SECOND round of the Telekom S-League is scheduled to kick off tomorrow pending the improvement of the current bad weather condition.
A statement from the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) said most of the clubs have utilised the December/January transfer window to strengthen their line ups as they anticipate tighter competition in the second round of the league as the finish line looms.
Real Kakamora went on a whole sale spree scooping up a whopping 15 players during the break while saying goodbye to the same number as they look to turn their campaign around.
Western United and Hana follow with both clubs bringing in ten new players after average performances in the first round.
Real Kakamora’s extensive refitting of the team follows a difficult start to their season where they languish at the bottom of the table.
The majority of the club’s top performers from the first round have retained their places but most of the benchwarmers have now been dropped by the club management.
The most exciting shopping bag belongs to Hana who’ve snagged an impressive four international signatures for the coming round.
The second round will see the club feature Japanese duo Aso Hirotaka and Keiki Tsuruta and Moussa Kourouma returns to Hana with fellow Guinean, Soumah Yaya.
Unlike the other three of Hana’s imports Kourouma has experience playing in the Solomon Islands. He played for Hana in the 2011 Telekom S-League and also featured in local competitions in Honiara before leaving the country in 2012 in pursuit of a professional career in the Middle East.
Hana topped its Christmas shopping with former youth representative, Joachim Rande, who returned to the country in November.
Rande was cleared for the Telekom S-League earlier this week after spending several years plying his trade in New Zealand.
League leaders Solomon Warriors have introduced five new players into their line up for the second round but are notably missing a key player. Left winger Moffat Kilifa has left the club to play for admiralty in the Papua New Guinea national football league.
However, Solomon Warriors have been able to resign Jeffery Bule, who decided to return home after half a season with Vanuatu outfit, Amicale.
Another significant transfer is Joses Nawo who cut short his term at Amicale to sign up for X-Beam.
Nawo cited family commitments as his major reason for returning to Solomon Islands – he has been training with the club since November last year.
Ian Rarawa, competitions manager at the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) says that the transfer window has been busier than normal and for good reason.
“We were busy throughout the Christmas break chasing transfer certificates for overseas based players so there has been a significant number of transfers compared to previous seasons,” Rarawa says.
“All the clubs are anticipating a tougher second round so they are bringing in talent to ensure they are prepared. This is positive action from a management point of view and shows that this league and the clubs are maturing – we can look forward to a quality round of football.”
Interestingly a significant number of players from Marist have been swooped up the remaining franchise clubs after the club was kicked out from the competition following the non-completion of its participation fee.
The S-League Board ruled all the players registered under Marist as free agents able to register for any club in the competition during the transfer window.
Depending on the weather the Telekom S-League is scheduled to resume tomorrow – Saturday 18th January.
