on track in the second half to beat Real Kakamora by 4-0 at Lawson Tama Stadium in the tenth matchweek of Telekom S-League – the national football league from Solomon Islands.
Eels’ forward Tutizama Tanito had a good opportunity to open the scoreboard in the twelfth minute but Kakamora’s veteran goalkeeper Zantas Kabini saved it. A few minutes later, Tanito crossed from the left wing and Arnold Maeluma pushed the ball into the net, but the goal was disallowed because Maeluma was in an offside position.
Real Kakamora had a chance to score in the 41st minute in a free kick but Bartholomew Talakoro sent it over the crossbar. The first half finished at a nil-nil draw, a result that was not making Eels’ head coach Eddie Marahare happy: “We needed to make some changes as we need to keep the ball and then try to penetrate towards into the spaces,” he said in a post-match interview.
For the second half, Derrick Taebo replaced left back Robert Laua while Augustine Waita came from the bench to replace Arnold Maeluma. Despite having been Laua’s replacement, Taebo played on the right side as Sedrick Doliasi was moved to the left side.
Waita started the second half as a left winger while youngster Raphael Le’ai – who played as a left winger in the first half – was moved to the right wing and it worked perfectly. Joses Nawo opened the scoreboard for Henderson Eels in the first minute of the second half after a great cross from the right wing by Raphael Le’ai.
In the 54th minute, Le’ai was fouled inside the box by Joachim Rande. However, the referees said it was outside the box. The referee’s mistake was not a problem for Joses Nawo who extended Eels’ lead with a powerful free kick. A few minutes later, Le’ai passed by two defenders before giving the ball to Augustine Waita who pushed it into the net to score Eels’ third goal.
After delivering two assists, youngster Raphael Le’ai scored an amazing free kick goal from the left wing to put his side ahead by four goals – A great goal to crown his great performance. Applauded, he was replaced by Hudson Felani in the 80th minute.
Both teams worked hard to find the net in the final minutes of the clash, but the score did not change in the last ten minutes and Henderson Eels defeated Real Kakamora by 4-0: “We came up with the objective to get the maximum points from this game and I’m very happy that we achieved that today,” stated Eddie Marahare.
Eels remain on top of the table with 27 points in ten matches while Real Kakamora is currently in the eighth position in the league. You can check 2020 Telekom S-League standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.
Oceania Football Center 