The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has announced the draw for the 2009 O-League competition set to start in November which includes new teams from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

The six team tournament is split into two groups of three with Group A comprised of two time O-League champions Waitakere United (NZL), 2006 Oceania Club champions Auckland City (NZL) and Port Vila Sharks (VAN). Group B holds Fijian champions Ba alongside newcomers Koloale FC (SOL) and Hekari Souths United FC (PNG).

The tournament is set to kick off on 1 November 2008 when Waitakere United meet Auckland City in Auckland and Ba and Koloale FC meet in Fiji.

Hekari Souths United FC earned their place in the new competition after they won the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League and qualified for the three team O-League preliminary tournament. After the withdrawal of the representative clubs from Cook Islands and Tuvalu from the tournament Hekari won their spot in the 2009 O-League, at the expense of the bottom placed finisher from 2008 - AS Manu Ura (TAH).

Koloale replace 2008 O-League finalists Kossa FC as the Solomon Islands representatives after taking out the Solomon Island Football Federation (SIFF) National Club Championship earlier this year.

Port Vila Sharks will replace Tafea FC as the Vanuatu representative after beating them to the title in the Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) Fed Cup championship.

Waitakere United will enter the competition as favourites after securing back to back titles in 2007 and 2008. They will represent OFC at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan in December as a result of last year’s OFC Final aggregate win over Kossa FC.

Participating clubs in 2009 O-League
•                     Waitakere United   [NZL] Winner 2007/8 NZFC
•                     Auckland City FC   [NZL] Runner-up 2007/8 NZFC
•                     Koloale FC   [SOL] Winner 2008 SIFF National Club Championship
•                     Ba    [FIJ] Winner 2008 National League Round 1
•                     Port Vila Sharks   [VAN] Winner 2008 VFF Bred Cup
•                     Hekari Souths United FC  [PNG] Winner 2009 O-League Preliminary

Match Schedule for 2009 O-League Group Stage

HONIARA - Honiara Football Association’s DJ League Premier Division commenced yesterday with the spoils shared in the opening match between 2007 runners up Uncles FC and Hana FC.

Uncles came into the match with the favourite’s tag and started off brightly with their typical short passes and one two's but found it hard to break down a tough Hana defensive barricade.

It took them until the 34th minute of play before national Under 23 defender Hardis Aengari broke the deadlock when he was sent an overhead ball by maestro midfielder Judd Molea. He drew the Hana goalkeeper off his line, lobbed the ball over him before slamming it into the open goal.

Uncles however could not contain an enterprising Hana whose players were able to gel together in the second half and pushed forward in search of an equalizer.

It became obvious as the match wore on that players on both sides were tired. Despite of that, Hana kept up the pressure and were rewarded when Danny Rande slotted in the equalizer in the 87th minute of play.

Uncles defenders failed to clear a ball inside the six yards box and Rande grabbed the opportunity to find the back of the net and ensure his team leaves the field with a point in their opening fixture.

Meanwhile, Kossa will meet Sunbeam this afternoon but without their key striker James Naka who has joined another club Zome Mars for the current season.

Saint Teresa Primary School students Maria Lewavuni and Zareen Nisha have been guaranteed a spot in the Flying Arrows team which will participate in the Danone Nations Cup in France.

Lewavuni and Nisha are the only girls part of the champion Flying Arrows team preparing for the prestigious next month.

With the tournament rules requiring the participation of females in each team, both Lewavuni and Nisha have been automatically selected into the final 14-member squad barring any serious injury concerns before the team departs on Sunday.

Flying Arrows coach Farouk Janeman said 18 players are in the squad preparing for the trip.

"The tournament requires a female player on the field during the duration of any match," Janeman said.

"Both Maria and Zarin have been part of the team for sometime. They played in the Oceania playoffs in New Caledonia and have good soccer sense. They are confident playing along side their male team members."

Janeman has been forced to delay the final squad due to injury concerns.

Last week star central midfielder and captain Ravneet Chand sustained an ankle injury during training and is still recovering.

Janeman said they will play a few more games against club sides in Ba in the next few days before naming the final squad.

Flying Arrows qualified for the Danone Nations Cup after beating Auckland FC in the OFC Youth Festival final in Noumea in May.

The Danone Nations Cup, which is sponsored by soccer celebrity Zinedine Zidane, aims to develop a sense of team spirit and fair play amongst children.

Since its inception in 2000, the Danone Nations Cup has become the world's top football tournament for children in the 10-12 age group and is authorised by soccer's world governing body FIFA.

Solomon Bonito head coach, Jacob Moli  is not concerned about immediate results as he grooms a team that can compete in the next two years and produce positive results for Solomon Islands.

He uttered this sentiment when referring to the current squad he would be taking to Papua New Guinea for the second leg of the Wantok Cup next month.

Moli came under immense pressure to select some big names into the team for the tour but he was unmoved saying instead that his target is 2011.

“What I want is to have a strong team that can play as a unit in the next two years,” he added.

The Solomon Bonito have been schedule to play two friendly matches against PNG’s glamour club, Hekari United and PNG National team on September 17 and 20 respectively.

Moli last week said he would meet with his assistant coach and team manager at the weekend to finalise the team of 20 players.

There are a couple of notable omissions from the squad including former national defenders Nelson Sale and Mahlon Houkarawa.

“I named some big names including James Naka, Samson Takayama and others but they did not show commitment to training so that is why they were excluded."

According to Moli, those players are still members of the Bonito squad and they are welcome to attend future trainings.

The Bonito team are; Shadrack Ramoni (gk), Leon Lekezoto (gk), Timothy Joe (def), Eddie Ngaitin (def), Seni Ngava (def), Tome Faisi (def), Gideon Omokirio (def), Joe Manu (M/F), (M/F), Henry Koto (M/F), Richard Mama (M/F), Lency Saeni (Flanker), Gibson Daudau (Flanker), Paul Wale (Flanker), Hickley Rence (Flanker), Ezra Sale (FW), Joe Luwi (FW), Godwin Bebeu (FW) and Commins Menapi (FW). Non-travelling reserves are; Martin Ruhasia and Sam Maena.

RAROTONGA – Defending champions Tupapa FC flexed its muscles on the opening day of action at the Cook Islands Football Association (CIFA) Round Cup after a rousing 6-0 win over Matavera at the weekend.

The Tupapa club – or to use its full name Tupapa Maraerenga FC – boast a proud record in Cook Islands domestic football and are the only club from the tiny Oceania nation still in existence to appear at an Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) regional club competition back in 2001.

At that tournament in Papua New Guinea the plucky Cook Islanders recorded four straight defeats on their international bow losing to Tafea FC (0-9), PanSa (0-4), Titavi FC (0-2) and AS Venus (0-10) before they were awarded three points due to American Samoan champions PanSa fielding an ineligible player.

Despite the gap between Tupapa and the rest of the Oceanian field the champion Cook Island club continue to dominate its own territory and edged out Nikao Sokattak to lift last season’s CIFA Round Cup title.

Tupapa’s women’s team made it a double celebration last year lifting their title after pipping Aorangi to a League and Cup success thus giving the club an impressive three domestic trophies out of a possible four. Nikao Sokattak made up for its CIFA Round Cup disappointment by defeating Tupapa in the 2007 CIFA Cup Final.

This season Tupapa is expected to challenge strongly across the board for all the domestic trophies but could face a stern examination of its top-dog credentials by Takuvaine. Takuvaine began its 2008 CIFA Round Cup campaign with an equally impressive 6-0 win over Titikaveka and sit joint top with Tupapa.

Nikao Sokattak finished Match Day 1 in third place after a 3-1 victory over Avatiu.

In womens’ football there was a familiar pattern with Tupapa enjoying an easy 12-0 win over Matavera, Titikaveka were 3-0 winners over Takuvaine. In the days other match Nikao Sokattak womens’ team matched the club’s men with a 3-1 win over Avatiu.

COOK ISLANDS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (CIFA) Round Cup

Men

Standings – 23.08.08

Results: Tupapa 6, Matavera 0; Takuvaine 6, Titikaveka 0; Nikao Sokattak 3, Avatiu 1.

COOK <