Futsal Solympics back in second
By Taromane Martin
KOOLINE futsal team remains top of the 2018 Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) national futsal league after their sixth win in the competition on Thursday.
Kooline defeated Koloale 2-1 in a pulsating match at the Multipurpose Hall to see them with 19 points on the competition table and also keep their undefeated run in the competition alive.
Atana Fa’arodo gave Kooline the lead after excellent team play with Dickson Ramo for their first goal.
Team captain Coleman Makau doubled the lead in the second half but saw Eddie Taevo pulling a goal back for Koloale from the set piece.
Taevo made matters worse for his after he was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Philip Maeta two minutes later.
The win puts Kooline back on top of the competition table after the Futsal Solympics temporarily jumped top of the table with 18 points, after defeating Mataks 5-2 in the 2pm match yesterday.
Futsal Solympics Head Coach Stanley Puirana was pleased with the three points but admitted his young side will need to work on their mental fitness and must learn to play as a unit.
“I’m pleased but not entirely. The boys played well together to set up our opening goals,” he told SunSPORTS yesterday.
“I think so far in this competition the concentration of the boys need to improve. Our discipline needs to also step up more.
“First half we dominated ball possession but attitude of selfishness and individuality let us down with our chances in the second half.
“But its good we identified this now than later so we can improve on it.
“With youth teams like this you not only have to work on their physicality but also on their mentality.
“I told the boys their mindset need to be focused and disciplined for our games because without discipline the results will eventually come out on the field.
“We’ll keep working and keep our head up for our remaining four matches,” he said.
Meanwhile Indo-Solo bagged their third SIPA Futsal League win after defeating a wasteful Real Kakamora side 4-2 yesterday.
Two goals from Iani and one each from Fred and John Indo-Solo was enough to cancel out Mona Sam first and second half goals for Real Kakamora.
The win Thursday sees Indo-Solo move up into sixth position with nine points after seven games played.
