Suva did not have a good start in 2020 Battle of the Giants as thy edid not win in their first two matches. However the Capital City Boys managed to bounce back to reach the final of the tournament against Rewa.
The team from Fiji’s capital was very close from being knocked-out of the tournament in the first stage but a goal scored by Sairusi Nalaubu in the last match of the Group A against Ba placed Suva in the semi-finals.
It seems that Nalaubu was born to play in the Battle of the Giants. The 23-year-old forward shone once again when he opened the scoreboard for Suva against Nadi in the semi-finals by heading the ball into the net after a a marvelous cross from the right wing by Filipe Baravilala.
Nalaubu playing for Suva – Fiji FA Media
With two goals scored in the tournament, Nalaubu still has the possibility to win Battle of the Giants’ Golden Boot for the second straight year as he is just one goal behind current top scorers. Regardless of scoring goals or not, he must be focused on helping his team to clinch the title.
Suva have the opportunity to win Battle of the Giants for the fourth time in the history. They last won the tournament in 1995 and winning this edition would be special for the Capital City Boys because they are going to face their biggest rivals in the final.
The final clash between Suva and Rewa is scheduled to kick-off at 3pm in Lautoka. You can check more information about the tournament by clicking here.
The first football champions of the year are finally known in Samoa as the youth leagues are finishing in Upolu – the most important island of the country.
Lupe o le Soaga were crowned as U19 Champions after beating Vaipuna by 3-1 in the final clash while Moata’a clinched the U17 League’s title by beating Faleasiu in the shootout: “I am really proud of them tonight, I just don’t know what to say. It’s been a tough 10 weeks for them but they did it,” said Paul Scanlan – the head coach of Moata’a – to Samoa Observer.
U19 Lupe o le Soaga (left) and U17 Moata’a (right)
Premier Men’s League – the major football league from Upolu is scheduled to kick-off on Tuesday and many players from U19 and U17 squads will also play the senior tournament including Lupe o le Soaga’s youngster Oscar Anto from Ghana.
You can check more information about the U17 League and U19 League by clicking in the league’s name.
The start of the second round of football in Solomon Islands’ national league had 11 goals scored in two matches played this Saturday (15th Aug); the most interesting match of the weekend was set to be Laugu United against Henderson Eels, but the outcome of the clash was surprising for all fans of football in Solomon Islands: 7-0 in favour of Eels.
The first goal of the match was just scored by Joses Nawo at the 43th minute of play after a blunder from Laugu’s goalkeeper that saw Nawo succesfully lob him to score his first and the first of his team. The talented Raphael Lea’i added another in the injury time for Eels to make a 2-0 scoreline just before the half time break.
The second half was remarkable for Eels’ fans – and a nightmare for Laugu United. Despite counting on star players such as Atkin Kaua and Gagame Feni, Laugu suffered five goals in 45 minutes to be hammered in their second match in the Telekom S-League season. The show started again with Joses Nawo that hit two goals in a space of six minutes to complete his hattrick – Lea’i added another to his tally at the 68th minute of play as in the final moments of the game Tutizama Tanito scored the 6th goal for his team and Joses Nawo in a great day scored his fourth and 7th goal for Eels. A remarkable win to show the power of Henderson Eels.
Eels celebrating one of their goals – S-League Media
In the second match of the day, the debutans Central Coast FC took on the traditional Real Kakamora to finish the two-legged Saturday of football in Honiara. The first 20 minutes of game were full action as Atana Fa’arodo received the ball from Junior Fordney to put Central Coast upfront – 10 minutes later Adrian Mara equalised for Real Kakamora to put his team back to the game.
We would have more goals only in the second half; Chris Hatarau completed the comeback for Kakamora to put his team upfront at the 55th minute of play. When it seemeed Kakamora was going to recover from their 5-0 harsh defeat to Laugu in the first round with a win, the young defender William Komasi equalised the match once again for CCFC at the 87th minute of play – a very celebrated goal that gave one more point in the table for his side. Now, Kakamora got one point from their two games as Central Coast has one win and one draw (4 points) – a very interesting start for the debutants in the Telekom S-League.
Mara (black with the ball) scored for Kakamora in the match – Danzo Photography
More two games will be played this Sunday (16th Aug) to continue the weekend of football in Honiara. Both matches will be livestramed by S-League official account on Facebook.
The Capital City Boys celebrated a very important win againt Nadi to seal a spot in the grand final match of Battle of Giants. The team coached by Babs Khan needed extra-time to complete a fashion comeback over the Jetsetters as they will now looking to finish their 25-year drought of Battle of Giants titles.
Both sides went goalless to the half-time break, but the second half was full of emtions for the fans at Churchill Park. In the 59th minute of play, the star striker Rusiate Matarerega put Nadi upfront for the joy of the fans of the Green Machine.
Matarerega (green) scored for Nadi – City Star
Suva continued to seek for an equaliser, but their fans had to wait until the dying moments of the game to celebrate a very important goal: at the 85th minute of play, midfielder Ravnesh Karan Singh was found free in the box to put the ball in the back of the net with a strong finish.
As the other semi-final in the day, Nadi and Suva headed for the extra-time to decide which side would take on Rewa in the final this Sunday – but, unfortunately for the Nadi fans and for the bliss of Suva supporters we did not need to go to the penalty shootout as Rewa and Ba previously needed.
The 2019 Battle of Giants top scorer Sairusi Nalaubu was there to decide once again the match in favour of his team: at the 9th minute into the extra-time, the striker scored the winning goal for Suva to give them a berth at the grand final match to contest for the major glory of the tournament.
The team led by Avinesh Suwamy could not answer in time the goal conceded and will end up playing Ba in the 3rd/4th playoff match before the big game of the weekend that will have two very good sides: Rewa and Suva.
Ba and Rewa starred a wonderful match on this Saturday at Churchill Park in Lautoka in the 2020 Battle of the Giants’ semi-finals. Rewa were the favourites to win but it does not mean that it was an easy match for them.
Rising star Josaia Sela opened the scoreboard for Rewa in the 34th minute but sustained a serious leg injury in the process and was stretchered off the field. Setareki Hughes extended the lead for the Delta Tigers eight minutes later with a shot from the left to take the 2-0 lead to the second half.
Ba fought hard and Narendra Rao found the net in the 69th minute after a nice play by Abbu Zahid to bring the goal difference to one. The Men in Black kept working hard inside the pitch but things are not going well until the stoppage time when Abbu Zahid headed the ball into the net in the 92nd minute to take the match to the extra-time. You can check all four goals scored in the regular time by clicking here.
Rewa players celebrating Setareki Hughes’ goal – Fiji FA Media
In the extra-time Ba were reduced to ten players as Manasa Nawakula saw the red card but the Men in Black managed to keep themselves alive in the contest and the spot in the tournament’s final was decided in the penalties and Rewa had better luck as they won by 8-7 in the shootout to book a spot in the final.
Rewa will fight for their ninth Battle of the Giants’ title tomorrow against Nadi or Suva. You can check more information about the tournament by clicking here.
The most important football match of the season in Papua New Guinea is set to take place in Port Moresby as the top-teams Lae City and Hekari United play at PNG Football Stadium. Lae City comes from a very strong win against Gulf Komara by 5-0 while Hekari also won, but for 2-0 against Boungainville in both sides last matches in the national league.
Gunemba and Dabinyaba of Hekari – Sabua and Simon of Lae City
PNG National Soccer League has three teams tied at the top of the table: Lae City and Hekari are two of them alongside Vitiaz United – a situation that adds even more importance for this clash.
Gunemba and Dabinyaba will be looking for revenge against their former team as they said, recently, they were hummiliated by their treatment after leaving the club. But, certainly, the strong defense of Lae now led by Alwin Komolong will not make their life easy in this very important match.
The match is set to be livestreamed by PNGFA Facebook Page to start at 3pm local time.
One of the most important players from Central Coast FC, rising star Javin Wae is confirmed in the squadlist for today’s match against Real Kakamora after getting injured in the opening matchweek of 2020 Telekom S-League.
Javin was in Central’s starting eleven n the 1-0 win against Malaita Kingz but he was forced to leave the pitch in the 74th minute due to an ankle injury. It is not known if he is going to be in the starting eleven today but the 18-year-old defender is available to play if the head coach wants to count on him.
Javin Wae (right) got injured last week – S-League Media
The clash between Central Coast FC and Real Kakamora is scheduled to kick-off in a few hours at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara – the capital of Solomon Islands. This match is going to be livestreamed by S-League on their Facebook page.
Current Vodafone Premier League champions, Ba have the chance to lift another trophy this weekend. However the Men in Black must deal with adversities if they really want to be crowned as 2020 Battle of the Giants’ champions.
It has been a few months since Ba started to face problems as many players left the club after a shameful campaing in 2020 OFC Champions League group stage.
Ba’s starting eleven against Suva in Battle of the Giants’ group stage – Fiji FA Media
Ronil Kumar and his players have a tough challenge: beating Rewa that count on very good head coach Marika Rodu who knows how to deal with Delta Tigers’ strong and experienced squad. Anyway the Men in Black are completely able to beat Rewa to show why they are the biggest winners of the tournament.
Both teams will come to the pitch in a few hours at Churchill Park in Lautoka. You can check more information about the tournament by clicking here.
The fourth round of 2020 Mobil Super Ligue reaches its end this weekend when Horizon Patho will face SC Ne Drehu at Stade La Roche in Maré Island. This clash is known as the Derby of the Islands as both teams are not from New Caledonia’s major island.
The reason for the Derby’s name is clear: Horizon Patho is from Maré Island while SC Ne Drehu is from Lifou Island – that is also known as Drehu in a local language – which means that both teams are not from Grande Terre: the major island from New Caledonia.
Horizon Patho and SC Ne Drehu will clash at Stade La Roche – Mobil Super Ligue Media
Horizon Patho need to recover in the tournament after a terrible draw against AS Mont-Dore two weeks ago while SC Ne Drehu want to win another match to get closer to the leaders.
Oceania Football Center wish good luck to both teams. You can check the current standings of the Mobil Super Ligue by clicking here.
One of the most traditional football tournament of Fiji is set for its decisive weekend; the venue is Churchill Park in Lautoka – the four contesters: Ba, Nadi, Rewa and Suva. The four teams will be looking for the major glory on Sunday, but before they will have the semi-final stage this Saturday (15th Aug) to seal a spot in the grand final.
The first match of the day will see the Delta Tigers taking on the Men in Black; the team coached by Marika Rodu is looking for pride as the midfielder Gabriele Matanisigastated in interview to Oceania Football Center. Rewa, that is focused on winning the Vodafone Premier League this season, will certainly come as strong as possible to seal a spot in the grand final, counting on players of the caliber of Setareki Hughes and Kavaia Rawaqa.
Samuela Drudru and Setareki Hughes will lead their teams in BOG’s semi-final
The second match of the day will see Avinesh Suwamy‘s captained side Nadi against the stellar squad of Suva. The team coached by Babs Khan will be missing the young Solomon Islander Patrick Taroga while important players such as Christopher Wasasala and Nickel Chand are still in doubts for the game due minor injuries sustained in group stage last weekend. The decision is set to be taken moments before the match – it is upon Suva’s medical staff if the players will be available or not. While Suva is worried possible absences, defender Laisenia Raura is expected to led the defensive system of the team, while captain Ravnesh Karan Singh will led the troops upfront in one of the team’s most important match of the season.
Nadi is still also waiting the decision on attackers Napolioni Qasevakatini and Rusiate Matarerega; both players are also injured, but Nadi’s staff is expecting they will be recovered in time to take any impact in today’s match against Suva. The top scorer of the tournament so far is the legendary Avinesh Suwamy, that on interview to Oceania Football Center stated that Nadi is ready for the clash and expects a major win for his side.
Avinesh Suwamy and Ravnesh Karan Singh will captain their sides in BOG’s semi-finals
The first match of the day between Ba and Rewa will kick-off at the 2pm while the second semi-final will start at 4pm in Lautoka. All teams will have another match tomorrow as Battle of Giants also has a 3rd/4th playoff contest between the losing sides of the semi-final stage.
Oceania Football Center 