AS Pirae assistant coach Samuel Garcia hasn’t been shy about stating his intentions to take this side as far as possible in this competition, and they certainly made a strong start this afternoon.
Just one minute into the game Kiwi found themselves on the back-foot as Albert Bell brought down Pirae captain Marama Vahirua to find his the first name being added to New Caledonia referee Bertrand Billon’s book.
The resulting free kick was scrambled away from goal, but in the fifth minute Pirae were in the lead as Naea Bennett, who missed the first match due to his late arrival in Fiji, tapped in a delivery from Raimana Li Fung Kuee to reopen his OFC Champions League account.
Within a minute he had his second after rounding Kiwi goalkeeper Masi Toetu. Samoa followed up with a couple of efforts which didn’t trouble the Pirae, and Tahiti beach soccer team, goalkeeper Jonathan Torohia too much. With Pirae pumping in effort after effort, Toetu was called into action, but less than ten minutes in was looking sluggish after picking up a knock that troubled him throughout the half.
Bennett struck with his third goal on the 22nd minute mark as he slammed into the net from front and centre. Three minutes later it was former professional Vahirua who cut inside his marker before driving a low shot past Toetu. The fifth goal came 37 minutes through a Li Fung Kuee penalty, which was awarded after Andrew Setefano brought the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bronze Ball winner down in the box. Just as calmly as his penalty take, the Tahitian slotted home for his brace just before the close of the half.
The second period got underway in the same manner as the first but this time it was Pirae’s Augustin Dallera in line for the yellow. Despite some great chances, Pirae struggled to find the back of the net in the early stages and started to look a little shaky in defence as Kiwi broke through to get a number of shots off, and were it not for bad finishing could have nicked a couple of their own.
With a performance worthy of the man-of-the-match accolade were there one, Naea Bennett, put his name down for the Golden Boot as he knocked in his fourth in additional time.
An elated Pirae assistant coach Samuel Garcia says his side’s unity shone through in their on-field display.
“We really wanted to win and get a break in this match today, with all respect to Kiwi, we had to remain serious. We scored eight goals, in case of a bad result against Waitakere on Tuesday,” he says.
“We are very happy today, we weren’t pressed into calling too much on our reserves even in this heat, which made it difficult to play. We got a second victory and that’s what is important.”
Kiwi coach Martin Tamasese says his side found themselves incredibly frustrated out on the park today.
“We made a lot of mistake, it’s not an excuse. The second half was a bit tighter. I talked to the boys after the first match and said it was probably better to fall back and defend rather than attack which helped in the second half.”
The second encounter of the day was a thriller as Solomon Warriors kept the highly favoured Waitakere United side out for the majority of what was proved a highly thrilling match for spectators.
It was a fairly even start to the match as both sides took several minutes to settle into the match. Waitakere had better opportunities, with the Warriors defence doing an exceptionally good job to keep fellow countryman Benji Totori out of the action. Waitakere opted for a lot of long balls out of the defence looking for marksmen Totori and Sam French up front, but Warriors captain Hadisi Aengari along with Fred Fakari and Dennis Ifunaoa were alert to any advances.
On the other side, Micah Lea’alafah who was standout for the Warriors in their opener, combined well with veteran James Naka on several occasions to test not only the defence but also last year’s OFC Champions League Golden Glove winner Danny Robinson. Waitakere were forced to make an early change as Tim Myers looked to pick up an injury in the 14th minute and was replaced by Harshae Raniga, who more than proved his worth as the game wore on.
Lea’alafah and Naka continued to trouble the defence, with Judd Molea and Molis Gagame adding their input to the mix as they chased a goal. After some near misses at both ends, the cards finally fell favourably for the Solomon Island champions as Lea’alafah played off to Naka who blasted over a diving Robinson to rattle the net seconds before the break.
Waitakere needed to create something coming back in for the second period, but despite best efforts couldn’t find a way past Silas Seda or his backline – not to mention they were hampered by their own off-target efforts.
With the ball on the ground the Warriors almost appeared to dance their way around their opponents but like their counterparts, weren’t helped by an inability to finish with enough decent chances to lock the game up being squandered. Substitute Raniga did well to hamper Lea’alafah in the second spell as he followed the wily futsal international all over the pitch.
Waitakere heaped the pressure on as the clock ticked down, hoping to force an error from their opponent. After a series of corner efforts were sent long the New Zealanders finally got it right in the 86th minute when it was lofted just in front of the goal mouth for Seda to clear, but his failure to do so cost his side dearly as he fumbled it goalwards.
Level with one apiece, the two sides upped the intensity again, with Totori and Joel Stevens combining in search of a goal which would edge their side ahead. It never came and despite one final effort from Stevens the game finished out in a draw.
Clearly pleased with the effort from his side, Moses Toata says in the end it came down to being slightly more inexperienced than their opponents.
“I think we just lack the experience and were unable to hold on to the end. The boys did well today, they played according to the plan we worked on after the first game,” Toata says.
“The only thing is if we can hold it to the end – but we just ran out of gas I guess.”
A clearly disappointed Paul Temple says he knew it would be tough, but he’d hoped for a better result.
“It was a tough battle, we knew they’d be a tough team to play against as they’ve got good players and it was exactly as we expected it to be,” he says.
“I’m pleased that we showed the character to get the goal that I thought we deserved and at least got something from the game to keep us fighting in the competition.”
Tomorrow the final Group C matches will see Tafea FC take on AS Magenta at 1pm (local) before hosts Ba FC face-up to Hekari United at 4pm (local). Both matches will be played at Govind Park in Ba, Fiji.

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