Solomon Islands champions Kooline FC and AS PTT Noumea from New Caledonia will face each other in the inaugural OFC Futsal Champions League title decider after finishing first and second at the conclusion of the group stages at Auckland’s Barfoot and Thompson Stadium.
Meanwhile, local favourites AFF Futsal their Tahitian rivals AS PTT Noumea will meet in the bronze medal match while Vanuatu’s D’York Street and Suva Futsal from Fiji open Sunday’s proceedings with the play-off for 5th and 6th place.
KOOLINE 4-4 AS PTT NOUMEA
Match Day 3 at the OFC Futsal Champions League tournament in Auckland opened with a top of the table clash between Kooline and AS PTT Noumea and the Solomon Islanders stunned their rivals when Philip Maeta struck in the opening minute.
The New Caledonians replied through Alwin Hou who finished a counter-attack soon after as the Solomon Islands champions appeared to be cruising.
However AS PTT fought back – a solo effort from Hary Hmalako was quickly followed by Christ Pei’s goal from a well-worked corner to make it 2-all and it was ‘game on’.
Pei then dialed up some magic with a quality individual goal to put AS PTT ahead.
Soon after a killer ball from John Ue unlocked Glenn Hnanganyan to make it 4-2 to the New Caledonians.
Triple international Robert Laua’s back-post finish set up a thrilling finale, and Anthony Talo scored from the power play to secure a draw for Kooline, meaning both teams’ destiny remained in their own hands heading into the final games of the group phase.
D’YORK STREET 1-7 KOOLINE
Kooline, needing a win to cement top position in the group phase, dominated from the outset with Benjamin Mana completing a sensational hat-trick inside the opening five minutes.
With the game virtually safe, the Solomon Island champions took their foot off the pedal but still had enough quality to extend their lead to five goals before the break, courtesy of Roberta Laua and skipper Coleman Mackau.
Mana added his fourth soon after the restart, but Kooline suffered a setback soon after when influential goalkeeper Anthony Talo handled outside the area and received a red card, meaning he will miss the final.
To make matters worse, Moffat Kiriu hammered home for D’York from the resulting free kick.
Robert Laua added the final touch as Kooline eased to a 7-1 victory, setting up the inaugural OFC Futsal Champions League Final against AS PTT Noumea.
FINAL
Kooline vs AS PTT Noumea
Sunday 08 December
Barfoot & Thompson Stadium, Auckland, NZ
KO: 14:30 (local)
LIVE STREAM: https://bit.ly/36arrgZ
#OFCFCL #KLNPTT
