The Telekom National Club Championships are underway in Honiara with the winner earning the honor of representing the Solomon Islands in the 2008/2009 O-League.

Kossa and Makuru have both made encouraging starts and the competition looks very tough.

Below are match reviews from the first three days of action.

 Day One – Saturday 24th May 2008

Match 1 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 2.00 pm

Kossa vs Landowner (5-0)

The current Telekom NCC champion scored five unanswered goals against the newcomers Landowner FC of Malaita. James Naka, Joe Luwi, Reginald Davani and Paul Wale all scored to wrap up a deserved victory. All the goals came in the first half. In the second half, Landowner came back strong and were able to shut down Kossa from scoring further goals.

The match was Davani’s final for his Kossa club. He left for Australia on Sunday to ply his trade with another club in Melbourne.

Davani expressed his intentions to return to Kossa if they qualify for O’ League again more over,

Match 2 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 4.00pm

Marist vs FK te Kokohale (1-1)

This was basically a repeat of their match in the same tournament in 2007. Again the Western Football Association Champion provided the spark through its striker Godwin Bebeu. He threatened early on before slotting home the first goal. Marist was fortunate to have scored the equalizer from the penalty spot, late in the second half to keep their hopes of qualifying alive.

Day Two – Monday 26th May 2008

Match 3 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 10.00am

Banika Bulls vs Vatu FC (0-0)

Banika Bulls represents the Central Shields Football Association and Vatu FC – Guadalcanal Football Association. The Bulls settled in quickly when match kicked off and provided the early spark. Could have grabbed an early lead through their most experienced player Silas Diau but Vatu defenders stood firm and repelled all their raids. Vatu also had their chances in both halves but poor finishing had cost them a win. In the end both teams settled for a draw.

Match 4 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 12.00noon

Koloale vs Fasi Roos (1-1)

As the champions of the DJ League Super 8 Challenge, Koloale was expected to have the upper hand in this match but it turned out, the little known Fasi Roos turned the heat on from the opening whistle. They invaded Koloale’s territory almost at will and made them look like beginners at times. It was evident from that match that Koloale simply ran out ideas and was fortunate to grab the equalizer injury time. Otherwise, it would have been a different story. Both teams had other chances which if scored would have separated them.

Match 5 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 2.00pm

Makuru vs Lagoon Brothers (7-1)

As anticipated, Makuru settled down the quickest and got into the score sheet not long after the match kicked off. Batram Suri and Alick Maemae combined sweetly with support from their entire team to demolish Lagoon Brothers of Western Football Association. It was quite obvious the gap that exists between some provincial clubs and those of Honiara in terms of their standard and style of play. Despite of that, the bonus for the provincial sides was they get good exposure from this competition.

Match 6 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 4.00pm

Uncles vs IC Rovers (4-1)

Uncles is another of the clubs representing the Honiara Football Association. A young side with a lot of young players, Uncles could only score four goals in that match. Three goals were scored by Ian Ngahugari who happens to come from Makira Province. The IC Rovers represents this province and Ian has always represented his province in previous national competitions. An intelligent player he had a brief stint in Fiji with Navua in 2007. He was a former national U17 player.

Day Three – Tuesday 27th May 2008

Match 7 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 12.00noon

 

IC Rovers vs FK te Kokohale (2-6)

Having played in the last match the day before, IC Rovers did not quite recover when they took the field for Day 3’s opening match against high flying FK te Kokohale of the Western Province which boasts the services of national striker Godwin Bebeu and National U23 striker Nathan Kera and former national U20 rep Lenson Bisili. By halftime, the scoreline was 3-2 in Kokohale’s favour. IC Rovers could not fight on and in the end conceded three further goals. The loss is a blow to their campaign – they stand a remote chance of qualifying in their group.

Match 8 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 2.00pm

Koloale vs Vatu (4-0)

Koloale came into this match with one aim and that is to win after it drew 1-1 with Fasi Roos of Malaita on Monday. It was full strength side that played Vatu. They had more chances that they did not utilize. Lency Saeni scored three of their goals while Richard Anisua scored one to revive their hope of qualifying. Vatu fought bravely and had good scoring opportunities but their forward players could not put them away.

Match 9 Played at Lawson Tama: Time: 4.00pm

Marist vs Kossa (0-5)

A sizeable crowd flocked to witness this final match at Lawson Tama. The clash of the two clubs has generated huge interests. Kossa lost twice when the two teams met in the DJ League – their most recent meeting was before Kossa traveled to Auckland for its away match with Waitakere FC. As anticipated, Kossa with the O’ League experience got into the scoresheet as early as the 7th minute through its nippy forward player Joe Luwi. He combined well with James Naka to demolish Marist. Luwi scored three of the five goals with Naka and Gideon the others. It was a sweet revenge for Kossa.

Progressive Table standing as at 28th May 2008  

Pool A

Pos.

Club P W D L GF GA GD Points
1 Kossa FC 2 2 10 0 10 6
2 Kokohale 2 1 1 7 3 4 4
3 Uncles FC 1 1 4 0 4 3
4 Marist FC 2 1 1 1 6 -5 1
5 Landowners 1 1 0 5 -5 0
6 IC Rovers 2 2 3 10 -7 0

Pool B

Pos.

Club P W D L GF GA GD Points
1 Koloale FC 2 1 1 5 1 4 4
2 Makuru FC 1 1 7 1 6 3
3 Vatu FC 3 2 1 0 4 -4 2
4 Fasi Roos 1 1 1 1 0 1
5 Banika Bulls 1 1 0 0 0 1
6 Lagoon Brothers 2 1 1 1 7 -6 1