Fijian side flying high

Fiji's Lautoka have seized the initiative in Group A of the 2011 O-League after posting their second win on the trot, a 1-0 triumph over competition newcomers Amicale.

Valerio Nawatu, right, was on target as Lautoka posted their second O-League win in a row with a 1-0 win over Amicale. The group's other match saw Hekari United get their campaign back on track in style with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Koloale, while today's sole Group B fixture ended in a 1-0 win for Magenta over Tefana. Like Lautoka, Vanuatu side Amicale had also recorded a victory in their opening match – upsetting defending champions Hekari 2-1 in Papua New Guinea – so something had to give this afternoon at Govind Park in Ba. Striker Valerio Nawatu was the hero as his 19th-minute strike proved to be enough to guide the home side to another three points. Australian Mathew Mayaro, who was on target himself in Lautoka's opening round 2-1 win over Koloale, took on the role of supplier this time as his through ball put Nawatu in the clear to score. Lautoka enjoyed the upper hand for the rest of the half but Amicale came back strongly in the second spell and gave goalkeeper James Nicholas plenty to do in the final quarter of the match. For the most part though, Amicale's much-vaunted attacking trio of Alick Maemae, Jack Wetney and Stanley Waita were kept relatively quiet by a Lautoka defence well-marshalled by skipper Alvin Avinesh. Amicale did have two golden opportunities to score but Shamil Rao was on hand to clear on both occasions. The visitors' day got even worse after the final whistle when Richard Anisua argued with the referee in an unsporting manner and was belatedly issued a red card. Lautoka boss Gurjit Singh was pleased to pick up another win and says the team's focus has now already turned to the next O-League match against Hekari. "It was a good win for us because it now sees us top the pool," he said. "The game was evenly played. We dominated the first half and they came back strong in the second. We have to work on many areas as we prepare for our next game." Disappointed Amicale coach William Malas believes his players let themselves down. "We came here for a win but it was not our day," he said. "The lack of concentration and indiscipline cost us. We will now go back and prepare for the match against Koloale." After losing 2-1 to Amicale in their opening O-League match, Hekari were desperate for a confidence boost ahead of their impending FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 campaign. They got just that when Solomon Islands star Henry Fa'arodo struck in the 32nd minute and local hero Kema Jack added a second just before half-time. Fa'arodo got his name on the scoresheet again in the 64th minute before Abraham Iniga rounded off the scoring 12 minutes later. Fa'arodo could have turned his brace into a hat-trick in the last minute of regular time but Koloale goalkeeper Shadrock Ramoni managed to keep his spot kick out. New Caledonian side Magenta earned French territorial bragging rights in the day's only Group B fixture, Jean Philippe Saiko's 65th-minute goal giving them a narrow victory over Tahitian counterparts Tefana. The second round of 2011 O-League action wraps up on Sunday when the two New Zealand heavyweights, Waitakere United and Auckland City, clash at United's Fred Taylor Park home from 2pm local time. OFC

Lautoka F.C. 1 - 0 Amicale F.C.

Final score: LAUTOKA F.C. 1 - 0 AMICALE F.C. Goal scorer - 18' Valerio Nawatu (LAU)

Vanuafoot Lautoka: 1. Parmesh PRASAD [GK], 2. Samuela KAUTOGA, 3. Alvin
AVINESH, 4. Semesa NAKOSIA, 5. Marika ROBANADAVU, 6. Avindra NAIDU, 7.
Valerio NAWATU, 8. Malakai WAQA, 9. Leone VURUKANIA, 10. Sanni ISSA,
11. Nahuel ARRARTE, 12. Kamal HASSAN, 13. Ilaitia TUILAU, 14. Shameel
RAO, 15. Mathew MAYORA, 16. Jone VONO, 17. Niumaia T...AGI, 22. James
NICHOLAS [GK].

Coach: Gurjit SINGH

Vanuafoot Amicale: 1. Ernest
BONG [GK], 2. Stewart GARAELOTHI, 3. Young PAUL, 4. Selwyn ALA, 5.
Richard ANISUA, 6. Nelson SALE, 7. Jean Robert YELOU, 8. Jerry SHEM, 9.
Dereck MALAS, 10. Batram SURI, 11. Fenedy MASAUVAKALO, 14. Moffat
DERAMOA, 15. Alphonse BONGNAIM, 17. Alick MAEMAE, 18. Richard GARAE,
...19. Jack WETNEY, 20. Joel NAKAPUE, 25. Stanley WAITA.
Coach: William MALAS

Tafea 5 - 2 Vaum United in Bred Bank Cup final

Tafea F.C. Midfielder Daniel Natou, scored twice to allow manager
Robert Calvo a winner of Bred Cup 2010 final, last weekend in Port
Vila.

The midfielder displayed a perfect style of football the full 90
minutes with his team mates to put their home side 5-2 win over
Northern Champions.

Michel Kaltak scored for the champions in the 5 minutes and 3 minutes
later, Noel Morris added Tafea's second goal.

Vaum United Karl Roy scored for his side 11 minutes before break to
secure a goal against Tafea leading by 2 to 2-1.

In the second half of the match, Tafea continues to dominate the pitch
when Daniel Natou hit Vaum's net in the 71 minutes and Francois Sakama
came in as substitution to score the 4th goal in the 86 minutes.

Vaum retaliate in the last minutes and when Tafea couldn't handle the
pressure and former Amicale striker who now plays for Vaum United,
Kensi Saksak, recorded Vaum's second goal in 80 minutes, but Natou
came to top another Tafea's goals just before final whistle.

Tafea will celebrate with VT 200,000 price tag with the BRED Cup and
Vaum to enjoy the other VT100,000 back home.

"It's a fantastic game,'' said Richard Iwai, Tafea's Captain, to
Vanuafoot TV. ''We expect a tough game and it was a hard one. We got
lucky with by a couple of the goals and we're delighted to win the cup
for the 2nd time", he said.

"I want to thank Vaum United for a very good football display, and I
wish them safe trip back to Santo", he concluded.

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New staff join OFC Technical Department

OFC is pleased to welcome new staff members Emmie Sope and Didier Chambaron, who have both joined the Technical Department.

Emmie Sope, left, and Didier Chambaron are the latest staff members to join OFC. The pair will work alongside Technical Director Patrick Jacquemet and Technical Coordinator Colin Tuaa as OFC programmes aimed at players, coaches, referees and medical personnel continue to increase. Sope has joined as the new Women's Development Officer and will focus on the progress of the female game in the Pacific region. She will build on the impressive work done by Connie Selby, who was the OFC Head of Women's Football for two years from 2006. Selby worked alongside her husband Jim, Jacquemet's predecessor as Technical Director, and made an outstanding contribution to women's sport in the Pacific before leaving OFC in 2008 to take up a position in the United Arab Emirates as national women's coach and head of women's football development. Sope, 34, hails from Vanuatu and studied at tertiary level in New Zealand before moving here permanently in 2006 to further her nursing career. She is no stranger to OFC having worked for Oceania's FIFA Development Office – based at OFC headquarters in Auckland – in 2005 and 2006 as a part-time women's football consultant. This role involved conducting assessments on women's football within the OFC member associations and providing recommendations to FIFA. Her other experience in the world game includes being the women's football chairperson for the Port Vila Football Association in Vanuatu from 2002 to 2006. Sope has been actively involved in the development of women's football since 1999, when she became the treasurer of the women's football committee in Port Vila. She started playing the game at primary school and also lined up for the Massey University social team during her studying days. "There is a need to develop women's football in the Pacific to reach a high standard in OFC competitions and I am glad to be given the opportunity by OFC to be involved in this process," Sope says. "I'm looking forward to working with the women's football development officers within the member associations to improve women's football in the Pacific." Chambaron has joined OFC as a Technical Coordinator and will be responsible for coach education and training programmes throughout the 11 member associations. The 39-year-old is from France and came to New Caledonia in 2004 to begin his club coaching career. He returned to his homeland after a year but was back by 2006 to take up a role with Federation Caledonniene de Football. He was involved in coaching national age-group teams before becoming the federation's Technical Director in June this year. His playing career included turning out as a central defender at the third level of French club football. Chambaron says the only way to improve the standard of football in the Pacific is to increase the knowledge of the region's coaches. "For me, the players are the most important thing," he says. "But if we want to improve the players we have to improve the coaches. We want to create a coaching pathway to the top level, just the same as we are trying to do with the players." OFC General Secretary Tai Nicholas says the new pair will be valuable additions to the team. "Both Emmie and Didier have extensive knowledge of football, as well as excellent skills so we are delighted to have them on board," he says. "Emmie is joining at an exciting team for women's football with the OFC Women's Nations Cup having recently taken place and New Zealand set to compete in the FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany next year. "Didier also has a very important role as OFC looks to improve the standard and knowledge of our coaches in the Pacific region."

Updated OnFriday, October 29, 2010