First semi-final today between Turtles and Shields
AFTER weeks of fierce rivalry between the ten teams in the 2017 Our Telekom Solomon Cup, the tournament last four battle is set for today as Western Turtle take on the Central Shields in the first semi-final at Lawson Tama.
Western Turtles cemented their place in the semi-final with a second place finish in the so called ‘Group of Death’ with maximum of 8 points.
The Turtles progression was made possible from two wins and two draws in Group B.
Parity after a very intensive encounter with defending champions Malaita Eagles was the defining moment in group stage.
Turtles head coach Alec Wickham told Star Sports it’s a semi-final so his boys will fight till the last whistle.
“We treat our opponents with respect but my boys will go into the semi with our heads held high.
“As you can see in our group matches, we play to the last whistle and the message is clear, we will fight till the end,” he said.
Wickham stressed Central Shields are a strong side and he expects a good game today.
Central Shields got off to a perfect start to their Solomon Cup campaign with a shock victory over hosts Honiara on Match day 1.
On the contrary side of their winning run in the competition, the Shields were shell shocked to go down by 7 goals at the hands of Lauru Kukuvoju in their third group match.
They regroup in their final group match to edge out Guadalcanal Hornets to top Group A with 9 points.
The lads from Central will be banking on recent national call-up Kennedy Watemae to deliver the goals.
Reports from the Shields camp said they are up for the task and are in-line to put Central province in the grand-final.
The semi-final between Western Turtles and Central Shields is set for today at 1:30pm.
By SIMON ABANA
