| Sports |
PNG go down to Fijians in soccer
Fiji ruled the roost at the XIII
South Pacific Games as both the menís and womenís soccer teams
took top spot in their respective sections at J.S.Blatter
Football Field in Apia, Samoa, today.
The menís team put Tahiti to the sword 4-0 in clinical fashion
to set up a final day showdown for group supremacy against New
Caledonia. Osea Vakatalesau hit two, Pita Baleitoga one, and
Taniela Waqa a superb free kick to ensure Fiji stayed top of
Group A with a 100% record.
The womenís team enjoyed a victory of epic proportions when they
defeated gold medal favourites Papua New Guinea 1-0 thanks to a
goal from Kinisimere Vanua after 40 minutes. The win throws the
gold medal question wide open in the womenís football
tournament. Solomon Islands womenís team kept pace with the
front runners after they defeated American Samoa 3-0 thanks to
goals from Margaret Daudau, Diane Justus and Crystal Annie.
Elsewhere in the womenís competition, Tonga and Tahiti played
out a 0-0 draw in Group B to share the two semi-final berths
going into the final round next week in a dour and physical
encounter where yellow cards were the order of the day.
Also in Group B, Samoa womenís team toughed out a 2-0 win over
New Caledonia after losing Suitupe Tafafa to a red card after
just half an hour of their match under lights. Goals to Natalie
Brown and Semeatu Lemana were enough to guide the host nation to
victory with a vociferous home support behind them.
In the menís competition, Group A light weights Cook Islands and
Tuvalu fought out an intriguing contest with Teariki Miiteariki
scoring twice for his country before Steven Willis headed into
his net in the 83rd minute to make it 2-1 to Cook Islands. Late
goals from Thomas Le Mouton and Kunda Tom settled Cook Islands
nerves as Tim Jerks team moved up into third place needing just
a draw against struggling Tahiti to remain there after this 4-1
win.
In Group B, Solomon Islands won the battle for top spot after a
convincing 2-0 win over Vanuatu. Godwin Bebeu scored with an
extravagant back heel after 60 minutes when Commins Menapi cut a
ball back that Bebeu had appeared to over run before he cheekily
deceived Chikau Mansale in the Vanuatu goal with his sublime
piece of trickery. Henry Faíarodo added a second just four
minutes later to complete a fine day at the office for Airton
Andrioli and his team.
Tonga defeated American Samoa 4-0 to complete a miserable
tournament for the team from Pago Pago with two goals to Pio
Palu, Lafaele Moala and Kaisani Uhatahi completing a reasonable
day for coach Kilifi Uele.
In the next round of fixtures for womenís competitions tomorrow
PNG will meet Cook Islands, Solomon Islands will meet Fiji, New
Caledonia take on Tahiti and Tonga meet Samoa.
 
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