The Malaita men defended their 2008 championship title against darkhorse 2009 finalists Guadalcanal in emphatic fashion on Saturday. The star-studded team ran away with the trophy match 8-0 in front of a lively Lawson Tama crowd of 15,000 after a totally dominant performance.
Former Solomon Islands international striker Kidstone Billy opened scoring with a double strike inside of 20 minutes while Henry Fa’arodo and Alick Maemae added one more apiece for a 4-0 lead at the break.
A further four goals flowed in the second half as Malaita continued their complete dominance with Batram Suri securing the golden boot with his ninth strike of the tournament.
The other second half scorers included Nelson Sale and Judd Molea who finished off proceedings with a brace.
There was some consolation for Guadalcanal fans as the outstanding Frazer Maebule won the player of the tournament award.
The women’s grand final was far less one sided with Western Province making Malaita battle hard for their 1-0 win.
After a first half where both teams’ defences cancelled each other out, the scoreboard read 0-0 at halftime.
Malaita began to trouble Western keeper Gladys Bako early in the second half with some long range shots on goal but after another 45 minutes of resolute defending the score remained 0-0 at the close of normal time.
The first half of extra time saw a greater level of urgency from both teams but it was Malaita who finally found the deciding goal courtesy of striker Prudence Ifula.
Ifula turned into the box after a telling pass from the left flank and delayed her shot just long enough to fool the defence before firing past Bako for a 1-0 lead.
Encouraged by this hard earned breakthrough, Malaita began to play with greater confidence and missed a handful of chances to further extend the scoreline.
But at the end of the second period of extra time the final score remained 1-0 to Malaita.
Telekom Solomon Cup – Results
Men’s Competition – Saturday 28th November, 2009
Grand Final
Malaita 8-0 Guadalcanal
Women’s Competition – Friday 27 November, 2009
Grand Final
Malaita 1-0 Western Province
Courtesy of SIFF Media