Central United got back to the winning ways as they smashed Henry Fa’arodo and Tommy Semmy‘s side Hamilton Wanderers by 4-0 for NRFL Premier. The Ni-Vanuatu defenderBrian Kaltak helped his team to secure another clean sheet in the league and keep just one point away Auckland United in the top of the table.
New Zealand international Tom Doyle scored the first goal for Central at the 3rd minute of play; eight minutes later the Argentinian Emiliano Tade added another for Central and still in the first half Dylan Manickum scored the third for the home side. In the second half Tade added another for his tally to give final numbers to the clash.
Brian Kaltak on action for Central – Phototek
Kaltak played 82 minutes in the clash, being subbed by the young talented Fijian ShuiabKhan in the late stages of the game. The Ni-Vanuatu international was key to secure another clean sheet for his side that pursues the top of the table. Hamilton Wanderers had a very bad night with Semmy and Fa’arodo playing the entire game, but unable to combine into goals as the previous matches of Wanderers.
Recently, lots of supports from Labasa were very angry from statements from one particular commentator from local media towards its team and citizens – as they mention in a petition they recently raised against ‘derogatory statements’ from this commentator. In the petition created by an user called ‘Labasa Football Fan Club’ it is mentioned: “FBC’s football commentator, Raymond Stoddart, has been making derogatory statements aimed at Labasa football fans, and Labasa people in general, for some time now. We, the undersigned, are much agitated by this and are making a formal request to you to remedy this“.
The statements in the petition are harsh against Stoddart’s words, claiming he was disrepectful in various opportunities to Labasa FA and also to its supporters and people. “Raymond Stoddart’s attacks on the people of Labasa are not in the best interests of his employer FBC nor the sponsors of their football coverage. A large number of supporters, including the undersigned who were loyal listeners of FBC coverage have now switched to other media whenever there is a choice, and only listen to Raymond Stoddart’s commentary when no other media station is carrying coverage” it is written in the piece.
Raymond Stoddart (left) is being criticized by Labasa fans
Stoddart is a known football commentator in Fiji and he is known as “the voice of Fiji football”, but the Labasa supporters are currently angry with some of his statements. According to Babasiga Lions fan club, Stoddart has been disrepectful to Labasa for a number of occasions. He was also blamed for words in the most recent Labasa match – the 2-1 defeat against Ba. The turning point to create this petition were Stoddart words in match Labasa was not involved – Ba against Suva – when the commentator said: “Labasa fans are saying that Labasa lost to Ba last week because Raymond made decisions on the field“.
The petition, that is headed to Mr. Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, also says in this final part that “Raymond Stoddart will benefit from training and development activities on appropriate language and commentary on state media and to increase his professionalism and competency in his role. The standard of sports broadcasting has significantly increased globally and our media personnel on state owned media should not be a source of embarrassment for us, Fijians“.
In a special night for Ba’s top-striker Samuela Drudru, the Men in Black did not give a chance for Suva as they collected all points from a very important clash at Fiji FA Academy.
Ba pulled ahead in the first half thanks to a penalty kick well-taken by the experienced Manasa Nawakula – his third goal in the league so far – after Suva’s defender Remueru Tekiate brought down in the box the young Kalaveti Sivoi. Despite Suva’s pressure to find an equalizer, the team coached by Babs Khan could not create big chances and the final result of the first half was a 1-0 in favour of Ba.
In the second half it was when Drudru’s show got started; the Fijian international doubled the scoreline for Ba after finishing a good cross from Abbu Zahid in the 60th minute of play. The same Drudru scored his second goal in the clash and third in the Vodafone Premier League season after a defensive mistake from Suva that allowed the striker to score through an easy finish against his former teammate Beniamino Mateinaqara. You can watch all goals of this match by clicking here.
Samuela Drudru scored a brace for Ba – FFA Media
Suva still managed to score a late goal in the match through Sairusi Nalaubu, but it was not enough to start a reaction for the Capital City Boys. This was the first defeat of Suva in the season so far – a harsh result for the team as they lost the 2nd spot in the table for Ba. The players of Ronil Kumar celebrate their second victory in a row and now sit second in the standings just one point behing Rewa in the process – you can see the full standings of the Vodafone Premier Leage by clicking here.
The upcoming Telekom S-League season is scheduled to kick-off on the next weekend and football fans from Solomon Islands must be very excited as it was announced that three new teams are going to take part of the 2020 season.
After having nine teams in the past season, the Telekom S-League (TSL) has expanded from nine to twelve teams for this season as the TSL board approved Southern United FC, Central Coast FC and Honiara City FC to be part of upcoming 2020 TSL season. They will join Solomon Warriors, Henderson Eels, Marist, Kossa FC, Laugu United, FC Isabel United, Malaita Kingz, Real Kakamora, and FC Guadalcanal in the new season.
After a busy July of celebrations and friendly tournaments in Vanuatu due to the 40th anniversary of country’s independence, football is ready to resume officially there as the 2019-20 PVFA Premier League – the main regional football league in Vanuatu – is set to resume on next week after an eight-month stoppage.
The upcoming clashes are not confirmed yet but, according to the initial schedule, it must be the same confrontations as the third matchweek: Tafea vs Mauwia, Tupuji Imere vs Yatel, Ifira Black Bird vs Sia-Raga and Erakor Golden Star vs Galaxy FC.
Ifira Black Bird and Sia-Raga clashing in the third matchweek of 2019-20 PVFA Premier League
Tafea and Ifira Black Bird are currently sharing the lead with eighteen points each while Galaxy FC comes in the third position only one point behind the top two teams. You can check the current league standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.
Henderson Eels are in the final part of their preparation for 2020 Telekom S-League that kicks-off on next weekend and an important player is confirmed in Eels’ squad for the upcoming league season: Andrew Rarangia.
After being an important player for Henderson Eels in the last Telekom S-League season, the 26-year-old defender was not part of the squad that played 2020 OFC Champions League group stage and the reason for his absence is still unknown.
Rarangia playing for Solomon Islands National Team
Having Rarangia back in the squad is a huge addition for Henderson Eels. His quality will surely add a lot of defensive power to the team in the upcoming Telekom S-League.
One of the top teams from Papua New Guinea, Hekari United is building a very strong squad to play the remaining of 2019-20 PNG National Soccer League season as they signed with Nigel Dabinyaba and Raymond Gunemba.
The quality of these two players will surely boost the quality of the team. Moreover, the arrival of Dabinyaba and Gunemba increased team’s morale specially for young players like 18-year-old right back from Solomon Islands Junior David.
David talked to Oceania Football Center and shared his thoughts about the duo: “Nigel and Raymond are two great additions to the team. I am pleased to play with them,” he said.
Junior David playing for Hekari United
Junior David joined Hekari United last year after having a good season playing for Marist from his homeland. He is one of the youngest players in the current squad but he has already proven his quality to be in the team.
Hekari United’s next match in the National Soccer League will be against FC Bougainville at PNG Football Stadium. You can see the current league standings and the top scorers by clicking here.
The 40th anniversary of Vanuatu’s Independence was on last Thursday. However the celebrations happen throughout the month of July, including concerts and football tournaments.
Despite not being in Vanuatu at the moment, Brian Kaltak did not lose the opportunity to show how much he loves his homeland. The 26-year-old defender that is currently playing for Central United from New Zealand expressed his feelings on social media – “I am proud to be a Ni-Vanuatu,” he posted on his official facebook account.
Kaltak playing for Vanuatu National Team
He was not the only footballer from Vanuatu that expressed their thoughts about the 40th anniversary of Vanuatu’s Independence as another players like Solomon Warriors’ midfielder John Alick, Malampa Revivors’ star Edwin Bai and Galaxy FC striker Kensi Tangis also did it.
Kaltak is the captain of Vanuatu National Football Team and his amazing career surely makes him one of the best Ni-Vanuatu footballers of all time.
The 2020 PVFA Independence Cup finished on Thursday when Galaxy FC beat Ifira Black Bird by 2-1 to clinch the title for the first time in the club’s history. Despite all celebrations due to Vanuatu’s Independence Day, we also remember a sad day that happened in the PVFA Independence Cup last year.
Eight clubs took part of 2019 PVFA Independence Cup and Tupuji Imere was crowned the cup champions after beating Tafea by 3-1 in the final. However that tournament was the last one played by legendary club Amicale FC.
Amicale logo
Amicale played only one match in that tournament as they lost to Ifira Black Bird by 1-0 in the quarter-finals. One week later it was announced that the club was finishing its football activities to live forever in our memories.
We will never forget when Amicale reached OFC Champions League final in 2011 and 2014. Unfortunately they did not manage to win the continental tournament as they lost both finals. According to local sources, the reason for Amicale’s death was a six thousand Swiss Franc (Switzerland’s currency) due to irregularities on international transfers.
Hope one day this important club can resume its activities in Port Vila. We miss you, Amicale FC.
An uninspired Wellington Phoenix could not create much danger to Western Sydney Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium and suffered a disapointing 1-0 defeat thanks a to a goal from Kwame Yeboah. Phoenix is now under risks to not finish second in the ladder after being stuned by a Wanderers side that were in a despair need of a win.
Despite a very good start of the game, Phoenix could not continue their undefeated run; finally, Gary Hooper and Ulises Davila started together, but both of them were in a bad night and could help much Phoenix – both players were subbed in the second half. David Ball worked hard the entire match, but his only good moment in the match was when he hit the post early in the game at 4th minute of play. Phoenix created some danger in the first part of the initial period of the game, but when Louis Fenton saw a deserved yellow card after hitting WSW’s attacker Nicolai Müller in the chin the game suddenly change: the German player needed to be attented in the field for around five minutes – being unconscious in the ground for a period -, but nothing much serious happened to the player that subbed by the striker Kwame Yeboah.
Western Sydney Wanderers took control of the game and neutralize Phoenix midfield that was always missing creativity from the likes of Davila and Devlin. Despite the home side pressure, Phoenix managed to keep the game in a 0-0 to the break. In the second half the story of the game was the same: Wanderers being dangerous with especially their strikers Simon Cox and Mitchell Duke and Phoenix commiting a number of silly mistakes.
In the 65th minute of the player, the defender Luke DeVere saw a second yellow card after fouling Kwame Yeboah at the edge of the box putting Nix in a very hard situation. Liam McGing was placed in the defense forcing the coach Ufuk Talay to sack Gary Hooper – Jaushua Sotirio was also introduced of a unrecognisable Ulises Davila.
It did not take long for the home side to be one goal ahead in the scoresheet: Tate Russell centered the ball to the box that found a free Kwame Yeboah to head it home past Stefan Marinovic to give Wanderers the lead.
Kwame Yeboah scored his 4th goal of the season against Phoenix
The Nix improved in the match sending bodies forward to pursue an equalizer: Alex Rufer and Ben Waine were introduced in order to strenghten the attack of the New Zealand-based club, but it was Reno Piscopo, introduced in place of Callum McCowatt that had the best opportunities for Phoenix; first with a brilliant individual play he passed two defenders put could not connect in the middle of the box with David Ball and in two opportunities with wasted free-kick attempts.
In the last minutes, Phoenix had four opportunities to put the ball in the box – all went wasted, even with the goalkeeper Marinovic joining the attack in a despair attempt to find an equalizer.
Phoenix took to long to realise they could not lose this match: Melbourne City, that is still to play in the round, already retained the second spot in the ladder with Phoenix defeat and turned the challenge of Ufuk Talay and his player much more difficult if they want to grant a semifinal direct entry in the A-League playoff. Phoenix will have a very important match next Wednesday against Brisbane Roar, where they will not count on the suspended Luke DeVere, but finally Tim Payne will be allowed to return to action after facing disciplinary sanctions from the club.
