One of the most important football teams from Samoa, Kiwi FC is having a disappointing season in the current Premier Men’s League season as the team coached by Martin Tamasese is currently in the seventh position.
Despite counting on good players like Jarrell Sale and Samuelu Malo, Kiwi FC has been struggling to win matches as they have only won two of their six matches this season. It is known that the team has been looking for material’s donations during the off season and this might have hindered their preparation for the league, but football fans were surely expecting more from the team.
Kiwi FC logo
While Kiwi FC faces difficulties to win matches, Lupe o le Soaga is having another marvelous season and the team coached by Paul Ualesi is the biggest contender to clinch the title in 2020 as they won all their six matches so far in the season. You can check the current Premier Men’s League standings and results by clicking here.
The Ultra Football Central League is one of the most important winter football leagues from New Zealand and local fans have an extra reason to keep up with the current season as two teams are spicing up the title race: Miramar Rangers and Western Suburbs.
Despite the 1-1 draw against Lower Hutt City last weekend, current league champions Western Suburbs are living another marvelous season and it would not be a surprise if they clinch Central League’s title for the third time in four years. On the other hand, Miramar Rangers’ head coach Patrick Fleming relies on a powerful attack led by Samuel Mason-Smith, Andrew Bevin and João Moreira.
Miramar Rangers (left) and Western Suburbs (right) are fighting for the title in 2020 Ultra Football Central League
Both teams are tied on top of the table with 40 points in sixteen matches which means that there are only two remaining matchweeks until the end of the season. The bad news for Rangers is that starting goalkeeper Keegan Smith will not be available for their upcoming clash against Wellington Olympic at David Farrington Park as he saw the red card against Stop Out SC last weekend. On the other hand Western Suburbs have – in theory – an easier game against Petone FC at Petone Memorial Park.
Oceania Football Center wish good luck to both teams in this breathtaking race. You can check the current Ultra Football Central League standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.
The current Telekom S-League season is already a historical one as there are eleven teams in the league including three new franchises: Central Coast, Honiara City and Southern United. While Southern is having a poor season, the other two teams are impressing local fans.
Currently in the fourth position with twelve points in seven matches, Central Coast FC is a well organised team, specially on defense. While head coach Jacob Moli must be congratulated for his good job, there is a young player that must be highlighted as well: Javin Wae.
Wae is one of the most promising footballers from the Solomon Islands and he is proving himself this season. He is a versatile player who can play as a defender or as a midfielder with the same quality – something rare in football.
Javin Wae was Central Coast’s captain last weekend – Telekom S-League Media
Part of Central Coast’s success in the current season must be attributed to him once he is one of the most important players in the team. His presence makes a difference on the pitch and it would not be a surprise if we saw him in the National Team in the next call.
Wae represented his country in the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Brazil last year. He is one of the players linked to Basi Futbol – a football agency that promotes young footballers from Solomon Islands abroad. His good performances combined with Basi’s help can take him to a foreign club soon.
An exciting weekend of action saw underdogs Gulf Komara claim the final playoff spot in the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League this Saturday, while Lae City did enough against Vitiaz United to hold onto their expected Minor Premiership, despite as Raymond Gunemba hat-trick earning Hekari United a 3-0 win over Tusbab Stallions.
Three teams were in contention for the final playoff spot, with FC Bougainville kicking off proceedings in Port Moresby against Morobe Wawens at 11am, knowing they would need to win and hope that neither Gulf Komara nor Tusbab Stallions won in their respective 1pm kick-offs. And the playoff hopefuls made a swift start to their match on nine minutes, with Basil Jofari swinging a cross in from the right wing. Following a fortuitous ricochet, Daniel Vetali was on hand to lash the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
Bougainville made it two just before the 20-minute mark after Elton Banem curled in a corner from the left side which evaded everyone and found its way directly into the back of the ne. This gave them a two-goal lead going into half-time.
Wawens hit back immediately after the restart after an innocuous-looking handball in the box was given as a penalty. Moses Kamakeng’s initial effort from the spot was saved, but he was able to pounce on the rebound and fire past Adrian Redenut in the Bougainville goal. The game became rather tense for much of the second half, with Bougainville trying to hold their lead and Wawens probing for an opening, and the two sided remained locked at 2-1 until the final ten minutes. A long ball forward in the direction of Bernard Purari led to Wawens’ goalkeeper Yalisan Michael rushing out, and Purari was brought down inside the box. After a lengthy break to deal with Purari’s injury, Daniel Vetali restored Bougainville’s two-goal lead with a well-taken penalty. Eaka Philemon put the icing in the cake with a late fourth.
So with Bougainville winning, both Tusbab Stallions and Gulf Komara knew that they would have to win to secure their place in the playoffs. Stallions were taking on Hekari United in Lae, while Gulf Komara were fortunate to have a game at ‘home’ against Star Mountain. And the two games went in completely opposite directions: an early goal from Golden Boot-chasing Raymond Gunemba put Hekari in front against Tusbab Stallions shortly before a wonderful individual effort from Pala Paul put Gulf Komara in front against Star Mountain after 25 minutes. By half-time Tusbab were another goal behind, while Komara retained their slim one-goal lead.
Things started to look very rosy for Gulf Komara as the second half wore on. Gunemba completed his hat-trick of goals against Stallions to all but end their playoff dreams, while Komara started to find their scoring boots. Rupa Emil crossed for Jordan Kaven to head in just after the hour mark, before a spree of goals in the final five minutes added the cherry on top: Numa Kila scored Komara’s third on 84 minutes, before Kaven was released by Kenneth Arah for his second goal, before completing his own hat-trick in injury time.
Jordan Kaven celebrating one of his three goals on Saturday for Gulf Komara. Photo: PNGFA
So Komara leapfrog defeated Tusbab Stallions to reach the playoffs, and will play Minor Premiers Lae City in the playoff semi-finals. Lae and third-placed Vitiaz United fought out a 0-0 draw in their final game of the season in Port Moresby, while Morobe United avoided the wooden spoon after a 3-2 victory against FC Kutubu in the final game in Lae. Lae’s draw meant that they earned the final point they needed to officially claim the Minor Premiership – although even a narrow defeat would have been enough for them thanks to their highly superior goal difference.
Next week’s playoffs will therefore see reigning five-time champions Lae City take on Gulf Komara in the first semi-final, while eight-time champions Hekari United will take on newcomers Vitiaz United in the second semi-final. Lae defeated Gulf Komara home and away in the regular season by an aggregate scoreline of 6-0, while Vitiaz and Hekari drew in both of their fixtures in the regular season, so their semi-final could well be a hugely interesting affair.
New Caledonia Cup is surely one of the most important tournaments in the French Territory. While dozens of teams dream about winning the Cup, only four teams still have the chance to lift this important trophy in 2020.
AS Magenta faced RC Poindimié at Stade Yoshida and they did not give a chance to their opponents with a massive win by 7-0 while title holders Hienghène Sport have beaten AS Qanono by 2-0 at Stade Edouard Pentecost in Nouméa.
AS Magenta smashed RC Poindimié by 7-0 – FCF Media
Despite having a bad moment in the league, AS Mont-Dore have beaten Olympique Nouméa by 2-1 while SC Ne Drehu booked a spot in the semi-finals after beating AS Kunié. The cup champions qualify for 2020-21 Coupe de France – the national football cup from France. You can check more information about the current New Caledonia Cup by clicking here.
The twelfth matchweek of 2019-20 PVFA Premier League was not a good one for Tafea FC – one of the most important football teams from Vanuatu. Currently in the third position, the team coached by Robert Yalou is not having a good moment in the league.
Last weekend’s draw against Galaxy FC was not a good result for Tafea as they are now five points behind league leaders Ifira Black Bird with two matches until the end of the regular season, which means that Yalou’s team does not have many chances to clinch the league title.
The final score was not the only bad news for Tafea as Waiwo Kalmet got his ankle injured in this game. According to reliable sources, the 21-year-old winger is facing many ankle problems as this was not his first ankle injury of the season.
Kalmet (in the middle) got his ankle injured against Galaxy FC – Vanuatu Sports News
It is not known if Kalmet will be available for next weekend’s clash against Tupuji Imere. Anyway his absence might be a problem for Tafea, specially in the Top Four that will be contested after the regular season. You can check the current PVFA Premier League standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.
The round was great for Henderson Eels; the current top-tabled side of the Solomon Islands’ Telekom S-League saw their direct opponent for the title Solomon Warriors falling against Laugu United yesterday and today they confirmed their favouritism against the Kossa’s good team.
This Sunday on Lawson Tama Stadium we had more two matches for the eighth week of the Telekom S-League; Marist played against Isabel United in the first game of the day. Both sides come from good performances in the past weeks, but at the end of the match both sides were tied up in a 1-1 draw. The talented Dalton Saeni scored for Marist while Thomas Amasia was the goalscorer for the Gideon Omokirio’s coached-side Isabel United.
The big match of the day saw Henderson Eels surpass Kossa – the first goal of the day was scored by the experienced Joses Nawo after dribbling the keeper and scoring through the legs of a defender. But the leadership of Eels did not take long; the young talented forward Barrie Limoki had an opportunity from the penaly spot and made no mistake to equalise the encounter.
Still into the first 45 minutes of the match Eels managed to score twice – all goals counted on the help of Kossa’s gloveman John Telengea. The first goal was scored through a free-kick taken by Timothy Bakale, the midfelder crossed to the area but unfortunately for Kossa their goalkeeper mishandled the ball that ended up at the back of the net. Already in the final minutes of the first half it was time for the first goal of the season for Kukuruku‘s member Arnold Maeluma – the player finished from long range and the goalkeeper was not in time to stop an weak shot that put Eels two goals ahead.
Henderson Eels extended their lead to five points at the top of TSL’s table – TSL Media
In the second part of the game Eels still managed to score one more time, this time the captainBoni Pride headed it home at the 85th minute of play to confirm his side win after a very good corner taken by the prodigy Raphael Lea’i.
With the win, Eels is now five points ahead the second-placed side Laugu United. The black and white side took the second place from Solomon Warriors after beating them yesterday by 2-0. You can check the updated standings, top scorers and full results of the season so far by visiting our session of the Telekom-S League.
One of the most promising players from New Zealand, Liberato Cacace is living a special moment in his career as the young left back made his official debut in European football on this Saturday – one day before his 20th birthday.
Cacace was in Sint-Truidense’s starting eleven against KV Mechelen in the seventh matchweek of 2020-21 Jupiler Pro League – the top-tier league from Belgium. Despite all efforts, Cacace and his teammates lost by 2-0.
Liberato Cacace made his official debut for Sint-Truidense – Sint-Truidense Media
Aster Vranckx opened the scoreboard for KV Mechelen in the 60th minute. Four minutes later, Cacace tried to make a clearence inside the box but the ball fell into Vranckx’ feet to score his second goal of the day. Sint-Truidense are currently in the 16th position in the league with five points in seven matches. You can check the current Jupiler Pro League standings by clicking here.
The Mainland Premier League (MPL) is one of the winter football leagues from New Zealand. With seven teams from Christchurch and one from Nelson, MPL is the strongest football league in the country’s South Island.
This league is dominated by Cashmere Technical – a team that was formed in early 2012 from the merger of two local teams, Cashmere Wanderers and Woolston Technical – which won the league six times between 2013 and 2019. Despite having already clinched 2020 season’s title, the team coached by Deane Hutchinson still has something to fight for as they are one match away from finishing the current league season unbeaten.
Cashmere Technical’s logo
With nineteen wins and a draw in twenty matches, Cashmere Technical’s last meeting of 2020 MPL season will be an interesting challenge against Nomads United AFC that are currently in the third position in the league. You can check the current MPL standings by clicking here.
The current Fijian football season is slowly coming to its end as the national leagues are just a few matches away from being finished. While Nasinu and Navua are fighting against relegation to second division there are two other teams that are one step away from being promoted to the Premier League.
Eleven teams are playing in Vodafone Senior League – the second-tier of Fijian football. These teams were split in two zones: Vanua Levu Zone (six teams) and Viti Levu Zone (five teams). The champions of each zone are already known: Bua (Vanua Levu) and Nadroga (Viti Levu). Both teams are going to clash in a final play-off to decide which club will be in the first division next year.
Bua (left) and Nadroga (right) are the finalists of 2020 Vodafone Senior League
Nadroga surely have the strongest squad of the tournament with lots of talented and well-known players like legendary Osea Vakatalesau. On the other hand, Bua is one of the smallest teams from Fijian league system. Despite all financial problems, the team keeps pounding and now they are one step away from being promoted to the Premier League: “We have proved our critics that a young team of players and officials can achieve the best if the heart and the mind is willing […] We will do our best to achieve more,” stated Bua on social media.
The two matches of the final play-offs are scheduled to take place in November which means that both sides will have plenty of time to get ready for the fight. You can check the current Vodafone Senior League standings by clicking here.
Oceania Football Center 