Missed penalties and hard fought stalemates were the feature of the opening weekend of the 2009 O-League.
Waitakere City star signing Adriano Pimenta was the guilty party in their intercity derby with Auckland City when his penalty sailed high over the bar with his team trailing 2-1. Paul Seaman spared his blushes soon after when his equalizer made it 2-2, cancelling out an earlier double strike from Auckland’s Keryn Jordan.
In Fiji, Ba striker Ronald Lawrence missed his sides best chance of the match when he fired his penalty against the post during their 0-0 draw with Koloale FC.
It took a quality finish from Benjamin Totori to open the scoring on 21 minutes for 2008 O-League champions Waitakere United and it was a goal well worth the wait.
An intelligent threaded pass by Aaron Scott was laid off by Daniel Koprivcic for Totori who did well to keep the ball in play before speeding past American-born defender Matt Friel.
With almost nothing to aim at, Totori produced a thunderous shot from an acute angle low to Ross Nicholson’s right and into the net.
Auckland City FC defender Xavi Roca was stretchered off on 35 minutes after sustaining what looked to be a serious knee injury. The former Barcelona defender was replaced by Kiwitea Street favourite Keryn Jordan and the South African’s injection into the instantly made a difference.
Seconds after missing a gilt edge chance he made amends when he collected a defence splitting pass before rounding Richard Gillespie in the Waitakere goal to level the scores.
Jordan put City into the lead on 49 minutes with the goal of the game when he sped past Neil Emblen and Danny Hay and struck a powerful right foot volley from 24 metres out beyond a full-stretch Gillespie.
Jordan’s strike partner Grant Young passed up a great opportunity to put the match beyond Waitakere United when his left foot shot cannoned off the crossbar minutes later.
United made Auckland City FC pay for the lost chance when Friel was penalised for a foul on Koprivcic. Referee Peter O’Leary awarded the visitors a penalty only for mercurial midfielder Adriano Pimenta to fire the spot-kick high over the crossbar to the astonishment of the 1200-strong crowd.
The visitor’s agony was short-lived. Within seconds Waitakere United leveled when Koprivcic retrieved the ball and played a measured pass into the path of former Auckland City FC favourite Paul Seaman who hit a swerving right foot shot beyond Nicholson to make it 2-2.
A rejuvinated Ba squad will be ruing missed opportunities after their tense draw in Fiji.
Mid-way through the opening spell, Tiwa looked to have given the home side the opening advantage with a pile-driver from the edge of the area, only for the crossbar to come to Koloale’s rescue and terms to remain level.
Ba kicked on from this moment, and looked to have sealed an advantage for sure when Marlon Houkarawa brought down Pita Baleitoga in the area. To the home crowd’s disdain, striker Ronald Lawrence found nothing but the post from the resulting spot kick and the stalemate continued.
The miss seemed to spark frantic closing stages of the first half, to the point where an off-the-ball incident saw Fa’arodo brandished a red card after an altercation with Ronil Kumar.
The second half was a case of Koloale holding on for the draw, with Ramoni – by all accounts – the savior of the day for the visitors.
On several occasions the heroic Solomon Islands keeper was required to make notable saves from the menacing Pita Baleitoga, ever-present Tiwa, and talismanic Ronil Kumar.
Koloale have almost three weeks to prepare for their next O-League fixture, hosting Papua New Guinea qualifiers Hekari Souths United at 14H00 (SOL T) on the 22nd of November.
Ba’s next O-League fixture sees them away to Hekari Souths United in Port Moresby, at 14H00 (PNG T) on December the 13th.
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2009 O-League
Auckland City FC (1) 2 (14. Keryn JORDAN 45’, 48’)
Waitakere United (1) 2 (9. Benjamin TOTORI 21’, 8. Paul SEAMAN 73’)
Kiwitea Street
Auckland
New Zealand
Sunday 2 November 2008
Kick-off: 15h00
Attendance: 1200.
AKL: 1. Ross NICHOLSON; 2. Nelson SALE, 3. Matt FRIEL, 5. Matt WILLIAMS, 6. Ki-Hyung LEE, 8. Chad COOMBES, 10. Grant YOUNG (9. Paul URLOVIC 68’), 11. Alick MAEMAE (19. Salesh KUMAR 78’), 15. Ivan VICELICH ©, 20. Greg UHLMANN, 22. Xavi ROCA (14. Keryn JORDAN 34’)
Subtitutes Not Used:12. Jacob SPOONLEY [rgk], 24. Milos NIKOLIC.
Yellow Cards: 22. Xavi ROCA 18’, 3. Matt FRIEL 62’.
Red Cards: None.
Coach: Colin TUAA (NZL)
WAI: 1. Richard GILLESPIE; 3. Aaron SCOTT (4. Tim MYERS 75’), 5. Danny HAY ©, 9. Benjamin TOTORI, 10. Allan PEARCE (8. Paul SEAMAN 58′), 13. Daniel KOPRIVCIC (7. Daniel ELLENSOHN 77′), 15. Christopher BALE, 16. Neil EMBLEN, 17. Jake BUTLER, 18. Ian HOGG, 29. Adriano PIMENTA.
Subtitutes Not Used: 2. Jonathan PERRY, 14. Jeff CAMPBELL, 22. Daniel ROBINSON [rgk].
Yellow cards: 18. Ian HOGG 10’, 17. Jake BUTLER 84’
Red cards: None.
Coach: Chris MILICICH (NZL)
Referee: Peter O’LEARY (NZL)
Assistant Referee 1: Brent BEST (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Glen LOCHRIE (NZL)
4th official: Chris KERR (NZL)
Group A
Standings – 02.11.08
|
|
PL |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PTS |
GD |
|
| 1. |
Auckland City FC |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 2. |
Waitakere United |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 3. |
Port Vila Sharks |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2009 OFC O-LEAGUE
Group B
BA v KOLOALE FC
Govind Park
Ba
Fiji
Sunday 2 November 2008
Kick-off: 15H00 (FIJ T)
Attendance: 2,000
BA: 1. Jone SOROLO [gk]; 2. Avinesh SUWAMY; 5. Ronil KUMAR (8. Keni DOIDOI 75′); 6. Jone VESIKULA; 7. Tuimasi MANUCA; 10. Ronald LAWRENCE (9. Josaia BUKALIDI 61′); 11. Alvin SINGH; 12. Pita BALEITOGA (19. Shameel RAO 57′); 16. Malakai TIWA; 17. Malakai KAINIHEWE; 22. Kiniviliame TURAGALAILAI [c].
Cautions: 22. Kiniviliame TURAGALAILAI (58′); 7. Tuimasi MANUCA (80′).
Red Cards:
Substitutes not used: 3. Shalen LAL; 15. Mavileko NAKAMA; 20. Epeli CODRO [gk] 24. Rinal PRASAD.
Coach: Yogendra DUTT (FIJ)
KOL: 2. Welshman HOUKARAWA; 3. Jeffrey BULE (10. Ezra SALE 77′); 5. Richard ANISUA (13. Lency SAENI 90′) ; 6. Timothy JOE; 8. Peter TALOGA (15. Mostyn BEUI 67′); 14. Nicholas MURI; 16. Joses NAWO; 17. Marlon HOUKARAWA; 18. Henry KOTO; 19. Henry FA’ARODO; 20. Shadrack RAMONI [gk].
Cautions:
Red Cards: 19. Henry FA’ARODO (43′)
Substitutes not used: 1. Zantas KABINI [gk]; 11. Ian PAIA; 12. Oscar SARA; 24. Steven ANISI.
Coach: Luke EROI (SOL)
Referee: Lencie FRED (VAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tony MELTETAMAT (VAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael JOSEPH (VAN)
Fourth Official: Rakesh VARMAN (FIJ)
Group B – Standings
2 November 2008
|
|
PL |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PTS |
GD |
|
| 1. |
Ba |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 2. |
Koloal e FC |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 3. |
Hekari Souths United FC |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |