AFTER 35 minutes of battling for possession, the Solomon Kings-Vanuatu United match appeared headed for a scoreless first half.
That was until Owen Smith delivered a beautiful left cross for Otto Ingham to smack a powerful goal in for Vanuatu.
Down by a goal, William Komasi and Gordon Iro led the Solomons fight back in the second half.
But it was their golden boy, Sota Higashide, who levelled the scores with a penalty goal.
Vanuatu remained composed and Raymond Diho slid a very low pass into the box, Alex Saniel latched on and planted the ball into the net in the 80th minute. It was Saniel’s 10th goal of the OFC Pro League tournament.
Five minutes later an own goal did not help the Kings chances of a comeback and Vanuatu were ahead 3 -1. Javin Wae scored a scrappy goal for the Kings, but it was too little too late. Vanuatu United won 3 – 2 against Solomon Kings.
The win puts Vanuatu in a strong position to qualify for the semi-final playoffs and play against the fourth place getter in the leaders group.
In the second match, Tahiti United went head-to-head with PNG Hekari.
After a second review by the VAR Kasum Gabriel’s goal for PNG Hekari was allowed.
Tevita Waranaivalu hammered in a fantastic header for Tahiti and levelled the scores right on the half time whistle.
PNG’s Lekima Gonerau scored and broke the draw in the 88th minute but 60 seconds later Tahiti’s Joseph Athale tied up the scores once more.
After five minutes of added time the teams settled for a 2 all draw.
