After a disappointing loss on Match Day Five of the 2009 O-League, Koloale have three weeks to prepare for their crucial Group B decider against Fiji’s Ba at Lawson Tama on Saturday 28 March.
The 1-0 defeat at the weekend to Hekari Souths FC means they must win their final group match to progress to the home and away final of competition.
Koloale head coach, Luke Eroi was philosophical about their loss at the weekend saying poor finishing let them down.
He did not want to blame field conditions for the loss instead he admitted they threw everything into the match but just failed to convert their scoring opportunities.
“I think we had some really good chances and if we had put them away then we would have seen the match go our way but our two frontliners Nicholas Muri and Joses Nawo were unable to find their targets,” he said.
Eroi praised his midfielders and defenders for stopping Joachim Waroi and Hekari’s Fiji connection – Veresa Toma – from scoring.
He said it took one silly mistake to give Hekari the winning goal.
“Waroi was not in a good position to score. It was just unfortunate that he was brought down inside the box resulting in the penalty,” he added.
The Koloale coach said with the result at the weekend, their final match on March 28 against Ba becomes crucial and they must win it to progress because a draw would favour Hekari who are currently on 6 points.
“We cannot afford a draw because that would mean the end of our finals dream,” he added.
Training for the next three weeks will focus mainly on defence and finishing according to Eroi and he believes if his players work hard and stay focused they can definitely beat Fiji champions Ba.
Story courtesy of Solomon Islands Football Federation