Oceanian Football: weekend review

🇳🇿 WELLINGTON PHOENIX (🇦🇺 A-LEAGUE)

After a 0-0 draw in the first half, Jaushua Sotirio scored his first goal in the season to open the scoreboard for Wellington Phoenix against Western Sydney Wanderers. Nicolai Müller netted for Sydney to tie the match but Phoenix still managed to win after a penalty awarded by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Ulises Dávila converted the penalty kick in the 89th minute to give three points to Phoenix. The 28 years old Mexican player has now six goals scored in the league. Wellington Phoenix is now in the fourth position with ten points in eight matches. Click here to watch the highlights.

You can check the current league standings by clicking here.

Pictures:
1- Ulises Dávila taking the penalty kick
2- Ulises Dávila celebrating his goal in the 89th minute
3- David Ball celebrating the victory
4- Jaushua Sotirio scored the first goal of the match

🇳🇿 ISPS HANDA PREMIERSHIP

The sixth matchweek of ISPS Handa Premiership ended with Auckland City increasing their lead in the league standings. The difference between Auckland City and the second place is five points but it could be bigger if Team Wellington did not win Eastern Suburbs.

SOUTHERN UNITED 2-2 HAWKE’S BAY UNITED: Ahinga Selemani scored another goal for Hawke’s Bay United but it was not enough to beat Southern United that managed to tie the match in the final minutes. Click here to watch the full match.

CANTERBURY DRAGONS 0-3 AUCKLAND CITY: Auckland City smashed Canterbury Dragons. Myer Bevan scored once again and he has now nine goals scored in the league – He scored in all Auckland City’s six matches so far. Click here to watch the highlights.

TASMAN UNITED 1-1 WELLINGTON PHOENIX RESERVES: Not a good result for both teams but Tasman United keeps its recovery after a bad beginning in the league.

EASTERN SUBURBS 2-3 TEAM WELLINGTON: Eastern Suburbs suffered a major blow by losing to Team Wellington after setting a 2-0 lead. Ollie Bassett scored twice for Team Wellington and Jack Henry-Sinclair netted the match-winning goal for Team Wellington.

HAMILTON WANDERERS 1-2 WAITAKERE UNITED (ABANDONED): This match was paused in the middle of the second half due to bad weather and it is supposed to be finished someday but it is not scheduled yet. Anyway this partial loss is a terrible result for Hamilton Wanderers’ that currently stands in the tenth and last position.

Check the current standings and topscorers by clicking here.

Pictures
1- Jack Henry-Sinclair celebrating his match-winning goal for Team Wellington
2- Southern United players after the 2-2 draw honoring goalkeeper Liam Little for playing his 100th match for Southern recently.
3- Myer Bevan scored for Auckland City FC once again
4- Team Wellington players celebrating a goal

🇻🇺 PORT VILA PREMIER LEAGUE

The 9th matchweek of Port Vila Premier League brought good news for Tafea and Galaxy after Ifira Black Bird draw’s against Erakor Golden Star. All matches were played at Port Vila Stadium.

GALAXY 3-0 MAUWIA: Galaxy had a very difficult match against Mauwia but Bong Kalo found the net for three times in the second half to give three points for Galaxy FC. Mauwia is now back to the last position in the league standings

TUPUJI IMERE 1-0 SIA-RAGA: Tupuji Imere won Sia-Raga by 1-0 with a goal scored by Azariah Soromon. This result took Tupuji away from the last position and they are now in the 7th place just one point behind Yatel and Sia-Raga. James Chilia is playing as goalkeeper again after some matches playing as central defender/defensive midfielder.

IFIRA BLACK BIRD 1-1 ERAKOR GOLDEN STAR: Erakor Golden Star opened the scoreboard in the beginning of the match with Daniel Junior but Ifira Black Bird managed to tie the game in the final minutes with a goal scored by Jonathan Spokeyjack. This result took Ifira away from the first position.

TAFEA 3-1 YATEL: Allista Kalip scored twice in the beginning of the match to give Tafea a 2-0 lead. Yatel tried to react with a penalty kick netted by Frank Reuben but Lucien Hinge scored Tafea’s third and last goal of the match to retake the lead of Port Vila Premier League with 18 points.

Check the current standings and topscorers by clicking here.

Pictures:
1- Allista Kalip scored twice in Tafea’s 3-1 win against Yatel
2- Azariah Soromon was the “Player of The Match” in Tupuji Imere’s win by 1-0 against Sia-Raga
3- Brazilian player Gabriel played his last match for Galaxy FC. He was honored by the club staff and he was the team captain in the 3-0 win against Mauwia
4- Bong Kalo scored a hat-trick against Mauwia

🇸🇧 TELEKOM S-LEAGUE

This weekend’s matches were postponed. Two matches are going to be played this Wednesday. You can check the league standings and goalscorers by clicking here.

North New Georgia wins Western Cup

The 2019 Western Cup is over! Eighteen teams took part of this important championship in Solomon Islands’ Western Province fighting for the title and the 50 thousand Solomon Islands dollar prize.

The teams were split in four groups and forty matches were playing throughout two weeks full of emotions.

Gizo Hawks ruled the Group A and won their knockout matches against West Morovo and Noro Town to reach the final match while North New Georgia won all their games in the tournament to face Gizo Hawks in the final.

In a tough clash, North New Georgia has beaten Gizo Hawks by 2-1 to win the championship and take 50 thousand Solomon Islands Dollars home. Runners-up Gizo Hawks were awarded with 20 thousand Solomon Islands Dollars.

North New Georgia wins 2019 Western Cup. Source: Western Football Association Media

You can check the group stage standings and knockout stage results by clicking here. Oceania Football Center congratulates all participants specially the winners.

Micah Lea’alafa plays 81 minutes in Maritzburg United’s win

Maritzburg United visited Polokwane City in the fourteennth matchweek in 2019/20 ABSA Premiership, the top tier of South African football.

Solomon Islander Micah Lea’alafa was in Maritzburg’s starting eleven and he played 81 minutes to help his team to beat Polokwane City by 1-0. Daniel Morgan from New Zealand entered in the second half to replace Yusuf Jappie.

Lea’alafa was in the Maritzburg United’s starting eleven to face Polokwane City

Maritzburg United is now in the eighth position with seventeen points.

Kooline wins OFC Futsal Champions League

The Solomon Islands Futsal reached another milestone: the Solomon Islands national champions Kooline claimed the regional glory as they beat AS PTT Noumea in the grand final of OFC Futsal Champions League by the score of 7-5.

A imagem pode conter: 6 pessoas, pessoas praticando esportes e texto
The champios of Kooline FC – Solomon Daily Football

Despite not having their star player Anthony Talo behind the posts due his red card received in their previous match against D’York Street from Vanuatu, Kooline still had very important members of the Kurukuru, as Elis Mana, Coleman Makau and Alvin Hou. The bad news for Kooline in the match, just after scoring the first goal of th encounter through Elis Mana, came with another red card, this time for their number 10 Alvin Hou. Just after his red card, AS PTT was able to level the match.

Robert Laua put Kooline upfront once again, but just minuters later Christ Pei put the numbers equal in the scoreboard. Christ Pei and Harry Hmaloko scored to put AS PTT two goals upfront in the score, Elis Mana scored his second and reduced the margin, but Matthieu Wassin restored the two goal difference.

A imagem pode conter: 1 pessoa, praticando um esporte, sapatos, quadra de basquetebol e atividades ao ar livre
Elis Mana was instrumental for Kooline in the grand final – OFC Media

After suffering the fifth goal, the game turned in favour of Kooline that were able to score four goals in the final minutes of the game. Benjamin Mana started the comeback, with Elis Mana completing his hattrick to equalize the match and just some minutes after levelling the score, a good combination play of Robert Laua left Benjamin Mana unmarked inside the box just to tap the ball to the nets to complete the comeback.

The last goal of the competition probrably is one of the most beautiful of the entire tournament. To finish in fashion the tournament, Elis Mana lobbed the goalkeeper from his own half, to score the seventh for Kooline to secure them the regional glory.

It was against the same AS PTT that Kooline sealed their spot in the grand final, the Solomon Islands side won all their matches, just having a draw once against the New Caledonians in the group phase.

The third placed team of the tournament was AFF Futsal from New Zealand as they beat 7-0 AS Pirae from Tahiti in the 3rd/4th spot playoff and the Fijian side of Suva beat D’York Street in the penalty shootout to claim the 5th place in the tournament, leaving the Ni-Vanuatu side in the bottom of the rankings of the first ever OFC Futsal Champions League.

Fiji FA: still looking for a head coach

Oceania Football Center reported some weeks ago that Fiji Men’s National Team does not have an official head coach since Christophe Gamel left the charge. It was also being reported that Fiji FA had shortlisted the candidates to reveal the new National Football Team coach soon.

Christophe Gamel left the Fiji’s National Team in August.

However it seems that there was a turnaround in the case because Fiji FA released an official statement this week asking for football coaches to send their Curriculum Vitae in order to compete for the National Team’s head coach charge.

The statement can be checked in the picture below:

This long wait to announce a new head coach is damaging Fijian preparation for 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. In addition, Fiji FA may be asking too much from the appliers. It is good to see Fiji looking for a big profile but it may not match with their reality – a coach that has already been in FIFA World Cup might not accept working in a low-ranked National Team unless they earn a big amount of money.

Roy Krishna scores a brace for ATK

ATK visited Northeast United at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium for the seventh gameweek of Indian Super League.

Roy Krishna had an outstanding performance scoring twice to lead ATK to beat Northeast United by 3-0. You can check the highlights by clicking here.

Krishna is the current league topscorer with six goals. ATK remains on top with 14 points in seven matches.

Kooline vs AS PTT Noumea: Futsal Champions League Grand Final

After the end of the regular phase of OFC Futsal Champions League where all teams face each other once, the two best ranked teams will play a decisive match in Auckland, New Zealand to seal which side will have the honours to win the first ever edition of the OFC Futsal Champions League.

Kooline from Solomon Islands counted with a phenomenal Anthony Talo that even playing as a goalkeeper, scored twice for the team in the competition and was the responsible for the equalizer against the same team they will face in the final – AS PTT Noumea – to seal their spot in the decisive clash.

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The celebratios of the Solomon Islanders of Kooline – OFC Media

Winning three wins against AS Pirae, Suva, AFF Futsal and drawing against AS PTT Noumea – match against D’York Street from Vanuatu is still to be played, Kooline comes without any defeats to the grand final. The same happens to the New Caledonian side of AS PTT that, but they draw twice against AFF Futsal and Kooline.

Kooline has some known names of the futsal fans across Oceania, especially the Kurukuru members Coleman Makau, Ellis Mana and Alvin Hou. AS PTT also have members in their squad that represented recently New Caledonia in the OFC Futsal Nations Cup – Cédrick Humuni, James Namuli and Christ Pei.

A imagem pode conter: 1 pessoa, praticando um esporte e quadra de basquetebol
AS PTT Noumea players celebrate one against Kooline – OFC Media

AS PTT Noumea shown their strength against Kooline and the hosts AFF Futsal. Normally, for the competition, it would be expected a final match against the Solomon Islanders and New Zealanders, but the New Caledonians shown what they are capable of and stopped to a draw both sides. The captain Marcel Hnepeune is being key for the side, alongside James Namuli, Cédrick Humuni and Christophe Kausuo.

The grand final match will take place at Barfoot & Thompson Stadium in Auckland this Sunday (08/12).

ISPS Handa Premiership has clash of giants in the sixth matcweek

The sixth matchweek of ISPS Handa Premiership will see very interesting matches that can change positions in the current standings of the league. The most important match of the weekend will have the current title holders Eastern Suburbs receiving at home the powerhouse Team Wellington.

The first match of the weekend will see Southern in good form taking on Hawke’s Bay United that also comes from good results. The team from Dunedin received bad news in the week after NZF decided to award win to Tasman in a match they fieled an irregular player – this match was the first of the season for Southern where they started with a 4-0 win, but the scoreboard now turned for a forfeit for their side and all points of the clash now sent to Tasman United.

Despite the bad news, Southern won in their last match Waitakere United by 5-2 away from home with a stellar performance of Joel Stevens scoring a hattrick. Now they will be back to Dunedin to face Hawke’s Bay United that draw against Eastern Suburbs in their last match.

A imagem pode conter: 3 pessoas, pessoas praticando esportes e atividades ao ar livre
Joel Stevens was tremedous for Southern against Waitakere – NZF Media

Another very interesting match of the round will be the clash between Canterbury United and Auckland City in English Park, Christchurch. Auckland is four points clear in the ladder at the top of the table and will look to continue their good form against the Dragons away from home. Canterbury suffered a harshd defeat from Team Wellington in their last encounter, allowing two goals for the opposition side after pulling ahead first in the scoreboard.

The good form of Myer Bevan in Auckland City – 8 goals so far in the season – proves he is the most dangerous player for the Navy Blues, alongside the key men Logan Rogerson and David Browne. Auckland will miss Dylan Manickum for this match as he is playing the OFC Futsal Champions League.

A imagem pode conter: 1 pessoa, sorrindo, praticando um esporte, em pé e atividades ao ar livre
What a season so far for Myer Bevan – NZF Media

After the departure of Ricki Herbert from the head coach role, Hamilton Wanderers will be hoping his son Kale Herbert – the new head coach of the Wanderers – can guide them to a much needed victory over Waitakere United at Porrit Stadium.

Hamilton suffered another defeat last round for Wellington Phoenix Reserves and is currently the last placed team in the ladder of ISPS Handa Premiership. The sole victory of the side in the league so far was at home, so they will be hoping they can grab very important three points this Sunday.

Waitakere suffered their first defeat of the season – a harsh 5-2 against Southern United at home – and left the 2nd place in the standings. The club will be hoping to make Wanderers continue their bad moment, counting with the quality of players as Dane Schnell – scored already three goals in the league so far – to recover from their last bad game.

A imagem pode conter: 2 pessoas, pessoas praticando esportes e atividades ao ar livre
The Junior All Whites Dane Schnell is the key player of Waitakere – NZF Media

After fighting hard against Auckland City away from home, Tasman will be back to Nelson to play this time at Trafalgar Park against Wellington Phoenix Reserves. Tasman made Auckland City fight to win in their last game with a hard 2-1 victory where their key man Jama Boss scored his first since signed for the team coached by Jess Ibrom.

WeeNix grabbed their first win of the season after completing a comeback against Hamilton Wanderers in Hamilton. Ahmed Othman was crucial in this win and the young side of Phoenix will hope to continue their good form with another win this time against Tasman.

A imagem pode conter: 1 pessoa, praticando um esporte, estádio e atividades ao ar livre
Jama Boss defeats Conor Tracey as he scored for Tasman against Auckland – NZF Media

The big match of the week will see Team Wellington hoping to continue their good run after beating Canterbury United this time playing aginst the current champions of the league Eastern Suburbs. TeeDubs saw their young talented winger Jack-Henry Sinclair to score a beautiful goal – his first of the season for his team – in their previous win. Hamish Watson is the top goalscorer of the team in the season with four goals, but he does not find the nets for two games in a row.

Eastern Suburbs pulled two goals ahead Hawke’s Bay in their previous weekend, but at the end of the match they needed to find an equalizer after the team from Napier found a fantastic comeback. The Lilywhites will put their expectations on Martin Bueno, Dylan de Jong and Stephen Hoyle for this match to play against a very good technical team of Team Wellington.

A imagem pode conter: 1 pessoa, praticando um esporte e atividades ao ar livre
Team Wellington will for another win against Eastern Suburbs – NZF Media

The sixth matcweek of New Zealand promisses to be one of the most entertaining of the season so far – the top quality of football in the region will display their best to secure the best for the teams.

Anthony Talo sends Kooline to Futsal Champions League final

Kooline faced AS PTT in their fourth match in OFC Futsal Champions League. It was an important clash between the current top two teams in the championship because a win could qualify the winner to the final.

Kooline began the match on fire, scoring twice in the first minutes with Philip Maeta and Alvin Hou but they did not manage to hold the advantage. AS PTT tied the match in the first half to reach the half time with the scoreboard tied at two.

Maeta (Kooline) celebrating his goal. Source: OFC Media

The second half was being a terrible nightmare for Kooline because AS PTT managed to score twice to take the lead by two goals (4-2). The late minutes were breathtaking. Goalkeeper Anthony Talo joined the outfield players to strengthen the attack and it worked well.

Robert Laua scored for Kooline to take the disadvantage to only one goal in the 35th minute. While Kooline was trying to score to tie the match, AS PTT was doing their best to hold the win. However Anthony Talo scored after rocket shot in the last minute to tie the game.

This result qualified Kooline to the final match. The draw was not the worst result for AS PTT because they are in the second place one point above third placed AFF Futsal from New Zealand. AS PTT last match in the first stage is against last placed Suva that did not win a single game so far.

There is a huge possibility of Kooline meet AS PTT again in the Champions League final.

OFC Futsal Champions League: Kooline unstoppable, AFF in trouble

The second gameday of OFC Futsal Champions League is over. Each team played two matches this Friday.

Kooline and AS PTT won both matches while Suva and D’York Street lost both games. AFF won the first match but they could not beat Kooline in their second match of the day. AS Pirae had a major blow losing to AS PTT by 6-5 in a breathtaking match but they thrashed Suva to get the fourth position.

Current standings

Hosts AFF Futsal is in the third position with a difficult mission to get into the top two to make the final match. All teams are going to play five matches in the first stage. The last two games of each team will take place this Saturday.

Check the full table and top scorers by clicking here.