Hekari United had a successful run in the first leg of the Oceania Football Confederation Champions League in Vanuatu. However, they missed the final cut.
In the first round, Hekari won 2 points to nil against hosts Ifira Black Bird of Vanuatu. They lost 1-0 to Tiga Sport of New Caledonia and Pirae of Tahiti by 2-1.
The team returned on Wednesday. In an interview at Jackson’s Airport, Coach Erickson Komeng said the team played well when challenging their opponents. However, at this point, they cannot identify any particular cause for their loss but the boys played their best.
“They played well in the first game. It was a 2 point to nil win. We used the same line-up that was used to win the match against Toti FC in Lae and Moresby so we have no excuse. We had chances to score but missed most of it. So at the moment, I don’t know what’s wrong," he said.
Furthermore, the Coach added that the loss gave them motivation to come back better.
"Despite the losses, we just picked up parts of the game in the tournament and hopefully, we will come back better next time".
“We just have to keep things going. We look forward to playing in the National Premier League (NPL), and moving forward from there”, said Komeng.
“When we play the NPL, we look forward to qualifying for the championship,”.
“Football is like that. If you do not score a goal, you will not win”, added Komeng.
Photo credit: OFC
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