Kensi Tangis is one of the most prolific strikers in the Pacific Islands nowadays and he is living a bright moment in his career scoring lots of goals. He was the 2018-19 Solomon Islands S-League with 23 goals scored and he is currently leading the Golden Boot race in 2019-20 Port Vila Premier League with a good margin from other contesters.
Even scoring lots of goals in both countries, he sees a clear difference between the football style of both countries: “Vanuatu’s football is more physical while Solomon Islands’ is more technical.“
Tangis playing for Solomon Warriors
With 29 years old, the Galaxy’s striker is currently recovering from an injury. He got injured in the loss against Sia-Raga and did not show up in the 0-0 draw against Tafea. His absence from the team coincided with a bad run of Galaxy in the league. Currently in the fourth place in the league table, they are looking forward for next matches while they aim to perform at a good level in the Galaxy’s first ever international experience in 2020 Oceania Champions League – “Preparation for OFC Champions League is going good but we need more technical training.” he stated.
Kensi Tangis after scoring four goals against Mauwia in 2019-20 Port Vila Premier League opening round
Tangis is a key player for Galaxy. With some great international experience – played in Solomon Islands, Tahiti and also capped 28 times for Vanuatu National Team – he is really ready for this continental challenge once he already played 25 matches and scored 11 goals in OFC Champions League history.
With a good retrospect at international level, he made it clear – “I really want to play abroad again”. His incredible capacity to score obviously allows him to play well in a good level as he already proved it.
The Mobil Super Ligue got to know their new champions in the previous saturday when Hienghène Sport finally complete the treble and won the national league. The club from the north of New Caledonia had three chances to seal their title – failling against their rivals AS Magenta, Tiga Sport but at the last round deciding their fate against Horizon Patho and winning away from home by 4-1.
AS Magenta once again sees their biggest rivals to win another trophy after their faillure in OFC Champions League and Coupe de Calédonie. The club from New Caledonia capital at least could confirm their presence in OFC Champions League ending 2nd in the table.
Bertrand Kai (right) was the top scorer of the league with 14 goals
Despite the decision of the champions of the spots in the continental club tournament, the Mobil Super Ligue still has one decisive match still to be played to give an end to the relegation battle between ES Wacaele and Trio Kedeigne. Both sides still fight to see which of them will directly relegated to the Promotion d’Honneur and which other will take place in the relegation-promotion playoff.
The catch-up match against AS Mont-Dore and Trio Kedeigne was decided by FCF Referee Commision to take place in the next weekend. Mont-Dore needs only a win to end the competition in the 3rd position and Trio Kedeigne needs a draw to avoid direct relegation and send to the send place in the stadings the newly promoted ES Wacaele.
ES Wacaele could score first against AS Lössi in their last encounter in Stade Numa Daly, but suffered four goals from Lössi – a brace from their number 9 and captain Fonzy Ranchain. Wacaele now hopes Trio can not avoid a defeat and suffer a direct relegation to the New Caledonian football second-tier.
The 18th round results and updated standings – MSL Media
Wacaele can keep their hopes alive: Trio Kedeigne suffered a harsh defeat – the biggest goal difference until now in the competition – against Magenta by 10-2 margin. Now they will be playing a do-or-die match against AS Mont-Dore to keep their chances alive to stay in the top-tier for next season.
AS Wetr did not keep their good form in the competition and suffered one more defeat against Tiga Sport. Highlight for one more goal in the season for Tiga Sport top scorer Lues Waya – the 18-year old striker keeps proving he can be one of the major players in the next seasons of Mobil Super Ligue.
In the other match of the round SC Ne Drehu could not confirm their 3rd place spot in the league when they draw 2-2 against AS Mont-Dore and gave the chance to them reach the third place if they win their remaining match against ES Wacaele.
In the title decisive match on Saturday, the new signing of Hienghène Sport, the Portuguese midfielder Pedro Sousa, opened early the account for the current OFC Champions League title holders. Antoine Roine scored the second goal still in the first half. In the final part of the game, Horizon Patho managed to reduce the scoreline to 2-1, but Miguel Kayara and Bertrand Kaï scored the final goals of the game sealing the third title of the season.
The captain and legend of Hieghène Sport, Bertrand Kaï ended the competition with 14 goals scored and is the top goalscorers of this edition of the national league.
Now the club from Hienghène province will be looking for their biggest challenges of the season, when they play AS Pierrots Vauban Strasbourg of the 5th tier of football in France for the Coupe de France 7th round and FIFA Clubs World Cup when they play in December against Qatari national champions Al-Sadd.
Benben United have put themselves at the top of group A. Coming from a 7-0 and 6-0 victories over Pango Green Bird and Mauriki respectively, the girls demonstarted volcanic explosion in the field since the team is named after Mount Lombenben volcano where Lake Manaro is.
The girls in Blue ended their latest game on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Erakor Golden Star which counts on Celestine Kalopong and other U19 national players who recently returned from a fourth place finish in the Cook Islands.
Benben United girls after beating Pango Green Bird by 7-0 at Erakor field
Benben United have one pool game left against Ifira Black Bird on 23rd November at Korman Stadium since they have a bye this coming Saturday.
Benben United is a futsal team that currently leads Shefa Women’s Futsal League, however since the announcment of the re-establishment of a Women’s Football League in Vanuatu, the futsal girls decided to combine with the Sarabetu Churches of Christ youths and the Tavalavola girls after the Ambae Day celebrations to form this team to compete in the new Women’s Football League. They still play futsal after playing their football games.
Benben United also counts on Annie Rose Gere and Jane Alatoa who both joined the national squad in this years Pacific Games in Samoa.
Dennis Ifunaoa had an amazing season playing for Labasa in Fiji. The 27 years old player from Solomon Islands was a key player for Babasiga Lions in this unforgettable year in the history of the team. His international experience meant a lot for Labasa throughout the season specially in crunch times and big matches.
Ifunaoa played for some important clubs in the Pacific Islands like Hekari United (Papua New Guinea), Henderson Eels and Solomon Warriors (Solomon Islands) playing in OFC Champions League for many seasons – Playing for these teams brought more experience to my football career” he said. With this experience in many national leagues, he also pointed some differences between the football structure in these countries “In Fiji they have a National League and three other tournaments (Fiji FACT, Battle of the Giants and Inter-District Championship) while Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea only have the league. If these countries had more tournaments like in Fiji players could play for more times throughout the year. It would help them to develop more”.
He won two trophies for Labasa during the season: Battle of the Giants and Inter-District Championship. His biggest moment in Fiji took place in the Inter-District Championship when he scored an amazing goal at the extra time in the final against Suva to give Labasa the win and the trophy – “I have already scored in many finals but this one meant a lot to me because I promised myself I would score a goal in this final […] People always expect more from foreign players” he stated.
Dennis Ifunaoa after winning 2019 Inter-District Championship for Labasa. Source: FBC News
After a notorious season in Fiji, Dennis Ifunaoa was deservedly called up for Solomon Islands National Football team, scoring five goals in five matches so far. Despite living a good moment in his career he assures that the best is yet to come “I am so happy to join the National Team and I hope they can call me up again. I think it is not the best moment of my career yet. I still need to improve a lot, that is how I see“. When asked about the recent successes of Solomon Islands in Futsal, Beach Soccer and Football, he answered “It is because the trainings and hard work that each player and staff put day in day out. That is the reason of these recent successes […] I think they should build some good training places and good facilities so players can use it and improve more“.
Ifunaoa having fun with some kids in Netherlands during Solomon Islands tour in the European country
Infrastructure is clearly one of the biggest problems at the islands but it demands some time to be solved. However there are some issues that can be solved in easier ways like the strange calendars of football in some countries. Recently Oceania Football Center released an article talking about the bad schedule in Fijian tournaments. Ifunaoa played a year in Fiji and he could feel it himself “I think it is wrong playing day-by-day games because human body needs to rest before playing another match […] but it is always like that in Fiji when it comes to tournaments” he said.
Currently playing for Solomon Warriors in Telekom S-League, Ifunaoa has plans for the upcoming years but he is totally focused on his current team goals by now “I intend to return to Fiji. I have just arrived in Solomon Warriors and I will stay here if we go through Oceania Champions League”. He also knows that he still has some potential to improve and make the next level by going into a bigger league “I also would like to play in a bigger country like New Zealand again. I played for Nelson Suburbs in the beginning of this decade”.
Solomon Warriors is currently leading the Telekom S-League and they will probably qualify for Oceania Champions League. If it really happens everyone will have the opportunity to see Ifunaoa playing at the highest level of Oceanian football once again.
Bayern Münich II won Magdeburg by 2-1 in the 15th round of 3.Bundesliga, the third tier of football in Germany. Both goals were scored by Sarpreet Singh. The young New Zealanders is beginning to show why he was signed by Bayern Münich, one of the greatest football teams of the world.
After taking part of Bayern’s main squad earlier in the season, Singh was moved to the second team on August to have more opportunities to show his potential. He already played 11 matches for Bayern II, scoring four goals and delievering five assists according to Transfermarkt.
Singh knows the importance of playing at a good level in Bayern II if he wants to be promoted to the first team –“If you’re in the second team of Bayern you want to push up and try and get an opportunity with the first team. But in order to do that it’s not easy. They’re Bayern Munich for a reason. They’re one of the world’s best teams so you have to be consistent every single day and be the best player you can be. If you’re doing that then I think opportunities will come for sure. But it’s easier said than done.”he said to Stuff NZ.
You can watch all Sarpreet Singh goals in 3.Liga in the videos below:
The second round for ISPS Handa Premiership was very lively in the Sunday, plenty of goals and with talent to watch. The most important national league of Oceania starts to get shape and the second matchweek already could present to the fans a great clash between Team Wellington and Auckland City played in Kiwitea Street.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves 3-4 Hawke’s Bay United
Wellington Phoenix Reserves almost made a fantastic comeback at home against Hawke’s Bay United. Both sides lost their initial matches at ISPS Handa Premiership and were looking for their first points in the league. Hawke’s Back pulled upfront with the Canadian midfielder Dylan Sacramento, the number 10 scored a hattrick in the match to help his side to secure their first three points. The other scored by HBU was by the United States striker Ahinga Selemani.
What seemed to be an easy victory for the club based in Napier almost turned into a nightmare. In five minutes the 17-year old striker Blake Driehuis scored a hattrick to show some fragile signs in the Hawke’s Bay defense. Despite the fantastic effort of Driehuis, the side from Wellington could not complete the comeback and ended up falling short, losing by 4-3.
Selemani scored one of the four goals of HBU in the clash – NZ Herald
Canterbury Dragons 2-1 Southern United
Canterbury could recover from their defeat against Eastern Suburbs in the last round completing a vital comeback against Southern United in Christchurch. The early lead taken by Southern with their star striker Garbhan Coughlan promised a second win in a row for the team from Dunedin, but the Dragons could bounce back.
Just five minutes later from Coughlan goal, George King could equalize for the some side. The winner for Canterbury United just came in the 83th minute with a finish of the Australian Reece Dalton. The match would end with a 2-1 victory for the home side, showing that Canterbury keep very strong while playing at home.
Cantebury United vs Southern at English Park – CU Media
Hamilton Wanderers 3-0 Eastern Suburbs
The current ISPS Handa Premiership title holders could not keep their form from their first match in the season and were dominated by Wanderers in Hamilton. This match marks the first goal of the season by Papua New Guinean international Tommy Semmy.
Hamilton lost heavily their first match in the season by 5-1 against Team Wellington in David Farrington Park, but at home in Porrit Stadium the story was very different. Jake Butler and Derek Tieku scored at the 33th and 35th minute of match while Semmy would put his club in a confortable lead just before the break at the 44th minute of play.
Eastern Suburbs give sights they are not so strong as they were in last season where they could count with the likes of Elijah Just, Andre de Jong and Callum McCowatt. They suffered to win their first match at home against Canterbury United Dragons and now were totally outclassed by a Hamilton Wanderers in form.
Derek Tieku scored his second goal in the league – Wanderers Media
Tasman United 0-2 Waitakere United
After various seasons ‘sleeping’, the giant from Auckland seems to be promising a much better season than the previous ones. The former national champions and Oceania champions are battling to find their good days back under the coach of Paul Hobson.
The start of the season seems very promising for the red and white team. They are the unique side to win both matches in the competition – beating 3-1 the Wellington Phoenix Reserves at home and 2-0 Tasman United away from home. The two goals from the striker Alex Connor-McClean in the second half sealed the victory of the away team.
Connor-McLean scored a brace in the Waitakere win – NZF Media
Auckland City 2-2 Team Wellington
The most awaited match of the round took place in Kiwitea Street, Auckland, where Auckland Cityf faced Team Wellington. Both revamped teams with news faces and head coaches made a thrilling match that any of them could emerge as winners.
The first goal of the game was scored by Myer Bevan through a penalty spot in the 24th minute of play. The former North-Ireland youth international Ollie Bassett scored his second in the league and equalized for Team Wellington still in the first half.
Team Wellington seemed more dangerous in the second half and their offensiveness paid off when Hamish Watson scored through a penalty kick to complete the comeback and give the Wellington-based club the lead. The new addition of Auckland City would score and equalize the match at the 78th minute – the OlyWhites captain Logan Rogerson scored his first goal for Auckland City since joining the team.
Rogerson celebrates his goal for Auckland City – NZF Media
Waitakere United with their two wins in the season for now stands at the top of the stadings with six points. Team Wellington stands second with four points and four in goal difference, while Auckland City is just behind them with also four points but with only one in goal debits.
Tasman United and Wellington Phoenix Reserves are the teams still did not score any points in the league, having the Nelson based club in the bottom of the rank with -6 in goal debits while the reserve squad of Wellington Phoenix stands in 9th with -3 goal debits – both of them surely with 0 points in the table.
Myer Bevan of Auckland City remains at the top of the golden boot race with four scored in the season so far, having behind him with three Blake Driehuis of Wellington Phoenix Reserves and Hamish Watson of Team Wellington.
Wellington Phoenix almost celebrated a win in their trip to Melbourne after playing against the local side of Melbourne Victory. A quality finish from Ola Toivonen after a defensive mistake prevented the New Zealand club to collect all points from this clash.
If Phoenix could not avoid the defeat, they would break a record none team in the league would want to: they would turn in to the first team ever to start the A-League with five defeats in a row. After losing against Western United, Sydney FC, Perth Glory and Melbourne City, this match against Victory was very important for Phoenix to finally kick-off in points their season and really reach the potential this squad have.
Despite not having their top striker Gary Hooper in the match, Phoenix shown a good offensive production and could score early in the game thru a penalty kick well taken by the Mexican Ulises Davila. The VAR helped Phoenix after calling central referee attention to a handball in the area after a corner – the ball was accidentally blocked by Victory star Toivonen with the arm and it ended up putting the ball in the spot for Davila that scored his third in the season – currently second tied with various players in the golden boot race.
Davila penalty that put Phoenix upfront
After scoring, Phoenix put their lines deeper and got their attentions to defend their lead. Stefan Marinovic made a fantastic stop still in the first half to avoid an equalizer for Victory. The break saw the Phoenix upfront in the scoreline for the first time in the season by 1-0 margin.
In the second half the speedsters forwards of Phoenix could create some trouble: Jaushua Sotirio, David Ball and Callum McCowatt had decent runs and created some opportunities, but always Melbourne was more dangerous than the Nix attacks. Ola Toivonen was always a danger, combining well with Kenny Athiu and Elvis Kamsoba.
Unfortunately for Phoenix, Tim Payne clearence was blocked and the ball was gifted to Toivonen inside the box. The Swedish international dribbled Steven Taylor and with a classy finish put the ball out of Marinovic reach to equalize the match for the home side.
Toivonen scored his 20th goal for Victory
Wellington Phoenix introduced the young Ben Waine in the match just after the ball in place of the English forward David Ball, hoping that the speed of the player would help them in the counter-attacks. Toivonen had a fantastic chance to score again after a set up play by Storm Roux and Elvis Kamsoba, the finish was denied for the goalkeeper that most stops made in the A-League season since now, the All Whites first choice Stefan Marinovic.
The game also marked the debut of the young Australian Cameron Devlin and the New Zealand international and former Auckland City defender Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi. Victory look always dangerous, but the best chance in the final minutes came from a mid-range shot of Phoenix midfielder Alex Rufer, that forced Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas to make a fantastic save to avoid Rufer first A-League goal.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw but certainly this is still not enough for Phoenix in the season. The fans keep hoping for the comeback of Gary Hooper – the striker still did not play a full match since coming to New Zealand. The next opportunty for Phoenix to leave the last place in the A-League standings will be next 23rd November when they play at home against Brisbane Roar.
The second round of Telekom S-League started this weekend with lots of new players. Some of them already debuted and even scored goals. Let’s check what happened in this gameweek!
SOLOMON WARRIORS 3-1 MARIST
Solomon Warriors won again after losing the first half by 1-0. As Oceania Football Center already reported Benjamin Totori (2) and Dennis Ifunaoa (1) came from the bench to seal Warriors’ win. “Feeling good to be back to Warriors” said Ifunaoa. They now have 25 points and lead the league with some margin to second place Henderson Eels. Marist goal was netted by Steward Toata.
Warriors players after scoring a goal. Source: S-League media
MALAITA KINGZ 6-0 REAL KAKAMORA
Real Kakamora loses again to remain on the last position of the table with zero points. Malaita Kingz goals were scored by Edward Huniuehu (4), Michael Foster (1) and John Mark Seni (1). Huniuehu is back to the Golden Boot race with nine goals scored in this S-League, he is just behind Tony Kaltack who netted 14 times for Solomon Warriors.
Malaita Kingz (blue) and Real Kakamora (black) players fighting for a ball. Source: S-League media
LAUGU UNITED 4-1 GUADALCANAL
Laugu is one of the teams that added more new players for the second round of the league. Some of them already debuted against Guadalcanal and two of them even scored to help Laugu to win their fourth match in this season. Dunstan Quanafia and Mathias Iani netted on their debut while the other two goals were scored by Atkin Kaua and Allan Peter. Just like Huniuehu from Malaita Kingz, Atkin Kaua also scored nine goals in the league and is one of the contenders for the Golden Boot Award. Guadalcanal goal was scored by Sanga Misitana and they remain in the 8th position with just three points.
Laugu players (in black) running into the ball. Source: S-League media
KOSSA 1-1 HENDERSON EELS
Henderson Eels opened the scoreboard with Joses Nawo in the 7th minute but Adrian Mara scored for Kossa to tie the match some minutes later. This match marked the debut of Raphael Lea’i for Eels who played 90 minutes and the debut of Charles Mani who came off the bench for Kossa. This result was not so good for Henderson Eels because they are three points behind Solomon Warriors in the title race. Kossa is in the fourth position and they must fight for the third place until the end against Malaita Kings and Laugu.
Raphael Lea’i taking a free kick for Eels. Source: S-League media
You can check the league standings and the top goalscorers by clicking here.
The Wellington Phoenix is having a very bad start of season: four games and all of them were lost. Despite showing some good signs of an entertaining football, the New Zealand side lost all their matches. Surely, the biggest problem for the Phoenix currently is their defense, being also worried about the amount of goal chances wasted.
This is the feeling the team and fans goes for their fifth match of the seaosn, away from home against Melbourne Victory. Last season, both sides faced each other in the playoffs in the same stadium of today’s match and the home side emerged victorious by a 3-1 margin ending Phoenix hopes in the postseason.
Phoenix players complain with referee in their last match against Melbourne City – Stuff
In their last match, the Nix suffered a 3-2 defeat also in Melbourne but for Melbourne City. A very controversial match when a penalty was awarded to the home side with the help of VAR that for many of those, it was a clear mistake. The match also marked the first goal of the season for the marksman Gary Hooper and the first A-League goal for the youngster Ben Waine. The bad news for Phoenix is that Hooper had a minor injury in the trainings during the week and will be missing this match – Waine starts on bench.
Despite the comeback of Liberato Cacace, the other starting full back Louis Fenton had a shoulder injury and will not be taking place in this match. For its place Ufuk Talay chose the All Whites member Tim Payne.
Victory will count with their most important player Ola Toivonen in the front side. The former Swedish international has plenty of quality to disturb the Wellington Phoenix defense. Phoenix will also need to care of the Albanian midfielder Migjen Basha, the former Denmark international Jacob Poulsen and the very quick winger from Burundi Elvis Kamsoba.
Toivonen already scored twice for Victory this season – ESPN
Without their most important player in the attack, Phoenix will really need to see a good game from the English forward David Ball, alongside the speedster Jaushua Sotirio. Callum McCowatt also returns to the first eleven and hopes to keep impressing in his first professional stint.
Atletico Kolkata received Jamshedpur FC in the Vivekanada Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium for the fourth round of Indian Super League.
After a 0-0 draw in the first half, ATK scored the first goal in the beginning of the second half. Roy Krishna was fouled inside the box. He took the penalty kick and netted. Ten minutes later Krishna was fouled again and he scored another penalty kick.
Highlights
Jamshedpur FC scored in the 85th minute from a penalty kick but ATK still managed to score a third goal with Edu García after a Roy Krishna assist.
Krishna had a maximum rate at Sofascore and he was the “Player of the Game” and he is one of the league top scorers with three goals. ATK is currently leading the league with nine points in four matches.
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