The Mariner National Beach Soccer Championship gets underway on a positive note for hosts Honiara, Guadalcanal, Makira Ulawa and Western as they opened their account with wins against Central Islands, Choiseul, Temotu and Isabel at DC Park today in Honiara.
Group A
Last year’s losing finalists, Honiara had to dig deeper in the opening periods as Central Islands went toe to toe with the highly fancied capital city boys.
With their vast experience in the abbreviated beach game, Honiara came out top with a 5-1 result to kick-start their campaign on a high.
The second match of the day followed the same rhythm in the opening exchanges which saw Choiseul scored the fastest goal of the opening day in the first minute. The early goal resulted in an instant response from Guadalcanal who scored quick goals to take the lead and went on to win the match 6-12 despite a late surge from Choiseul in the third period.
Group B
Veteran Joe Luwi tried to inspire a young Temotu side against Makira Ulawa in the opening match of Group B in a thrilling encounter but the lads from the land of Kakamora were the better side on the day.
Makira Ulawa edged past Temotu 4-8 in a crucial win.
It was not coincident that match of the day would be the final fixture of the opening day as Western and Isabel played a thrilling encounter.
Western triumph 4-3 in a nail biting three periods of high quality beach soccer from both teams.
Meanwhile, the Mariner National Beach Soccer Championship continues tomorrow at DC Park with two Group A matches. Central Islands taking on Guadalcanal in a must-win game for the Islanders while a rematch of last year’s invitational final sees Honiara hosts Malaita in a battle of the titans later in the afternoon.
Fixtures
Central Islands vs Guadalcanal | 2:45pm
Honiara vs Malaita | 16:00pm
Photos: Martin Taromane (Sun Sport)
