2010 O-League Match Day 2 Preview

O-League action continues this weekend as Auckland City FC and Lautoka look to stay top of Group A and Group B respectively while the rest of the eight-team field play catch-up football.

Match Day Two kicks off on Saturday with the Group A clash between Waitakere United and Tahiti’s AS Manu Ura at Fred Taylor Park in Auckland. Both teams will be eager to put their previous matches behind them as the two-time champions Waitakere could only manage a 1-1 draw against AS Magenta and the Tahitians went down 0-5 to title holders Auckland City.

Roy Krishna and Vetea Tepa will both miss the game after receiving red cards in their respective first round matches while Waitakere player-coach Neil Emblen is still serving a carry-over suspension from last season. Waitakere will also be without their Young All Whites who have progressed to the second round at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria.

Crossing over to Papua New Guinea for Group B, Hekari United FC will host Fiji’s Lautoka on Saturday at Port Moresby Rugby League Stadium. Hekari fought hard for a 3-3 draw against Tafea FC in Port Vila on match day one and could leap-frog Lautoka into first place with a win on Saturday. David Muta, Kema Jack and Benjamin Mela all impressed during their first outing and will again be key players for the home side.

Lautoka will be full of confidence after a classy display in their debut O-League match beating Marist FC 3-1. The Fijians will be eager to consolidate their lead with a follow-up away result.

In the other Group B match, Marist have a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday with a second straight home match at Lawson Tama Stadium, this time against Vanuatu club champions Tafea FC. Coach Patrick Miniti is confident his side will bounce back from their first up defeat with the support of an empassioned home crowd likely to reach 15,000. The Solomon Islands have a strong O-League history to preserve after representatives Kossa FC and Koloale FC finished runners-up in the previous two editions.

Tafea FC meanwhile will go into the match hoping for maximum points to potentially go top of Group B. The team remains largely unchanged from the first round with only Hubert Nake left out of the travelling squad.

Finally it’s back to Auckland on Sunday for the Group A clash between Auckland City FC and AS Magenta. Former Waitakere striker Daniel Korivcic will be keen to add to his goal tally for Auckland after an impressive hat-trick against AS Manu Ura on Match Day One. The only change from that squad will be Paul Urlovic replaced by Grant Young who has recovered well from a hamstring injury.

AS Magenta will be without star midfielder Pierre Wajoka and Andre Sinedo who are both tied up with personal commitments while former Ligue 1 defender Benjamin Longue is under an injury cloud. Coming into the squad is former New Caledonian international Steeven Longue, brother to Benjamin, plus Theodore Kaudre and Albert Itrema

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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