OFC News

The laughter, fun, culture and football is on its way to Noumea.

Stade Pentecost and Stade Numa Daly will host the 3rd edition of the OFC Youth Festival and the scene is set for the biggest and best event yet.

Teams from around Oceania will gather in Noumea in a spirit of peace and cultural understanding at a football tournament where winning isn’t the most important element.

Erakor Primary School are making the trip from Vanuatu and their 14 strong squad is excited about a trip they will never forget.

Created in 1981 after the Independence, Erakor is the only bilingual primary school from Vanuatu. Erakor was established when two primary school’s merged - the French school created in 68 with the English school created in 1950.

Last year, Erakor School finished second in the national “together kids” tournament which has recently been dominated by Abuanga’s school from Pentecost.

The school plays and train on the close-by community field where Erakor’s Football Team also plays.

Erakor is coached by Willie Jacob who has coached teams of youths from Port Vila’s Amical FC Club. Last year, he also trained Tusker Futsall Club and the “Westtan Verts” FC club in Port Vila.

Jacob singled out Tony Kaltack, Jacky Ruben and Yvanah Kasso as key components of the Erakor machine.

Kaltack is a two footed offensive midfielder, while Ruben is a central defender and Kasso a midfielder who finished second in a national juggling competition.

The Erakor Village has been among the first villages to play football in Vanuatu around 1930. Today, Erakor’s club plays in the First League within the Port Vila Association Championship.  They won three times in Port Vila before Tafea FC dominated the domestic scene.

Erakor – Vanuatu

1. Kerry Kaltang
2. Tony Kaltack
3. Tonly Kalotang
4. Remy Kalsarap
5. Yvanah Kassou
6. Kenneth Godshem
7. Erickan Kalonuk
8. Kaltsev Kaltack
9. Menita Tasaruru

SUVA - NI-Vanuatu import Joseph Nimariau was the toast of the Suva side as they dumped Ba 2-1 in the New World National Football League at the National Stadium on Sunday.

The win saved Suva’s season and has seen the Whites qualify for the Super Six Series.

Suva joins Lautoka, Labasa, Nadi, Rewa and Ba in the Super Six while Navua has been relegated with Nadroga, Tavua and Nasinu to the Bottom Four.

In a match watched by more than 5000 fans, Nimariau and fellow Vanuatu rep Seimata Chillia took command of the Suva side.

Nimariau, who played his first match of the season in the 1-0 loss to Navua last week, showed he was getting to his best netted the winner in the 65th minute.

Suva's other goal came from Olympian Alvin Prasad after Ronald Lawrence had put Ba 1-0 in the first half.

Prasad scored on debut for Suva last year when they hosted Ba in the Champion versus Champion series.

His goal in the 46th minute gave Suva a 1-1 draw after trailing the match.

A through ball from Saimata Chilia caught the Ba defence napping and allowed Prasad to take goalkeeper Nicholas Lawrence on.

Running to the left post, he sneaked the ball past Lawrence on an angle.

"When I saw the ball in front me, I could see the net shaking. In my mind, I told myself that I needed to score," Prasad recalled.

"Before I went onto the field, I told the officials that I would score and I'm happy that I did.”

New Suva coach Allen Jesoni said his boys showed what they were capable of.

"Beating Ba is a great achievement. I'm sure the fans would be happy,” Jesoni said.

Ba coach Yogendra Dutt said his side's mistakes led to Suva's goals.

In other games played, Navua beat Nadroga 3-1.

Navua needed to win by at least five goals and hope that Suva lost to Ba but their win wasn’t enough.

Rajnesh Kumar (2) and Usaia Tadu scored the goals for Navua while veteran Pauliasi Gavidi scored for Nadroga.

Nasinu and Tavua got their first points of the season after playing out a 2-2 draw.

Nathan Kumar and Jone Serukalou scored for Nasinu before Tavua hit back with late goals through Sikeli Ralulu and Sakeasi Ravutabua.

Super Six Standings as of 5.5.08

Bottom Four Standings as of 5.5.08

Tafea FC has increased their lead atop the PVFA Super 5 Series after trashed Tupuji Imere FC 5-1 last Saturday at the Port-Vila Stadium.

It only took Francois Sakama seven minutes to grab the lead for Tafea when he collected a corner from Moise Poida and opened the score with a perfect diving header.

Tafea put the pressure on Tupuji early and added to their lead after 23 minutes when Moise Poida added a second goal , running through the defense after a good one-two- with Samson Obed and slotted the ball inside the net.

Four minutes later, Sakama scored his second goal of the day when his Free-kick was diverted by an opponent in the wall and gave no chance to Goalkeeper Mansale.

Jean Nako added a fourth goal at the 38 minutes in this first half and put Tafea FC in a comfortable position at the break.

Tupuji were reduced to 10 players in the second half after Kalsuru Matautava was sent-off for receiving his second yellow card.

Kalpy Serveux reduced the deficit in the 75th minute when he smashed a powerful shot past substitute keeper Chris Song.

But within minutes, Jacques Yaput replied, smashing a shot inside the penalty box that went straight to the back of the net and put the score at 5-1.

Tafea FC’s win has ensured the team to finish at the top position of the Super 5 Series Round Robin and has qualified for the final.

Despite Tupuji’s heavy loss, it still has a remote mathematical chance of making it to the Super 5 series Final if it beats Erakor GS FC and Westtan Verts FC and Yatel FC lose against Tafea FC.

All of these predictions are yet to be decided as the games gets more interesting and tougher.

In other action Westtan Verts FC and Yatel FC fought out a 1-1 draw which has killed off Westtan’s chances in the Super 5 series.

Yatel FC started the game sharply with Brian Melar and Ricky Tari determined to gain an extra three points out of the game to push for a position at the top.

Westtan opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Noel Stephen headed a rebound under the Yatel Keeper and into the back of the net.

Yatel’s Midfield - led by national midfielders Kaison Maki and Sitty Thompson managed to adjust to the early deificit and delivered some good balls to Brian Melar who did not make good use of the opportunities given.

Jeffrey Tess had a golden opportunity to increase the lead for Westtan in the second half but hit his shot straight at the keeper in a one on one situation.

Yatel equalized in the 75th minute when Remy Kency slotted an easy rebound past the advancing Westtan keeper.

Yatel pushed hard in the last 15 minutes through Remy Kency and Victor Malep but could not add to the score and the match finished 1-1.

With the result Westtan is now out of the Super 5 Series while Yatel still maintains the second place behind Tafea FC in the current standings.

The result makes things difficult for Yatel as they must now overcome Tafea FC to win the lucrative 200,000 cash price for the tournament. 

Tupuji and Erakor FC also still have a chance to qualify for the finals as they both have outstanding games yet to play.

As the tournaments draws towards the final matches, it will be very interesting to see which of the three teams, Yatel FC, Erakor FC and Tupuji Imere FC, will qualify to join Tafea in the Final. Tafea currently enjoy a 9 points lead at the top of the table.

A much improved performance from Mitchelton FC was not enough to overcome league leaders Rochedale Rovers on Saturday night.

Rochedale found themselves 2-0 up at halftime and were on cruise control until Mitchelton staged a spirited second half fight back.

Fenedy Mausavakalo and man of the match Richard Iwai proved a handful for the Rochedale defence all night and were unlucky not to pull a goal back from their side.  Midway through the second half Fenedy played a beautiful through ball for Iwai who struck a fierce shot on goal only to have his shot hit one post, fly across the goal and hit the other post before coming back out to the Rochedale defender to clear.
 
With twenty minutes to go, Fenedy Mausavakalo sent the Mitchelton supporters into raptures when he received the ball wide on the left hand side, beat three defenders and hit a stunning shot from 30 metres that exploded into the back of the net. 

The home crowd and players went wild with joy and Fenedy also enjoyed the celebration.

Mitchelton dominated the later stages of the game but couldn’t equalize.  The Mitchelton team was pleased with the result as in the previous two games against Rochedale this season, they were beaten 8-0 and 9-0.

Mitchelton’s next game is in two weeks time against Brisbane Wolves.

Rochedale coach Kieran Cooper was surprised with the improvement from Mitchelton, who are yet to win a game after eight rounds.

“We beat them 9-0 in the Premier Cup last week but they changed their tactics. Tactically they did very well in defence and we were fairly comfortable until they scored. It was a bit scary after that. If they keep playing like that Mitchelton will soon get some good results and will start beating teams.”

AUCKLAND - The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) U-12 Festival of Football has undergone a revamp and namechange for the third edition of the popular competition and will now be called the OFC Youth Festival to illustrate the cultural and educational element of the tournament.

Fiji hosted the first ever OFC Youth Festival back in 2006 with under twelve boys teams playing football at Churchill Park, Lautoka, and experiencing the cultures and language of the hosts and fellow participants. The relationships and friendships built would be one of the enduring memories of the competition as local schools "adopted" a visiting team for the duration of the tournament.

Visiting teams were welcomed by local schools and cultural exchanges were made including song and dance indicative of the part of Oceania each respective team came from.

On the pitch the action was intense but the spirit of Fair Play prevailed as the teams competed for the right to go to the Danone Nations Cup at the Stade Gerland, Lyon, France, 2006. New Zealand team United Soccer 1 won the OFC U-12 Festival of Football and took part in the then 32 team format in France playing teams from France and South Africa to name but two.

In 2007 it was Papua New Guinea's turn to host the tournament thanks to help from the French Government and its France Co-Operation programme. The French Ambassador to Papua New Guinea Mr. Patrick Boursin signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding with OFC to provide funding that offset the costs involved for teams travelling to Port Moresby.

On the pitch it was Saint Joseph's School from Port Vila that prevailed at the OFC U-12 Festival of Football - Port Moresby 2007 with New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and New Zealand all finishing hot on their heels. Vanuatu's adventure continued at the Danone Nations Cup where it finished 20th out of 40 competing teams including wins over Germany and Switzerland.

This year's OFC Youth Festival cultural component begins on May 28th, 2008 with the football tournament kick-off scheduled for May 29th. The tournament concludes at Stade Numa Daly on May 31st as a curtain raiser event to the Christian Karembeu XI vs. France '98 XI match featuring such wonderful names as Lifou-born FIFA World Cup winner Christian Karembeu, Zinedine Zidane and Fabien Barthez amongst others.

FIFA President Joesph S. Blatter will be attendance after inaugurating the New Caledonia Goal Project at Paita earlier that day capping off an exciting star-studded day for the Oceanian youngsters.

The OFC Congress is scheduled for June 1st, 2008.

Four players from "Les Cagous" at Ward Strip School, Port Moresby, 2007.

Hundreds of youngsters sit patiently awaiting the arrival of the Solomon Islands team in Port Moresby

The cover of last year's tournament programme featuring smiling faces from the OFC U-12 Festival in Fiji 2006

OFC President/FIFA Vice-President Reynald Temarii watches on as Solomon Islands team arrives

School children at Port Moresby Stadium celebrate a goal

New Caledonia and Vanuatu share the adulation of 8,000 fans on the final match day last year

CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING: A young girl from Papua New Guinea in traditional garb welcomes the teams

OFC Media interview a New Caledonia player during the educational element of the tournament in Port Moresby

Two early second half goals by Jean Nako bumped Tafea FC up to first place in the Vanuatu Super 5 Series with a 3-0 win over Westtan Verts at the Port-Vila Municipal Stadium on Saturday

Soaring hot conditions forced a slow tempo to the start of the match until Westtan Verts FC nearly opened the score in 22nd minute when Jeffrey Tess took a rebound off keeper David Chilia but his shot was stopped on the line by Tafea Defender Freddy Vava.

Jeffry had another chance soon after but his second attempt, shot went straight at the Tafea goalkeeper.

Jean Nako settled the match early in the second half when his two strikes in five minutes killed off the Westtan Verts chances.  Nako scored his first goal straight from the kick-off when he tapped the ball inside the net after Samson Obed supplied him with a perfect cross. 

Five minutes later, after beating  three men on the edge of the box, the Man of the Match steered a right footed shot into the keepers' left hand corner to score his second goal.

Etienne Mermer took advantage of a demoralised Westtan side to add a third goal in a perfect counter attack and sealed a victory for his side.

Tafea were by far the stronger side in the second half, and easily controlled the flow of the game.

“We were better in the second half but we wasted too many chances, We’ll have to work on that” said Tafea coach Graham Demas after the game.

With two wins in two matches Tafea is leading the Super 5 Series with 6 points.

In other matches Yatel FC swept to a 3-0 victory over Erakor Golden Star to move up to second place behind Tafea FC.

Yatel FC – playing in a brand new strip - boosted their chances of chasing a place in the final of the Super 5 Series by seeing off an Erakor Golden Star side who left out key players Yellou Robert, Ken Masauvakalo, Derek Malas and Jeffy Jessy.

From a bruising start, both sides had chances to open the scoring, but Erakor GS suffered a blow when defender and captain Samuel Kalros was sent-off for an altercation with his opponent Ricky Tari.

Peter Lency scored the opener in the 23rd minute when he headed in a free kick from Kaisson Maki and gave no chance to Erakor goalkeeper Ernst Bong.

At the beginning of the second half Yatel FC increased their lead in the first minute when Ricky Tari easily beat Ernst Bong with a left footed shot after receiving a cross from the unstoppable Remy Kency on the left side of the field.

Roger Joe capped off the scoring with a first rate free kick in the 66th minute of the game to seal a deserved win for Yatel FC.

Erakor Golden Star have struggled to regain their early form in the super 5 series after some impressive wins over Westtan Verts and a good performance against Tafea FC last week.  Erakor GS showed good fighting spirit but it was not sufficient to win this game.

Yatel FC is now in second place and are now looking in front of them for a final challenge with Tafea FC.

"I have to compliment my players as they played a great game, we've been making progress and our results are now backing that up. We need to finish this Super 5 Series strongly and reward our supporters with a place in the final” said Sammy Brown, the Assistant Manager of Yatel Football Club.

PVFA Super Five Series Standings