GOVIND PARK INVADED FOR FESTIVAL OF FOOTBALL

The 2006 OFC U-12 Festival of Football exploded into life with an array of colour and the sound of over 1,000 school children from over 30 local primary schools packed into Govind Park in Ba, Fiji for the first day of matches at the event.

Before a ball had been kicked the Festival participants entertained the vocal crowd one-after-another with their own cultural performances, standouts including Samoa and Vanuatu, before the action moved to the pitch with 12 matches completed on Match Day 1 of the football side of the Festival.

Fiji’s top side head the standings in Group A with two wins from two matches, closely followed by Vanuatu and New Zealand’s United Soccer 1 – who fought out an entertaining 1-all draw late in the day. Group B is more open with Canterbury, another New Zealand outfit, and the Solomon Islands locked in the lead with a win and a draw.

However, without doubt the real stars of the day were the youngsters who packed the pavilions of Govind Park renewing the friendships made the day before during the cultural exchange. Over 36 schools from Ba and nearby Lautoka and Tavua were in attendance and showed no real favouritism cheering all teams with equal vigor in the spirit of the competition.

The action continues on Saturday (22 July) with a further three matches played to conclude the group stage before the classification matches on Sunday. The Festival kicked off yesterday (Thursday 19 July) with a day full of cultural activities including the primary school visits and activities with Alliance Francaise.

Entrance to the Festival is free of charge for the remaining two match days.

2006 OFC U-12 Festival of Football

Govind Park

Ba, Fiji

20 – 23 July 2006

Results – Match Day 1 – Friday 21 July

Group A

SSPOM Torosel vs. Vanuatu (0 – 6)

United Soccer 1 vs. Samoa 1 (6 – 0)

Fiji 1 vs. Tahiti (1 – 0)

Vanuatu vs. United Soccer 1 (1 – 1)

Samoa 1 vs. Fiji 1 (0 – 4)

Tahiti vs. SSPOM Torosel (3 – 0)

Group B

Samoa 2 vs. Besta Kapul (0 – 0)

Fiji 2 vs. Solomon Islands (0 – 0)

Fiji 3 vs. Canterbury (0 – 2)

Besta Kapul vs. Fiji 2 (0 – 0)

Solomon Islands vs. Fiji 3 (4 – 0)

Canterbury vs. Samoa 2 (3 – 3)