Day 2 NSL: Tafea cruised past Spirit

Robert Thomas |

Vanuatu champion club, Tafea F.C. played their first NSL match yesterday 1pm against Zero 8 at PVM Stadium and ruled out the Spirits in a 2-1 win.

The young Spirit team displayed some very good ball work in the first minutes of the match which saw Joseph Tahumphrey opening the score for Spirit 15 minutes in the game to put the score at 1-0 the first half.

Tafea new boss and coach, Saby Natonga tweaked their strategy in the second half that saw Robert Thomas all the way from the back came to score the equalizer.

But just before full-time, Francois Sakama breaks all hope for Spirit when he blasted the winning goal for Tafea 70 minutes in the game and closed the scoreboard at 2 goals to 1.

The is the first win for Tafea F.C. in the NSL tournament.

Spirit ready to meet Tafea

Former National coach and Fiji Coach who is currently coaching Spirit 08 football club, Carlos Buzzetti, gears up the Spirits to meet rivals Tafea F.C. tomorrow 17th April at PVM Stadium.

"I know Tafea players have had a lot of football experiences in and out, and this is an opportunity for us to play at championship level", said Buzzetti.

Tafea F.C. and Spirit 08 F.C. had a draw in their last game, but both are hoping to take 'win' on their side this weekend.

"I have very young players but they are well disciplined, and we will take the match seriously because we know Tafea have been champion for 15-years", said Buzzetti.

Tafea F.C. recently made changes to its administration that saw Saby Natonga becomes president of the club and also takes the coaching role.

After their match at 1pm, Amicale will play the Teouma Football Academy team.

Zero-Eight leading after day 1 of NSL

The two new commers in PVFA and new to participate in NSL, Spirit 08 and Academy met last weekend at PVM Stadium in day 1 of the NSL tournament.

Spirit 08 proofed many fans who were predicting an easy win for the skilfull Academy team wrong when they crashed them 3 goals to 1.

The young Epi'ian footballer, Robert Tasso open up the score for Spirit 08 40 minutes after no attempts made in the early minutes of the game.

He later converted another goal 46 minutes in the second half from a spotted loose ball mistakenly left by Academy defense.

Zero-eight substitute, Loreen Bob closed all the spirit's conversions leaving their score board at 3 goals in the 59 minutes.

Fijian international, Esava Samudere was behind Spirit's defense but just before the match ended, his defense was breached and Academy had an opportunity to convert a penalty closing the scoreboard at 3 goals to 1.

Carlos Buzzetti said he is happy about 08's win which has also placed them in the top position at day 1 of the NSL.

Spirit 08 will play Tafea F.C. next Saturday 17th March 2010 at PVM Stadium.

Tafea Vs Spirit 08 Live update now!

Follow match update on Vanuafoot Live broadcast feature - www.vanuafoot.vu/chat.html.

Kick-off time: 6.00pm Vanuatu time

Weather: Cloudy and light showers.

Crowd: 500+

Kick-off (Game starts)

1" Good crossing from Tari (Spirit) cleared by Tafea defense.
6" 6 minutes after kick-off, more showers and pitch getting dark. PVM Stadium lighting could be a problem.
9" An pportunity for Jean Nakou, but his shot went wide.
11" Rody (Spirit) himself with the GK but missed an easy goal. Another opportunity missed, should have been a goal for Spirit 08.
19" John Lan Turu open the score for Tafea with a rebound at Spirit defense.

Tafea 1 - 0 Spirit 08

24" Spirit trying to break the nut shell here with 1 good crossing but was saved by Alfred Malas (GK) and another header went wide.
25" Tafea Jean Nako wit his usual speed pushed and chased a ball to the right field and sent a crossing straight to GK. Again Kaltak himself in front of Spirit GK and he managed to get through to a clear spot but his easy goal went wide.
33" A free kick by Freddy Vava went straight to Spirit GK.
34" Good powerful shot by Seimata Chilia went over the goal bar.
40" Both teams struggling to convert to goals. Tafea is playing defensive and continue to attack front and Spirit too are serious.

45" End of first half.

Tafea 1-0 Spirit 08

Kick-off for 2nd Half.

47" A good shot by Spirit 08 but was saved by Malas [GK]. Anyone could score now.
50" A Spirit player down and injured. Etienne got a yellow card.
52" Another foul by Richard Iwai inside the penalty box. Penalty awarded to Spirit 08. Seimata Chilia took the penalty and open the score for Spirit.

Tafea 1-1 Spirit 08

60" Both defense look solid. Kaltak (TAF) got a card for foul play. Spirit front line causing a lot of disturbance to Tafea defense. Very good moves. Ball back to Tafea and Kaltak sent a crossing to find his team mates but was saved by Spirit GK. Again another attempt by Spirit was denied by Tafea defense.
66" A corner kick by Spirit was deflected to corner by Tafea GK and another corner taken was headed wide.
68" An attempt by Tafea at Spirit's box was cleared by defense and Kaltak got red card for warning and previous cards.
72" Spirit's striking force and attacking are looking dangerous for Tafea and they could collapse the red's wall any minute.
76" Tafea missed another easy goal. They have step up their attacking and in ball possession the last few minutes.
80" Both teams hitting on each other but Tafea in ball possession at Spirits side. Few attempts have been denied by Spirit defense. Tafea could sent their ball in if Spirit 08 defense are not careful.
86" 4 minutes to go both teams have not made any attempts to score. 1-2 combination from Tafea's striking force could not penetrate Spirits' defense. Spirit working hard to break through Tafea defense, but the competition could end with 1-1 draw.
90" Now playing at injury time.

91" Final whistle. End of Game.

Tafea F.C. 1-1 Spirit 08

Spirit Line-up:
Carloz Buzetti (Coach),Seimata Chilia,Rexley,Tari,Robert,Ham,Jacque,Rodney,Ben,Rody
Davidson

Tafea Line-up:
Fredy Vava, Samson Obed,Frazer Maebule,Richard Iwai,Sibai Chris (GK) Reserve,Manley Tambe (Reserve),Michel Kaltak,Etienne Mermer,Sakama (Reserve),Alfred Malas (GK),Roger Joe,Namatak (Reserve)

Referees: Mahit Chilia, Alick Lukai