The fifteenth matchweek of 2019-20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League was full of controversies and the first one took place in the opening match of the week contested between Gulf Komara and local powerhouse Hekari United.
Hekari United was beating Gulf Komara by 1-0 when forward Kolu Kepo was fouled inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty to Hekari, and that is what started the whole confusion. Komara’s defender Kila Numa got angry with the penalty awarded and then he kicked the ball at referee David Yareboinen on purpose.
Numa also ran into Yareboinen and pushed him twice before receiving a yellow card, but he should have seen a red card for the agressions. You can check the incident by clicking here. After all, the referee changed his decision and the penalty awarded to Hekari United was cancelled – a shameful decision.
David Yareboinen (right) was assaulted by Gulf Komara’s defender Kila Numa – PNGFA Media
Kila Numa was not sent off for assaulting the referee, but he saw a red card later that game by fouling Nigel Dabinyaba. At the final whistle, Hekari won by 2-0 to remain in the third position in the National Soccer League. You can check the current league standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.
Football was not in the limelight in Papua New Guinea’s premier footballing division this weekend. Despite an important round, the results and player performance took a back seat because of a series of refereeing errors in the PNG National Soccer League on the fifteen weekend of football.
In the first game of the weekend, the powerhouse Hekari United won against brave Gulf Komara 2-0; the team coached by David Aua was strong enough to put the Reds under pressure in the early minutes of the game, but a fantastic solo effort by Ati Kepo allowed Hekari to take the lead as Nigel Dabinyaba only needed to tap in after a superb assist from the quick striker. Hekari did not count on Carlos Onne and star striker Raymond Gunemba, but they controlled most of the game after Gulf Komara’s defender Kila Numa was sent off after his second yellow. Numa should have seen the red card earlier when he pushed the referee David Yareboinen after the latter pointed to the penalty spot following a foul on Kolu Kepo. Strangely enough, after Yareboinen was pushed by Kila Numa and Ilagi Geno, the referee eventually decided to change the decision on the field – Numa only received yellow, and Komara were awarded a drop ball in their favour.
The second half was also intense, with Hekari letting their opponents have the ball in order to strike back at them on the counterattack. Komara was never really close to Dave Tomare’s goal, but managed to have most of the possession in the second part of the game. In the late phase of the game, the experienced Wira Wama came off the bench and scored the last goal of the match by a header, securing a 2-0 win for the Eric Komeng-coached side.
Hekari United and David Yareboinen were in the spotlight – PNGFA Media
But the worst part of the weekend did not come from Port Moresby; the clash between Morobe United and Star Mountain at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium did not even reach a conclusion. Alex Kamen and Junior Guaf both scored Morobe United goals to put the locals in the lead, then Star Mountain began their recovery in the game thanks to a goal from Pettyshen Elijah, and everything pointed to a fine comeback when William Lahai scored the equaliser for the Port Moresby-based side.
After protests from the players of Morobe United, the referee of the match decided not to allow the Star Mountain’s second goal. The decision took around 15 minutes to be made and was not accepted by the Star Mountain staff, so the team left the pitch with more than 20 minutes left to play. The PNG Football Association has yet to issue a statement on the incident.
Also in Lae, after the confusing clash of Morobe United-Star Mountain, many refereeing mistakes were made in the following game – completely unacceptable mistakes. Lae City opened the scoring thanks to Obert Bika against Morobe Wawens, and were close to doubling the lead after the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Emmanuel Simon converted the penalty kick, but the referee did not allow the goal. According to the laws of the game, if the ball isn’t on the spot, or a player encroaches on the penalty area during the kick, the penalty kick should be retaken. In fact, the decision was different: the referee did not allow Simon to take the penalty kick again and simply awarded Wawens a free kick. The Lae City players were angry with the referee, but the decision had already been made. In the first half, Emmanuel Airem scored another goal for the reigning champions.
In the second half, another important incident took place: Papua New Guinea international Alwin Komolong received a direct red card in the middle of the last part of the game. The referee’s motivation is still uncertain, but rumour has it that Komolong cursed at the referee – the player denies doing so. Despite Komolong’s absence, Lae was able to secure a clean sheet and continue to play at the top of the table with this 2-0 victory.
Lae City FC
Two other matches were played in Port Moresby: FC Bougainville hit Madang-based Tusbab Stallions, who continue to live their nightmare, hard. Despite a good start to the game, it was Bougainville who scored the first goal for the home team through Elton Banem. The second half was completely one-sided as FCB scored four more goals: Basil Jofari was the first to find the net, Danny Vetali scored a quick brace for his side, while substitute Eaka Philemon ended the party for the team coached by David Passam.
The final match of the day was more difficult than expected for Vitiaz United, but they still managed to beat FC Kutubu 4-1. The season’s top scorer, Jonathan Allen, opened the account for Vitiaz, but it did not take Kutubu long to equalise thanks to a goal from midfielder Sarufa Peter. In the second half, Mathew David was gifted a goal after a terrible mistake by Kutubu’s goalkeeper, before Allen scored another goal, his twelfth this season, and David scored his second goal of the game with a powerful shot in injury time, securing another three points for the second-placed team in the standings.
You can see the current standings, top scorers and full results of the season so far by visiting our session of the 2019/20 PNG National Soccer League.
Solomon Islanders have one more reason to celebrate as another player from Royals Academy joins a club in England: Absolom Wawane. The 19-year-old defender joined Hollington United FC – a football team that plays in Gray Hooper Holt LLP Mid-Sussex Football League, one of the leagues that compose the 12th division of English football.
Wawane went to England last year as part of Royals Academy – a football academy from Solomon Islands that took players to Europe to train at Stars Academy from England.
Wawane (middle) joined Hollington United FC from England
Wawane is not the first player from Royals Academy to join an English club as Ali Mekawir and Ian Lagwai are playing for Langney Wanderers and both have recently made history in English FA Cup – one of the biggest football Cups in the world.
Oceania Football Center congratulate Royals Academy and Wawane. We wish him good luck at his new club in Europe.
Recently, two players from the Solomon Islands made history in the English FA Cup: Ali Mekawir and Ian Lagwai. Both players had great performances in Langney Wanderers 3-1 win over Tower Hamlets in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup – the first elimination round of the tournament.
This accomplishment made former Solomon Islands international Joel Konofilia very happy. Konofilia is the ower of Royals, a football academy that holds a partnership with an English football academy called Stars. He is the responsible for taking players from the Solomon Islands to train in England which means that he was the one who took Mekawir and Kula to Europe.
Joel Konofilia
Konofilia expressed his happines and showed optimism on social media: “When our players in England come back and play for the Solomon Islands, we will beat New Zealand no less than 5-0 […] I am more than confident that they have enough experience to smash New Zealand or any other country in Oceania,” he stated.
Royals Academy is a very interesting football project and they are now building their own structure in Solomon Islands where children and teenagers will be able to train and study – a great initiative by Joel Konofilia.
Good news for New Zealand football fans! Callum McCowatt is another young player to join an European club. The 21-year-old forward will join his countrymen Dalton Winkins and Elijah Just in FC Helsingør from Denmark.
McCowatt had an interesting 2019-20 season playing for Wellington Phoenix in Hyundai A-League – the major football league from Australia. Despite scoring only one goal, he had solid appearances throughout the season and now he is ready to make his debut in Europe.
Callum McCowatt joins FC Helsingør from Denmark – FC Helsingør Media
He is one of the most promising players from New Zealand. He made his official debut for his country at senior level last year in a 3-1 loss against Ireland. We wish him good luck at his new club!
The 2020 Premier Men’s has just started in Samoa and current league champions Lupe o le Soaga are having a perfect start in the tournament with three wins in three mathces. The team coached by Paul Ualesi scored 27 goals in these matches and there is a special player that must be highlighted: Vaa Taualai.
Taualai is the current top scorer of the season with eleven goals in three matches. He scored six goals in the opening match against Moata’a and five more goals in the 6-1 win over Lepea last week. Used to playing in midfield, the young player is now adapting to a new function on the pitch once he is playing as a striker: “I have made some changes in the team and now he is playing as a striker as he is a good finisher,” said Lupe o le Soaga’s head coach Paul Ualesi.
Vaa Taualai
He also performed in a good level in 2020 OFC Champions League. He was in Lupe’s starting eleven and he scored one goal in the historical 4-3 win over Ba in the group stage of the major club competition from Oceania.
Taualai and his teammates are currently on top of Samoan Premier Men’s with nine points in three matches. You can check the current league standings and results by clicking here.
Suva reached the second position in 2020 Vodafone Premier League after beating Ba by 2-1 at ANZ Stadium on this Sunday. Forward Sairusi Nalaubu was once again the hero of the day as he scored twice in the clash.
Nalaubu is living a huge moment in Vodafone Premier League – the major football league from Fiji. The 23-year-old forward scored all Suva’s six goals in the last three league matches and now he is leading the Premier League’s Golden Boot race alongside Nadi’s Avinesh Suwamy with six goals each.
Sairusi Nalaubu
He also scored two goals in 2020 Battle of the Giants includin a goal in the semi-final clash against Nadi, which means that he scored eight goals in the last eight matches – a wonderful record for the young forward!
Despite his good record, he was not part of the 30-men squad named by Fiji National Team’s head coach Flemming Serritslev that attended a National Team camp last month. Anyway, Nalaubu is surely a player to be watched by Serritslev.
Kivolyn was named the Man of the Match in Super 8 Secondary Schools’ final. The 19-year-old forward scored an outstanding goal and performed in a high level for Hamilton Boys High School, but it was not enough to clinch the title as they lost to New Plymouth Boys High School by 2-1. You can check his goal by clicking here.
Leslie Kivolyn
He also plays for Melville United in Lotto NRFL Premier Men’s – one of the major football leagues from New Zealand’s winter football season. He played three matches for Melville United’s main squad this season.
Despite losing to Solomon Warriors on this Saturday, Real Kakamora showed evolution in 2020 Telekom S-League season as they are being a competitive side this year. However, Kakamora have to deal with a player who is bringing lots of trouble to the team: Richard Raramo.
Richard Junior Raramo is a 22-year-old defender who played the last Telekom S-League season for Isabel United. However the young player is showing a very bad behaviour inside the pitch as he has seen the red card twice in four matches.
Richard Raramo
His first red card in the season was during Kakamora’s 4-2 win over Southern United on August 23 when he kicked Southern’s forward Augustine Halumwane purposefully. He missed one match suspended due to this red card before returning to the starting eleven this Saturday against Solomon Warriors.
Raramo’s performance against Solomon Warriors was awful. The defender scored an own goal in the 40th minute by pushing the ball into the net after a pass by Warriors’ forward Lency Norman. Things got worse to him in the second half when he was red carded for kicking John Alick on purpose in the 87th minute.
He should receive bigger punishments for his unprofessional attitudes. It is unnaceptable that a former Solomon Islands U-20 National Football Team behaves like this inside the pitch. Telekom S-League Board must think about suspending him for more than just one game.
Henderson Eels’ unbeaten run is over as the league leaders lost to Honiara City. On the other hand, Isabel United managed to grab their first three points of 2020 Telekom S-League season by beating Southern United at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara.
Sunday’s first match was contested between Honiara City and Henderson Eels. Joses Nawo opened the scoreboard for Eels in the second minute of the game after a huge mistake by Honiara’s goalkeeper Anthony Talo. Honiara City managed to bounce back as Fred Fakari scored a beautiful free kick in the eighth minute to equalize while Junior Annie put his side ahead after a big mistake by Eels’ defense.
Youngster Raphael Lea’i received a nice pass and passed by Anthony Talo to score in the 37th minute to equalize the match. Despite all efforts, Henderson Eels did not manage to win the match as Paul Jack scored Honiara City’s third goal in the 55th minute. At the final whistle, Eels were defeated by Honiara City by 3-2. Henderson Eels’ head coach Eddie Marahare pointed that it was a wake-up call for their next match against current league champions Solomon Warriors.
Honiara City have beaten league leaders Henderson Eels by 3-2 – Telekom S-League Media
Isabel United and Southern United clashed in the second match of the day at Lawson Tama Stadium. Both teams have been living tough moments and winning this game could be a turnaround in the season. Thomas Amasia opened the scoreboard for Isabel from the penalty spot while David Supa extended the lead.
Benjamin Totori came from the bench in the 27th minute to replace Bently Kelobi who got injured. The legendary forward managed to score twice to put Isabel ahead by four goals. The fifth and last goal of the team coached by Gideon Omokirio was scored by Alvin Ray in the 60th minute.
Augustine Halumwane scored for Southern United in the 71st minute but it was not enough as the final score was a 5-1 victory for Isabel that grabbed their first three points of the season. Southern United are living a terrible moment in the league as they suffered 19 goals in the last three matches. Head coach Stanley Waita must find a solution to put his team back in the right track.
The last match of the fifth matchweek will be contested between Laugu United and Central coast FC on Wednesday. You can check the current Telekom S-League standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.
Oceania Football Center 