OFC Pro League: Melbourne and Kings remain unbeaten

The first round of the OFC Pro League ended at the North Harbour Stadium in Albany on Saturday with a victory to South Melbourne and a draw for Solomon Kings, ensuring they kept their unbeaten runs intact.

Oceania club of the century South Melbourne thrashed Papua New Guinea's Hekari FC 5-0 to claim their second win and secure the maximum six points from two matches in the feature match of the day.

Earlier on Solomon Kings FC held Tahiti United to a 0-0 draw to claim a point and keep their unbeaten record as well.

Melbourne and the Kings join table toppers Auckland City as the three unbeaten teams in the league at the moment.

Tough one for Hekari

PNG Hekari FC assistant coach Jerry Allen said it was a tough game for them, but added they were hopeful the players would have learned a lot and move on in the competition.

"Very difficult for us on Sunday, a new thing to us," he said post-match.

"We [are] all new but we have time to learn. I do believe the players will learn from this game and also the first game.

"Now, we are looking forward to going back to Moresby and [reorganising] ourselves and I do believe we [are] gonna step up.'

He said while the weather and conditions affected the players, he did not want to use that as an excuse.

He added their future in the competition now depended on them as a team.

"When we go back to Moresby we will go back to the drawing board," he said, as the team have lost both matches so far. "We need to reset ourselves, organise ourselves."

Port Moresby will host the second round of matches.

South Melbourne FC head coach Sinisa Cohadzic said the results for them so far have been good, with more improvements still to come.

"Today we dominated the game but we always respect every single team we play and we were not good [in] the first game, and this game really made sure we [came] out with the real energy, and we [came] out with the right discipline to actually play well."

Captain Marco Jankovic said the conditions were challenging but they just focused on playing their game.

"To be honest the conditions were pretty much we get in winter and that's how we played our competition through the middle of winter.

"This week has been a challenge with all the rain …but for us it was about putting the conditions aside," he stated after the game.

South Melbourne led 3-0 at halftime.

It took just seven minutes for them to score two goals, with Tommy Giannakopoulos heading past Hekari keeper Dave Tomare from a Jack Painter-Andrews cross.

Then it was former A League player Jordan Swibel who scored through chesting the ball into the net with his chest from a Yuki Uchida delivery.

Just before halftime Max Mikkola added South Melbourne's third.

PNG Hekari FC guilty of leaving far too many gaps in their defense as Melbourne continued the pressure early in the second half.

Swibel scored his second before he was replaced and Bulgarian goalkeeper Ilia Shalamanov-Trenkova had to leave the field after a head knock just after the hour mark.

South Melbourne could have scored another one but Nahuel Bonada's shot from the penalty spot missed the target.

But their fifth goal of the night came minutes later when Bonada made amends for his earlier miss to find the back of the net in the 87th minute.

Kings keep hopes alive

The draw against Tahiti United means the Solomon Kings still have a chance of finishing in the top four at the end of the normal competition.

But that is still a long way to go, as coach Benjamin Cahn said it was disappointing for them not to get maximum points.

"We are a little bit disappointed that we only did not get the result, but performance was not where we expected it to be.

"It's a long journey we are on and this is very early. It's a good indication of where we are and how much we gotta do."

He said having to adjust their game schedules because of the game postponements due to the weather conditions that enveloped the North Island in the week was a challenge also.

But he added that was not an excuse.

"Our preparation was okay. Sometimes in football what happens is that sometimes it don't turn out for the day, but it's not doom and gloom."

Solomon Kings captain Phillip Mango said they just could not adapt to get the result they needed.

"The weather on Sunday was wet and not quick to move around. We tried to adapt, but it's football," he said.

Tahiti United coach Samuela Garcia thanked his players, while expressing his disappointment also.

"Overall it's a fair result, we are happy with the draw," he said. "We can see we don't have the consistency yet and that's something we can work on."

Tahiti were denied two goals because of offside, something Garcia said his players would have to work on, especially beating the offside traps.

"We had a plan and we tried to create opportunities but we missed the consistency," he added.

It was the first goalless draw of the OFC Pro League.

Cahn named the same starting side that beat PNG Hekari FC in their opener.

Tahiti's Garcia made one injury-enforced change to his 11, replacing Jackson Gardner with Teave Teamotuaitau in goal, following a heartbreaking late 2-1 defeat to South Melbourne FC six days prior.

The Kings' best moment of the first half came inside the first five minutes, but Gordon Iro's attempt was saved by Teamotuaitau.

Tahiti United captain Teaonui Tehau missed a golden chance when his attempt was cleared off the line by defender Javin Wae.

Tehau had beaten Kings goalie Phillip Mango, and then later had his ruled out in the 30th minute when he was ruled offside.

Then it was Germain Haewegene who was also ruled offside after he had netted the ball into the Kings' goalmouth.

The Kings also had their moments, but as their captain said post-match they just could not string their moves together and finish them off.

Solomon Kings FC leave Auckland undefeated with four points from their two games, whilst Tahiti United depart with just the solitary point.

Meanwhile, the second round of the OFC Pro League will be held in Port Moresby from 31 January to 8 February.

The first-day matches will see Tahiti United take on Vanuatu United while home team Hekari will face Auckland City at the Santos National Football Stadium.

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