JEAN NAKO INSPIRES TAFEA FC WIN

Two early second half goals by Jean Nako bumped Tafea FC up to first place in the Vanuatu Super 5 Series with a 3-0 win over Westtan Verts at the Port-Vila Municipal Stadium on Saturday

Soaring hot conditions forced a slow tempo to the start of the match until Westtan Verts FC nearly opened the score in 22nd minute when Jeffrey Tess took a rebound off keeper David Chilia but his shot was stopped on the line by Tafea Defender Freddy Vava.

Jeffry had another chance soon after but his second attempt, shot went straight at the Tafea goalkeeper.

Jean Nako settled the match early in the second half when his two strikes in five minutes killed off the Westtan Verts chances.  Nako scored his first goal straight from the kick-off when he tapped the ball inside the net after Samson Obed supplied him with a perfect cross. 

Five minutes later, after beating  three men on the edge of the box, the Man of the Match steered a right footed shot into the keepers’ left hand corner to score his second goal.

Etienne Mermer took advantage of a demoralised Westtan side to add a third goal in a perfect counter attack and sealed a victory for his side.

Tafea were by far the stronger side in the second half, and easily controlled the flow of the game.

“We were better in the second half but we wasted too many chances, We’ll have to work on that” said Tafea coach Graham Demas after the game.

With two wins in two matches Tafea is leading the Super 5 Series with 6 points.

In other matches Yatel FC swept to a 3-0 victory over Erakor Golden Star to move up to second place behind Tafea FC.

Yatel FC – playing in a brand new strip – boosted their chances of chasing a place in the final of the Super 5 Series by seeing off an Erakor Golden Star side who left out key players Yellou Robert, Ken Masauvakalo, Derek Malas and Jeffy Jessy.

From a bruising start, both sides had chances to open the scoring, but Erakor GS suffered a blow when defender and captain Samuel Kalros was sent-off for an altercation with his opponent Ricky Tari.

Peter Lency scored the opener in the 23rd minute when he headed in a free kick from Kaisson Maki and gave no chance to Erakor goalkeeper Ernst Bong.

At the beginning of the second half Yatel FC increased their lead in the first minute when Ricky Tari easily beat Ernst Bong with a left footed shot after receiving a cross from the unstoppable Remy Kency on the left side of the field.

Roger Joe capped off the scoring with a first rate free kick in the 66th minute of the game to seal a deserved win for Yatel FC.

Erakor Golden Star have struggled to regain their early form in the super 5 series after some impressive wins over Westtan Verts and a good performance against Tafea FC last week.  Erakor GS showed good fighting spirit but it was not sufficient to win this game.

Yatel FC is now in second place and are now looking in front of them for a final challenge with Tafea FC.

"I have to compliment my players as they played a great game, we’ve been making progress and our results are now backing that up. We need to finish this Super 5 Series strongly and reward our supporters with a place in the final” said Sammy Brown, the Assistant Manager of Yatel Football Club.

PVFA Super Five Series Standings