The Vanuatu side shocked the majority of onlookers in the first round of 2011 O-League action by making light of their debut status and beating defending champions Hekari United 2-1 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Next on the agenda is another away trip to face Fiji’s Lautoka and the Port Vila-based side has every reason to be in a confident frame of mind. Lautoka have home advantage and will also fancy their chances after notching a 2-1 win over Koloale in their first match.
But Amicale are on a roll and followed up that surprise O-League success with a 5-2 win over Yatel in domestic competition the TVL Premier League.
Two goals each from Alick Maemae and Fenedy Masauvakalo, who also scored against Hekari, did most of the damage while Richard Garae also got on the scoresheet.
The Super Reds have now taken maximum points from their last four TVL matches and sit proudly at the top of the league.
“I have to commend my boys for the great job they have done,” coach William Malas says. “The only way Yatel could have made our lives difficult would have been if we had allowed them to.”
Experienced midfielder Stanley Waita believes the match acted as ideal preparation for the upcoming Lautoka clash.
“It was a very important victory for us because it puts us on the top of the table,” he says. “It was tough and we knew it would be hard because of the heat. But we managed to play our style of football and will continue to do so against Lautoka this weekend in Fiji.”
That style has a distinct Solomon Islands flavour. The Amicale squad includes seven players from the football-mad nation, including the likes of Alick Maemae and Jack Wetney, both of whom are bona fide heroes in their homeland.
Veteran Batram Suri also holds legendary status in the Solomons and is joined in the squad by younger brother Nelson Sale.
Such talent has made Lautoka boss Gurjit Singh wary ahead of the match.
“Amicale beat a strong side in Hekari and, with the services of top Solomon and Vanuatu players, will be a tough opposition for us,” he says. “They play a similar style of football to the Solomon teams with a lot of short passes. We will need to change our style of play, just like we did against Koloale.”
Amicale assistant coach Philemon John Mark has plenty of respect for Lautoka but sees no reason why the Super Reds can’t make it two O-League wins in a row.
“We know they have done very well in their recruitment over the off-season and they have also had a very good preparation,” he says. “But we have also prepared well. We may be new to the O-League but we are confident of giving them a good game.
“We will try to keep the ball, move it around and build the game to our game plan.”
The match takes place at Govind Park in Ba on Saturday from 3pm local time.
The squads are as follows:
Lautoka: 1. Parmesh PRASAD [GK], 2. Samuela KAUTOGA, 3. Alvin AVINESH, 4. Semesa NAKOSIA, 5. Marika ROBANADAVU, 6. Avindra NAIDU, 7. Valerio NAWATU, 8. Malakai WAQA, 9. Leone VURUKANIA, 10. Sanni ISSA, 11. Nahuel ARRARTE, 12. Kamal HASSAN, 13. Ilaitia TUILAU, 14. Shameel RAO, 15. Mathew MAYORA, 16. Jone VONO, 17. Niumaia TAGI, 22. James NICHOLAS [GK].
Coach: Gurjit SINGH

Amicale: 1. Ernest BONG [GK], 2. Stewart GARAELOTHI, 3. Young PAUL, 4. Selwyn ALA, 5. Richard ANISUA, 6. Nelson SALE, 7. Jean Robert YELOU, 8. Jerry SHEM, 9. Dereck MALAS, 10. Batram SURI, 11. Fenedy MASAUVAKALO, 14. Moffat DERAMOA, 15. Alphonse BONGNAIM, 17. Alick MAEMAE, 18. Richard GARAE, 19. Jack WETNEY, 20. Joel NAKAPUE, 25. Stanley WAITA.
Coach: William MALAS