Special thanks to David Brand for his great help!

Manumea Futsal once again goes down in the final minutes in a 9 goal thriller.

Before reading the article... know more on the OFC Tournament in Canberra!

Manumea Samoa Futsal last night suffered its second defeat in as many games in the Oceania Futsal World Cup Qualifiers in Canberra, against the Solomon Islands.

In the early game both sides put in a huge effort to entertain the crowd to a 9 goal thriller. The game changed on many occasions with both sides gaining the ascendance before the Solomon Island put the game beyond Samoa’s reach in the dying minutes.

Samoa opened with composure and patience against a very sharp and skilful Solomon’s side, with both sides finding it hard to break down the opposition defence. However Samoa took the lead with a well worked fast break and finish from Junior Michael. Just the break Manumea needed but within seconds of the restart a dubious call gave Solomon’s a penalty which was duly put away. Again Samoa committed suicide when a Junior Michael pass was intercepted and the ball luckily looped over the astonished Setefanu Pesa in goal.

2-1 at half time but Samoa were still far from finished but a simple goalkeeping error put the Solomon’s 2 in front. The gift at one end was followed at the other when Afasene Tusitala finished off a good move when the Solomon keeper could not hold a Pualele Lamana shot.

Game now back on and when Filipo Bureta equalised with a rasping drive from a corner an exciting finish looked on the cards. However as in the previous game the Samoa defence conceded sloppy goals in the dying minutes to go down in what was an exciting match for the sparse crowd.

6-3 to Solomon’s but again not a true reflection of the overall play which now leaves Samoa with 2 losses in its opening games. They don’t even get any easier as today they take on Vanuatu in what is a must win game to build some confidence before finishing the tournament against Australia and New Zealand.

The Samoan coaching staff has been shaking their heads at some of the basic errors that have cost the team so dearly but on the other hand so pleased with many aspects of the team play.

“I must sound like a scratched record but it was a repeat of Sunday when we gave away so many soft goals. These basic errors are killing us but I cannot fault the effort and commitment of the boys,” commented frustrated National Coach David Brand.

“We seem to get punished for every mistake which has been very cruel but that is international futsal. All the players and management are working very hard to turn things around but being realistic we are such a long way behind in futsal experience that I can only praise all concerned for the efforts so far. As long as we continue to learn and improve I cannot ask for any more.”

Manumea Futsal plays the next game of the World Cup qualifiers today against Vanuatu at 4.30pm local time at the AIS Arena.