Lotoha’apai United of Tonga kept themselves in the running with a comprehensive 4-1 undoing of American Samoa club champions FC Samoan Korean Baptist Church as the OFC Champions League Preliminary continued today.
The second encounter of the day saw Samoa club champions Lupe Ole Soaga secure their place in the standings after beating Puaikura FC of Cook Islands 3-2 in an edge-of-the-seat encounter.
After losing their opening match to the hosts, Lotoha’apai United were keen to avoid the same mistakes against FC SKBC.
“I’m very happy,” coach Fetu’u Vea said at the final whistle.
“It’s a miracle. I think what we displayed on Tuesday was totally different to what we displayed today. What I expected them to do was not there, but today they really met my expectations.”
They got the break they needed inside the first five minutes when referee Amos Anio of Papua New Guinea pointed to the spot after Lafaele Moala was brought down in the box. Captain Mark Uhatahi stepped up and fired left of goalkeeper Richard Donovan to open the scoring.
FC SKBC made some great breaks forward in an effort to pull themselves back into the match and had some decent chances, but they struggled with their finishing. One of their best efforts of the first half was courtesy of a combination attack between Melfi Alshehri, Sam Kome and Sinisa Tua, whose shot ricocheted back into play off the upright.
But it was the Tongan champions who next found the net when a corner was whipped in and met by Samisoni Mafi who volleyed home at the back post.
After the break Lotoha’apai continued to press forward, looking to extend their lead and bury the match. In the 56th minute they got their break as Timote Maamaloa took his side up 3-0. The side’s fourth came with just over 10 minutes to go when Mark Uhatahi once again converted from the spot.
Two minutes later FC SKBC got a much deserved goal of their own as Gun Kang tapped past Sione Faupula between the sticks. It was little consolation for the side which despite their best efforts going forward, struggled to effectively penetrate the Lotoha’apai back line.
It was a hard day in the office for FC SKBC coach Rishi Prakesh who believes his side struggled against the physical game their opponents played.
“They played very good but they couldn’t handle the physical way Tonga played, that was our first mistake,” he said.
“The team did a good job but when the referee gave the penalty so early in the match which was a big problem for us.”
In the late match host club Lupe Ole Soaga took on Puaikura of Cook Islands and it was action stations from the opening whistle, right to the end.
Testing their opponent early seemed to be the game plan from early on as both sides popped off a couple of warning shots. The first fatal effort came in favour of the hosts as Silao Malo volleyed over a diving Stevan Dujakovic in the eighth minute, much to the local crowds’ delight.
Puaikura didn’t waste any time in launching their comeback when just one minute later Jarvis Aperau delivered a short lob into the box for Stuart Kelly to fire past Ted Sivoki. They then took the lead in the 10th minute when Dwayne Tiputoa blasted an effort from outside the box to beat Sivoki for the second time in a short space of time.
With everything on the line, both sides threw their all at the game forcing temperatures to rise as the physicality got the better of some players at times. Lupe put the ball in the back of the net in the 34th minute but the celebrations were short lived as the players noticed the assistant referee’s raised flag.
A string of shots were fired at the Lupe goal as the first half neared the close, all of them off target, before the final action of the half resulted in a Lupe equaliser. Silao Malo beat around his marker before shooting low and hard to lock the two sides on 2-2 at the break.
Puaikura made two early substitutions taking hardworking, and fast-tiring duo Jarvis Aperau and Dwayne Tiputoa off, replacing them with Tarik Kafedzic and Avinesh Chand.
With the crowd on their side, and their opponents fading fast, Lupe Ole Soaga upped the assault on the visitors goal with Dujakovic forced to make several crucial saves to deny the winner.
But with Lupe pressing high and winning the majority of loose balls, a third goal was almost expected. The winner came courtesy of Samoan international Andrew Setefano who headed down a corner in the 75th minute to give his side the advantage.
Paul Ualesi was incredibly happy his side were able to come back after the highs and lows of the first ten minutes of the encounter.
“Those first ten minutes were a shock. I was so happy for the first time when we scored but the next minute the recovery from the Cook Islands team was so fast,” he explained.
“The boys were really relaxed and we conceded two quick goals. At half time I approached the boys to stick to the team plan, to push them to play according to that game plan which they did in the second half.”
Puaikura coach Tuka Tisam said both sides performed valiantly but luck just wasn’t on the side of his outfit tonight.
“It was really tough as both teams have quality players. We thought we got the lead and had the win but their side deserved to win tonight,” he said.
“When we took the lead we were still looking to attack, keep pressing to get a goal because it wasn’t safe with a 2-1 lead.”
Lupe Ole Soaga currently lead the standings with six points thanks to their two wins. They are followed by Lotoha’apai United on three points with a win and a loss, while both Puaikura FC and FC SKBC sit on a point apiece after a draw and a loss each.
The final day of play in the 2015 OFC Champions League Preliminary takes place on Saturday with Puaikura FC of Cook Islands taking on Lotoha’apai United of Tonga at 3pm. The competition will conclude with local club champions Lupe Ole Soaga taking on the champions of neighbouring American Samoa, FC Samoan Korean Baptist Church, at 5.30pm.
All matches are being played at J.S. Blatter Football Complex in Apia, Samoa, the winner of this tournament will progress to the Group Stage of the 2015 OFC Champions League.