THE MALAITA Beach soccer team is the champions of the Mariner National Beach Soccer Championship after defeating hosts Honiara 5-3 in the grand final at DC Park, Saturday.
As expected it was an evenly fought out match between the two rivals.
Malaita made it clear to their opponents they are here for the title and not just to compete by leading the first period with a convincing 4-1 lead.
The second period was no different from the first as the hosts came back harder, searching for goals to close the gap.
They managed one goal and stepped up their defense to disallow any goals from Malaita to make it 4-2 by the end of the second period.
Honiara was more determined to equalize the score, sending a series of shots, three of which hit the woodwork.
They found their third goal in the final period but Malaita was sure to keep the lead, finishing off with the fifth goal by …just before the final whistle.
Malaita coach Albert Peter is the happiest man after the final whistle, congratulating his players for a job well done.
“I want to thank my boys for a job well done.
“We have trained so hard for this tournament and our efforts paid off.
“I would like to thank the almighty for the strength given to my players to maintain a strong stand in the grand final.
“I also would like to thank the supporters for the good behavior,” he said.
The second prize award to Honiara is $15K and silver medals, Western Kiokio third with $10K and bronze medals while fourth place Makira Ulawa Sharks received a cash prize of $5K.
Team Malaita not only won the $20K cash prize and gold medals but also scooped two top awards, the Player of the Tournament Award and the Golden Boot Award.
The Player of the Tournament Award was awarded to Malaita’s Bobby Albert and Golden Foot Award to Thompson Peter who scored 12 goals.
The Fairest team award was awarded to Western Province and the Best Goal Keeper award was awarded to Western’s goal keeper Brenden John.
By CARLOS ARUAFU
Newsroom, Honiara
