The Multi-purpose hall in Honiara, Solomon Islands will be packed to the rafters this afternoon as the final day of the SIPA Futsal League 2019 gets underway, with the winner set to book their tickets to the inaugural OFC Futsal Champions League.
Kooline and Marist are currently locked in a battle for top-spot with the two teams on 18 points apiece, however with 17 and 16 points respectively, KF Gold and Mataks are ready to pounce should the results go their way.
Kooline coach Stanley Puiarana is optimistic about his sides chances and believes they’re in a good position to get the job done this afternoon.
“We were so close to experiencing a second defeat against Koloale on Wednesday,” he said of the mid-week clash his side eventually won 4-3, “but credit to my boys who dug in deep to earn a victory and keep our hopes alive.
“The last match will be crucial for us to see if we will win the league since Marist is also in the race.”
Puiarana’s side will need to beat bottom three side Joma FC by a good margin to remain in with a chance of winning the league.
“The boys know what we need to do against Joma in order to win the league, despite what the result might be between Marist and Mataks in their final match. We need to score goals against Joma to ensure a good goal average and hope Marist either lose, or win by a small margin,” he said.
The defending champions Marist are keen to retain their title and earn the chance to represent Solomon Islands and the new regional club competition for futsal.
Marist captain Elliot Ragomo is no stranger to getting results in big matches and his experience will be crucial when his side take on the fourth-placed Mataks.
“Marist chance of winning the league will be decided on Saturday, which depends on Kooline’s results and our results with points and goals to decide.
“Mataks is a quality team, our main aim is to be very competitive, play fairly and get a good result,” Ragomo stated.