Oceania Football Center

Rewa smashes Navua to advance to Battle of the Giants semi-finals

Navua and Rewa clashed at Churchill Park in Lautoka in the final day of 2020 Battle of the Giants’ group stage. Both teams were tied in the second position of the Group B with three points each and the winner of this contest would advance to the semi-finals.

Current Vodafone Premier League leaders Rewa showed their power and smashed Navua by 3-0. Anish Khem opened the scoreboard for the Delta Tigers in the 23rd minute while youngster Josaia Sela extended the lead in the final minutes of the first half. The third and last goal was scored by Tevita Waranaivalu in the second half.

Rewa advanced to 2020 Battle of the Giants semi-finals – *Fiji FA Media*

Rewa and Nadi are the two teams that advanced from Group B. However the Delta Tigers still can finish the group stage in the first position if Nadi loses to Lautoka. You can see more information about the tournament by clicking here.

Barrie Limoki leads Kossa in the opening match of Telekom S-League

The 2020 Telekom S-League season kicked-off on this Saturday as two matches were contested at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara. The opening match was contested by Kossa FC and Southern United and a young player was the name of the match: Barrie Limoki.

Limoki is a 16-year-old striker that was part of Solomon Islands squad that travelled to Brazil to play the FIFA U17 World Cup last year. He scored two goals for Kossa FC in the 3-2 win over Southern United. His amazing performance in the first match of the season shows that he can be a candidate to win the Golden Boot Award this season tournament.

Limoki scored a brace in Telekom S-League season opener – *S League Media*

The young forward was set to join his countryman Alden Suri in New Zealand to study and play for Scots College – a college that is linked to Wellington Phoenix Academy. However Limoki was not able to travel to New Zealand due to border restrictions caused by COVID-19 pandemics.

The second match of the opening day was contested by Henderson Eels and Isabel United and Eels won by 5-1. You can check more information about the opening day of Telekom S-League season by clicking here.

Reigning champions Labasa knocked out of BOG as they drew against Nasinu

The last day of 2020 Battle of the Giants’ group stage started with a clash between Labasa and Nasinu at Churchill Park in Lautoka. Both teams did not have a good performance which is understandable because most players were playing for the third time in three days.

Ilisoni Lolaivalu opened the scoreboard for Labasa in the 19th minute to give hope to Babasiga Lions’ fans. However it was not enough as Jasnit Vikash equalized for Nasinu in the second half from the penalty spot after a foul inside the box committed by Labasa’s goalkeeper Akuila Mateisuva.

Labasa is knocked out of 2020 Battle of the Giants – *Fiji FA Media*

Labasa finished the 2020 Battle of the Giants with three points in three matches while Nasinu still has possibilities to advance to the semi-finals if Suva does not win Ba. You can see more information about the tournament by clicking here.

Lautoka is out of Battle of Giants’ semifinals

Despite still having one match to be played in the Group A of the 2020 edition of the Battle of Giants, Lautoka is already eliminated from the Battle of Giants – the two defeats the club had against Rewa and Navua let them with no chances to proceed.

The first match of the team coached by Ravinesh Kumar was against the strong Rewa side – a defeat was an acceptable result due the quality of its opponent. Lautoka was expected a good performance and a comfortable win against the bottom ranked team in Vodafone Premier League Navua; indeed the outcome was totally different as Navua recorded a famous win over Lautoka by 3-1 to eliminate the Blues.

Lautoka could not hold the quality of Setareki Hughes in its first match and was stunned by the strong performance of Navua. For the fans it was certainly something hard to accept: Lautoka hosted the Battle of Giants, thousands of supporters left their homes to cheer for its team at Churchill Park, but certainly they were very dissapointed with Lautoka’s performance.

Lautoka first eleven before the match against Navua – *FFA Media*

Now, the Blues will play their final match against Nadi in the competition seeking for some pride for its fans. The team will certainly turn it focus soon to Vodafone Premier League – where they seek for a position in the top of the table.

Antonio Tuivuna available for Labasa in decisive match against Nasinu

The ‘2019 Fiji FA Player of the Year’ Antonio Tuivuna will be available for the coach Ronil Lal in the decisive clash in Group A of 2020 Battle of Giants. Labasa draw their both matches so far in the tournament against Suva and Ba and will have a very important clash against Nasinu to decide which of the sides will proceed to the next stage.

Nasinu with their 3-1 win over Suva put themselves in a good position to qualify – even a draw might be enough for them. Labasa needs a win if they want to proceed as Ba is very close to secure their spot in the semifinals of the tournament. Labasa depends only of its efforts to qualify and counting on a player of Tuivuna’s caliber can be certainly a turning point for the Lions.

The 25-year-old star player was suspended for the starting two matches of Labasa in BOG due a direct red card received against Ba in Labasa’s most recent match in Vodafone Premier League. The incident was around much controversy on social media, but the fact is that Tuivuna was not available against Suva and Ba in Battle of Giants, but now he is ready to contribute in the final group match at Churchill Park.

Gagame Feni: the new star of Laugu United

The 2020 Telekom S-League kicked-off on this Saturday and people expect that this is going to be the best ever season of the major football league from Solomon Islands. Moreover it is the first time that eleven teams will fight for the title in the tournament.

Laugu United is surely one of the teams that people must look at. After a decent 2019-20 season, Laugu is even stronger for this season as they signed with Atkin Kaua, Gagame Feni and Jared Rongosulia who decided to join the club as they can not leave the country due to border restrictions caused by COVID-19.

Kaua and Rongosulia were playing for Nasinu from Fiji while Gagame Feni was playing for Galaxy FC from Vanuatu before the pandemics: “I decided to play for Laugu United because I would not be able to leave Solomon Islands to play for Galaxy,” said Feni.

Laugu is a traditional team in the country but they spent many years out of the league until returning to S-League last year. Now Feni and his teammates have the challenge to take the club to a higher level, but the 27-year-old forward knows that it will not be easy: “It is going to be an exciting season and I hope we can perform well in this Telekom S-League. The level of the league is higher now with eleven teams,” he said – “But I know we can compete against the top teams and I hope we can finish in the top two to get a spot in the next OFC Champions League,” he added.

The first match of Laugu United in the current Telekom S-League season will be against Real Kakamora on this Sunday at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara. You can check the schedule the league’s first matchweek by clicking here.

Malaita Kingz: head coach Michael Alafa to lead a young squad in S-League

After having a decent performance in the last Telekom S-League season, Malaita Kingz expect something bigger for this season and head coach Michael Alafa will have the mission to lead the squad to achieve better results.

Alafa knows that the 2020 Telekom S-League season is expected to be one of the best seasons of all time in the league’s history but he believes that Malaita Kingz have what they need to perform well: “We had four weeks of preparation. The players are ready for the first match of the season,” he said.

The head coach also expressed his thoughts about the current squad: “We have many young players in our squad. Some of them already represented Solomon Islands at youth level,” pointed Alafa – Forward Bradley Irosaea and midfielder Frank Kabui are two young players that represented the country at youth level just to name a few. – “Our expectations are high. The players have been working hard and they are very excited for this season,” added the head coach.

The first challenge of Malaita Kingz in the season will be against Central Coast FC on this Sunday at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara. You can check the schedule of the first matchweek of the current Telekom S-League season by clicking here.

Javin Wae confident that Central Coast FC will make a good debut season in the S-League

Central Coast FC is one of the three teams that are going to debut in this Telekom S-League season. The biggest name of the team coached by Jacob Moli is surely Solomon Islands National Team’s goalkeeper Philipp Mango. However Jacob Moli will also count on known young players for this season.

Densly Geseni, Javin Wae, Philip Ropa and William Komasi are some young players that will be part of the team for 2020 Telekom S-League. Geseni, Wae and Ropa played the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil last year while Komasi represented his homeland in the OFC Olympic Tournament held in Fiji last year.

The mix of youth with experience can be the key for a successful debut season: “The preparation was pretty good. We will try our best fight on top,” said youngster Javin Wae.

Wae and his teammates will have their first official challenge of the season against Malaita Kingz on this Sunday at Lawson Tama Stadium. This match is going to be livestreamed on Facebook. You can check all clashes of 2020 Telekom S-League’s first matchweek by clicking here.

Zantas Kabini believes that Real Kakamora can be competitive in this S-League season

The 2020 Telekom S-League season kicked-off on this Saturday with two matches while two other clashes will take place on this Sunday at Lawson Tama Stadium – the major football stadium in the country.

One of the teams that will be in the pitch is Real Kakamora that finished the last Telekom S-League season in the last position with one point in sixteen matches – a shameful campaign. However Real Kakamora has a stronger squad this season and players expect something better this season: “We expect to have a good performance this season. We have a better squad to compete in this Telekom S-League,” said goalkeeper Zantas Kabini.

Zantas Kabini will play 2020 Telekom S-League for Real Kakamora

Kabini is back to the team after playing for Henderson Eels in the last season. The 35-year-old goalkeeper is a former national team player and he brings a lot of experience to the team: “We also have some former National Team players in the squad which brings experience to the team,” he stated – “Real Kakamora’s preparation for the league was good and we believe that we can compete this season,” he added.

Real Kakamora’s first match of the season will be against a strong Laugu United. The match will be livestreamed on Telekom S-League’s Facebook page.

Livestreaming: a new reality for football in Solomon Islands

Watching football matches live is a reality for most of us but in Oceanian nations it is not so common as most national football leagues are not broadcasted there.

However it is going to change – at least in Solomon Islands. The 2020 Telekom S-League season kicked-off on this Saturday and it was reported by reliable sources that all football matches are going to be livestreamed on Facebook.

Two matches were livestreamed in the opening day: Kossa 3-2 Southern United and Henderson Eels 5-1 Isabel United. There were some technical issues in the streaming but it was reported by reliable sources that they are working on it to improve the quality: a huge milestone for local football.

Henderson Eels smashed Isabel United in 2020 Telekom S-League’s opening day

Oceania Football Center congratulates all people involved in the process. Having all matches recorded will help a lot the teams as they will have the opportunity to use them to make analysis which will surely help to develop the sport and improve the quality of the league.