Melbourne Reds U11 Boys have taken out the Victorian State Futsal Title for the 2nd year in a row. The young Futsal players battled through 2 days of tough competition in the annual championships, held at Warrnambool Stadium on July 6th & 7th.

Following the group stage, The Reds ended up in a quarter final showdown against their female counterparts, Melbourne Reds Flames. Our U12 Girls team had competed in the 2nd U11 Boys group due to a lack of girls teams entering the competition. It was an unfortunate circumstance for both teams to meet in a knock out round and the Girls did extremely well, finishing 2nd in their group.

This led to a semi-final against the St Albans Strikers. Both teams played an attacking brand of Futsal, however The Reds held their shape in defense and managed to overcome St Albans with effective counter attacks and good possession.

The final saw The Reds pitted against the boys from Monash. The opposition drew first blood, which was enough to spark The Reds into action. A wonderful display of Futsal ensured with both teams giving their best efforts. Melbourne Reds ran out worthy winners with a final score line of 5 – 2.

Congratulations to the City of Warrnambool and the FFV for hosting a very enjoyable and friendly tournament. It was great to see so many teams from regional Victoria take part in the competition and support the continual growth of the sport.

Benchwarmers after their third attempt finally take home the gold medal.

Coach Mick Murnane was very proud of his team that won the u14 state futsal club championship last Tuesday. The boys first came together in 2007 and made the quarter finals only. In 2008 the team was knocked out in the qualifying round by the eventual winners Australian Futsal Group. This year was their year and after qualifying first in the group stage won their semifinal 8-2 against Cobras FC and lined up against St Albans Strikers FC for the grand final. The boys played very well and came out victors with a 6-2 score. The boys normally play competition with VFFC and St Albans Strikers.

Team: Jordan Brown, Dylan Murnane, Ryan Schille, James Burrafato, Jacob Attard, Patrick Karas, Andrew Burrafato

Teams need specialist Futsal players at the national level, Win In Oceania Futsal project manager Scott Gilligan says.

After checking out the Futsal set-up in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, Gilligan said Fiji lacked proper development of the code.

He said the absence of a healthy domestic competition was a major reason for the national team’s continued struggle in the code.

While the Fiji team for the 2009 OFC Futsal Championship is dominated by seasoned football players, Gilligan warned the practice was obsolete and must stop.

“Football and futsal – the way you control the ball is different. With football players use the side of the foot and with futsal, it’s the sole of the foot because of the surface and space.”

He said the code’s pace and players’ agility requirement were different as well.

“By age 16, players need to decide if they want to play futsal or football. We need to separate the codes,” Gilligan said.

“Futsal is complimentary to football.

“The focus should be on getting futsal into schools as it’s the best development tool for football.

“It should start in primary schools with those in the 6-12 year-old category.

“By 12 they need to be introduced to football and at high school there should be a link between the two,” he said.

Despite futsal being over a decade old in Fiji, the code remains largely concentrated in Suva, with just two or three competitions played annually.

“New Caledonia has a good strong national league of 36 teams playing in respective divisions with top eight teams coming together for a play-off.

“They used to start their season in February and finish in November.

“Next year it will run from August to May,” Gilligan said.

“Tahiti has a super league and 27 leagues played all over the country including nearby islands.

“Their season runs from July to December.

“Solomon Islands have a nine-month long season. They have 13 leagues played all over the country. “The problem is they only have one court there and all sports use it as well,” he said.

The under 15/16 Boys Final was a classic encounter, with the Strikers sealing a 5-4 victory against the Victorian Lions.

It’s been a successful last couple of weeks for St Albans Strikers’ coach Rob Lakovski, after also leading St Albans Secondary College to two titles in the State School Futsal Championships late last month.

Cobras Futsal Club gave up a strong fight to finish the highest placed under 15 Boys team in the combined under 15 and under 16 age category.

Overall it was a very successful competition for the St Albans Strikers, after closely losing three semi finals and losing out 6-2 in the under 14 Boys Grand Final to an impressive Benchwarmers side.

In the under 13 Boys category, South Melbourne JFC were too strong for the Melbourne Futsal League Champions, Australian Futsal Group, with a 4-1 win.

Sandringham WSC bounced back after several early injuries to make the under 12 Boys final, but couldn’t overcome an energetic Australian BSA team who ran out 10-3 winners.

A strong crowd on the Show Court witnessed the Melbourne Reds team clinch the under 11 Boys crown with a 5-2 win over Monash City JFC.

FFV Business Development Manager, Chris Ryan, was delighted to see involvement from regional Victorian clubs.

“To see strong teams from Woodend and Warrnambool in the younger age categories and participating from Camperdown is really encouraging,” Mr Ryan said.

“Hopefully, events like this can be the catalyst for Futsal development in regions dominated by other sports.”

The Solomon Islands have defended their Oceania Futsal title with an 8-1 win over host nation Fiji in the final at the OFC Championship in Suva tonight.

It was another goal fest for the Solomons who took their over-all tournament ledger to 31 goals scored, seven goals conceded in four matches.

Tournament golden boot leader Micah Lea’alafa sealed his status as the championship’s Golden Boot winner by scoring two goals in the final to take his tournament haul to nine goals, two ahead of nearest rival – and teammate – Jack Wetney who also scored a pair in the final.

And it was Lea’alafa opened the goal scoring account for his team on six minutes with a powerful shot that deflection off of a Fijian defender and bamboozled the unsighted Simione Moce Tamanisau.

On eleven minutes a clever long lofted chip pass from James Egeta found teammate Jenan Kapu unmarked and he side stepped the onrushing Tamanisau and walked the ball into the Fijian net.

Just shy of the quarter hour Elliot Ragomo set-up Wetney for a simple finish after a weaving run down the sideline.

On 17 minutes Tamanisau was able to exact some audacious revenge with a long range chip shot from just outside his own circle that caught his opposite, Solomon’s keeper Alick Lioka, off his line.

But it was a brief respite for Fiji as the Kurukuru continued to soar; Fiji’s sixth foul gave Ragomo the chance to score from an unopposed free kick and he made no mistake and on 19 minutes another foul and free kick saw the Solomons reach 5-1.

The second half didn’t get any easier for Fiji as they lost Aisea Dauivalu Codro to a red card for a deliberate handball inside his defensive circle. James Egeta stepped up to score his first of the match.

Fiji defended with desperate intensity for the remainder of the match but were unable to prevent a further two goals to Wetney and Lea’alafa.

Fiji: 1. Simione Moce TAMANISAU (GK) ; 3. Sandeep NAIR ; 8. Asiea Dauivalu CODRO ; 9. Kamal HASSAN ; 10. Uraia Raimulo LOKI ;

SUBS: 2. Mira SAHIB ; 4. Dinesh Chand MUDALIAR ; 5. Shivam NATHAN; 6. Mohammed SHALMEEN; 11. Christopher Junior KUMAR; 12. Emori RAGATA (GK)

Goal: Simione Moce TAMANISAU 16′

Coach: Imtiaz KHAN (FIJI)

Solomon Islands: 1. Alick LIOKA (GK); 3. Elliot RAGOMO; 7. James EGETA; 9. Micah LEA’ALAFA; 12. Jack WETNEY;

SUBS: 2. Philip HOUTARAU; 4. Jenan KAPU; 6. Moffat SIKWA’AE; 8. Francis LAFAI; 10. Stanley PUAIRANA; 11. Ron GINIO; 22. Paul HUIA (GK)

Goals: Micah LEA’ALAFA 13′, 39′; 4. Jenan KAPU 11′; Jack WETNEY 14′,32; 3. Elliot RAGOMO 14′, 19′; James EGETA 23′;

Coach: Dickson KADAU (SOL)

The much awaited final of the 2009 Oceania Football Confederation FUTSAL Championship has kicked off at the Vodafone Arena in Suva between host nation Fiji and top guns, the Solomon Islands.

The Kurukurus will not lack support tonight as they have a huge backing from the Solomon Islands community currently residing in Fiji and attending the various tertiary institutes in the central division.

The Solo boys beat Fiji 5-3 in the round robin competition and will be out to maintain their fine form in the week long tourney while the Fijians are gunning for an upset win and their first title win in the abbreviated code of football.

2nd minute update
Both teams are taking a cautious approach and trying to build play within their own territory. Possession so far is equally shared.

5th minute update
Micah Lea’alafa has opened the scoring for the Kurukuru after connecting well with Ragomo.

9th minute update
Fiji goalie makes two grand saves to keep the scorline intact. Fiji’s Mudaliar is shown the first yellow card of the match. The Solomons bench has called for a time out (break). Play resumes.

11th minute update
A mistake by Fiji keeper Simione Tamanisau who ran out of his goal has seen Jenan Kapu extend Solos lead to 2-0.

15th minute update
Another mistake by the Fiji players sees Jack Wetney sneak in with the third goal for the Solomon Islands.

17th minute update
Fiji goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau has pulled one back after lobbing a long ball over Alick Lioka. Ragomo converts a penalty to extend solos lead to 4-1

Halftime update
Fiji players have committed foul after foul which has seen Ragomo convert one more penalty to give the Kurukuru a commanding 5-1 lead at halftime.

Halftime score: Solomon Islands 5-1 Fiji

The second has commenced with the Kurukurus attacking on the Fiji goalmouth.

25th minute update
Fiji defender Aisea is shown a red card for handling the ball in his goal area. James Egeta converts the penalty to put the Solos up by 6-1.

30th minute update
Fiji is putting the pressure but is unable to go past the Kurukuru defence. Fiji has replaced its goalkeeper and Solos have also changed their goalkeeper.

35th minute update
Replacement Fiji goalie Emori Ragata makes a couple of good saves to deny the Solo boys their seventh goal as we head into the last five minutes of the game.

39th minute update
Jack Wetney has scored Solomon Islands 7th goal through his individual brilliance.

Normal time has elapsed and we are now in referees time. Stoppages for court mobbing, injuries and so on are taken into account.

Current score: Solomon Islands 7-1 Fiji

The teams:
Fiji- Simione Tamanisau, Mira Sahib, Sandeep Nair, Dinesh Mudaliar, Shivam Nathan, Mohammed Shalmeen, Aisea Codro, Kamal Hassan, Uraia Loki, Christopher Kumar, Emori Ragata.

Solomon Islands- Alick Lioka, Philip Houtarau, Elliot Ragomo, Paul Huia, Jenan Kapu, Moffat Sikwa’ae, James Egeta, Francis Lafai, Micah Lea’alafa, Stanley Puairana, Ron Ginio, Jack Wetney.

A hat-trick to Vanuatu front-man Vira Jack Ala has driven his team to a 6-2 win over New Caledonia in tonight’s 3rd v 4th play-off match at Vodafone Arena in Suva, Fiji.

Against the run of play it was New Caledonia who scored first on 9 minutes.

Vanuatu’s Junior Malas unfortunately tripped on the ball inside his own half and handed possession to opposition captain Ivann Pourouoro who made no mistake one-on-one with the keeper, placing his low shot in the corner.

But Vanuatu were enjoying greater possession and made that advantage count with the equaliser coming on 13 minutes to Vira Jack Ala after a neat short passing movement.

Vanuatu looked to be hitting their straps with a second goal to Ala on 17 minutes but immediately from the restart they went to sleep on defence and allowed Ismael Tchovamili a simple tap-in goal to level the scores again.

But Ala was in a goal-hungry mood and he completed his hat-trick with a third powerful drive into the New Caledonian net only a minute before the break, giving Vanuatu a one goal halftime advantage.
And Vanuatu stepped up their domination in the second half with a further three goals coming to Don Mansale early in the second half, Junior Malas after 32 minutes and Lui Sifas after 37 minutes.

Vanuatu coach Marco Herrominly was very pleased with his team’s determination in their final tournament fixture.

“Our boys really wanted to finish this tournament third. In the first half I wanted them to move forward and press as much as possible and at half time I told them I wanted them to concentrate on defending more – this strategy was successful.”

“This year’s team doesn’t have a lot of experience, Vanautu is putting more emphasis on the beach soccer but we will come back with a stronger team next year and we will be aiming to win the OFC Futsal Championship,” said Herrominly.

New Caledonia: 1. Ronan EUZEN (GK); 2. Jerry IARUEL; 8. Ismael TCHOVAMILI; 10. Loic CAUNES; 11. Ivann POUROUORO

SUBS: 3. Adrien GUILLAMO ; 4. Louis WAISHITINE ; 5. Anderson PAULIN ; 6. Henri DRUDRI ; 7. Rodrigue POIWI ; 20. Arnaud LLAMBRICH

Coach: Eric MICHALAK (FRA)

Vanuatu: 1. Daniel MANSALE (GK); 5. Lui SIFAS; 6. Terry QUARE; 8. Louis DOMINIQUE; 11. Ben Edward

SUBS: 20. Pascal BALA (GK); 2. Morsen Sope; 3. Don MANSALE; 4. Marco HERROMINLY; 7. Ben HUNGAI; 9. Junior MALAS; 10. Vira Jack ALA;

Coach: Marco HERROMINLY (VAN)

Team Fiji believe they have a few tricks up their sleeve that could see them trip up the high flying Solomon Kurukuru in Friday night’s final of the OFC Futsal Championship in Suva.

The final kicks off at 8:00pm (local time) at Vodafone Arena and follows the 3rd/4th place playoff between New Caledonia and Vanuatu from 6:00pm (local time).

On paper the odds look heavily stacked against Fiji as they nurse an injury plagued roster with at least one key player ruled out of the final. Recent form favours the Solomon Kurukuru after they beat the hosts 5-3 on Tuesday night, with two of Fiji’s goals coming in the last five minutes.

But Fijian coach Imtiaz Khan says he has seen cracks in the Solomons style of play.

“I have noticed some things about the way they play and I have some ideas. I want my boys to play with patience and good defence and then the goals will come. Last year was a bad loss for us against the Solomons but this week it was just two goals difference,” said Khan.

The Fiji squad is somewhat depleted with livewire Joseph Mishra ruled out with a broken bone in his shoulder while Mira Sahib is nursing knee and ankle complaints and is rated only a 50/50 proposition to play.

Conversely, the defending champions have sustained no injuries of note during their unbeaten run at the championship. The Solomon Kurukuru have been in prolific goal scoring form, hitting the net no less than 24 times whilst conceding only six. Micah Lea’alafa has been an unstoppable force as their target player and leads all scorers in his quest to be golden boot with seven goals. Next best is Jack Wetney with five, closely followed by captain Elliot Ragomo on four.

Fijian captain Kamal Hassan, who also has four goals, is well aware that his team will need to put in a massive defensive effort.

“Defense is a priority for us. If we defend well then we will score on the counter attack.”

Solomon Islands assistant coach Jerry Sam says his team have plenty of respect for their Fijian opponents and are looking forward to a carnival atmosphere at Vodafone Arena.

“It’s going to be a huge match. They are the host nation, our last game was tough with them and lots of Fijian fans will come to support them. The main thing is sticking to our tactics, using our brains on the court and thinking about what we are doing.”

In tonight’s other match, Vanuatu and New Caledonia will be playing for experience and pride.

Vanuatu coach Marco Herrominly stressed that he has brought an inexperienced side and that he is aiming to build depth over the next three years with a view to the next FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2012.

For New Caledonia coach Eric Michalak, finishing on a high is the main priority.

“To win and finish on a good note is vital and also this is important for the future of my team. This is a new group we have together and to finish with a win will help the confidence.”

OFC Futsal Championship Fiji 2009 – Finals Day Preview

3rd/4th Place Play-off
New Caledonia vs. Vanuatu
Date: Friday 10 July
Venue: Vodafone Arena, Suva
Time: 18h00 (Local time)

Final
Fiji vs. Solomon Islands
Date: Friday 10 July
Venue: Vodafone Arena, Suva
Time: 20h00 (Local time)

Standings – Group Stage 

Click here to see the standings on the Oceania Football Confederation Website

Golden Boot

7 – Micah LEA’ALAFA (SOL)
5 – Jack WETNEY (SOL)
4 – Kamal HASSAN (FIJ)
4 – Elliot RAGOMO (SOL)
3 – James EGETA (SOL)
3 – Ismael TCHOVAMILI (NCL)

STRIKERS PRODUCE AN AMAZING PERFORMANCE AT THE 2009 CLUB FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

St.Albans Strikers Futsal Club finished the Victorian Club Futsal Championships as the best performer out of all the entrants, after all five teams qualified for the semi-finals and two of the teams playing off in the Grand Final. Our teams were the talk of the competition, not only for the entertaining way they played, but also for our organisation and fair play. We dominated the group stages with all our teams winning their group games (apart from the U’14 with two losses). This is an amazing achievement, considering it was the first major tournament our club had participated in. It was dissapointing to see our U’11 and U’13 teams lose out in the semi-finals, after having been so dominant in the group stage, however I think everyone would have been extremely proud of their achievements. The U’14 defied the odds and made the grand final, with our U’16 winning an exciting final. The following is a summary of all the results.

U’11 STRIKERS – UNDERTAKERS

v Monash City JSC 3:2 win
v Melbourne Reds 3:2 win
v Camperdown 9:1 win
v Brighton JSC 5:0 win
Q/Final v BSA 8:1 win
S/Final v Monash 2:4 loss

A couple of hard fought wins at the start of the competition over Monash and the Melbourne Reds set up the competition. The strikers playing a great counter attacking style, with plenty of fire power up front. Great long distance shooting from Jonathan and Brandon was dominant throughout the group stages, with great defensive work by all team members. A great win in the Q/Final set up a re-match with Monash, with this time the tables turning, and Monash winning the vital match to qualify for the final. The boys were obviously disapointed, but they are already planning their next tilt at a major competition.

Squad: Adrian Cannatelli, Jonathan Vakirtzis, Jamie Gazelle, Brandon Galea, Matthew Serrano, Gabriel Vallece, Matthew Zalewski, Jarvis Gardner

U’1 STRIKERS – LIL LEGENDS

v Melb Red Flames 5:1 win
v BSA 8:2 win
v Woodend 4:1 win
v Pumas futsal 9:1 win
Q/Final v Brighton JSC 2:2 draw f/t: pen 2:1 win
S/Final v Melb Red 1:3 loss

The team started the group stage impessively, scoring big wins over all of their group opponents. In fact they were the talk of the competition, with their skills and movement dazzling all before them. However as we all know, once teams qualify for the finals, it is a different kettle of fish. Brighton pushed the strikers all the way to penalty shoot outs, with us prevailing in a nail bitting fashion 2:1, thanks to some fantastic saves from Jayden. Unfortunately the magic run ended in the semi-fial, with the well drilled Melbourne Reds putting out an almost perfect defensive performance to win 3:1. Now that the boys have experienced this type of competition, they are licking their lips at the prospect of playing in more of these type of tournaments.

Squad: Matthew Conversano, Christopher Pavlidis, Brayden Calleja, Anthony Caligari, Nathan Liberto, Matthew Bartolo, Nicholas Bartolo, Jayden Merceica

MORE REPORTS ON THE OTHER TEAMS COMING SOON

Former National Futsal coach Victor Wai’ia is confident Kurukuru can go all the way to win the Oceania Football Confederation Futsal Championship currently under way in Suva, Fiji.

Wai’ia, who now works as Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) the Futsal/Beach Soccer Development Officer, is currently in Fiji taking part in the FIFA-Regional Futsal Referee Instructor Course that ended yesterday in Fiji.

He was fortunate to witness the opening match when Solomon Islands thrashed New Caledonia 8-3 on Monday evening this week.

The former coach told OFC from Fiji that the Solomon Islands team is in a better position to win this year’s OFC Futsal Championship.

“I think Solomon Islands are in better position to win than last year because they have been working hard on their defensive strategy,” he said.

Wai’ia was the man in charge of the Kurukuru when they were crowned Futsal Champions in the Oceania in Fiji last year and went on to represent Oceania in the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Brazil where they played against the likes of Brazil, Cuba and Russia.

Kurukuru is currently under the leadership of a new coach Dickson Kadau for the OFC Futsal Championship.