2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League

Papua New Guinea National Soccer League 2015 24 January – 23 May 2015 Lae City Dwellers (1st title) 2016 OFC Champions League Hekari UnitedLae City Dwellers Nigel Dabinyaba (11 goals) 2014 2015–16 The 2015 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League season, known as the Telikom NSL Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the ninth edition of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League. The title was won by Lae City Dwellers who won their first title in their first year of existence, despite only finishing second in the regular season table. They defeated Madang FC 5–1 in the Grand Final.https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png2015.html Papua New Guinea 2015 RSSSF 2019-01-29 The Golden Boot was won by Nigel Dabinyaba of Lae, while Otto Kusunan of Besta PNG United won the Player of the Season.https://postcourier.com.pg/nsl/ NSL Post Courier en-US 2019-01-29 Teams There were seven teams in the competition, the same as the previous season. Four teams returned, including champions Hekari United, while three teams withdrew: runners-up Lae FC were expelled from the league after 'bringing the game into disrepute' in the previous year's final,https://www.thenational.com.pg/bidding-time-ends-for-franchises-in-nsl/ Bidding time ends for franchises in NSL 2014-07-30 The National en-US 2019-05-28 Morobe FC lost their sponsor and were unable to return, missing out for the first time since the league's inception,https://www.thenational.com.pg/franchise-in-dilemma/ Franchise in dilemma 2014-09-09 The National en-US 2019-01-29https://www.thenational.com.pg/league-starts-jan-24/ League starts Jan 24 2015-01-11 The National en-US 2019-01-29 while Eastern Stars also withdrew. They were replaced by Madang FC, returning for the first time since the 2010–11 season, FC Port Moresby, who returned following their court case ahead of the previous season, and Lae City Dwellers, a new franchise from Lae under similar management to the previous season's runners-up. +Papua New Guinea National Soccer League 2015TeamPrevious bestOther honoursHekari United2006–14: Champions (8x)2009–10 OFC Champions League: Champions 2007 Port Moresby Premier League: ChampionsF.C. Port Moresby2013: Runners-UpNoneBesta PNG United2011–12, 2013: 3rdNoneMadang F.C.2006: 4thNoneOro F.C.2014: 4thNoneAdmiralty F.C.2014: 6thNoneLae City DwellersN/ANone Format Seven teams played in the league. During the regular season, teams played home and away, and the team at the top of the league after all matches were played was crowned 'Minor Premiers'. The top two secured qualification for the 2016 OFC Champions League. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams advanced to a knockout competition, the winners of which were crowned Champions. Summary The season kicked off on 24 January 2018 with a 2–2 draw between Lae City Dwellers and FC Port Moresby.https://www.thenational.com.pg/port-moresby-comeback-despite-spirited-dwellers/ Port Moresby comeback despite spirited Dwellers 2015-01-25 The National en-US 2019-01-29 Champions Hekari United didn't kick their season off until the following weekend, when they defeated Lae 3–0, and they set the early pace with a 2–1 win over Besta PNG United the following weekend. By mid-February, they were already four points clear of Oro FC, who were in second on six points. Through February and March until the mid-way point of the season, Lae City began to show some form, winning three straight matches against Besta, Admiralty FC and Oro to keep the pressure on Hekari, who had gone the entire first half of the season undefeated. However, on 14 March 2018, Hekari thrashed Oro 6–2 while Lae lost 2–1 to third-placed FC Port Moresby, giving Hekari a four-point lead.https://www.thenational.com.pg/hekari-thrash-oro-to-kick-off-second-round/ Hekari thrash Oro to kick off second round 2015-03-15 The National en-US 2019-01-29 As the champions prepared to leave for the OFC Champions League campaign in April, however, they stumbled to a 2–1 defeat to Besta PNG United, which gave Lae City a chance to overhaul them while they were away.https://www.thenational.com.pg/besta-can-hekari/ Besta can Hekari 2015-04-07 The National en-US 2019-01-29 Two big wins for Lae – a 6–0 thumping of Oro and a 5–1 win against Besta – meant Hekari's main challengers were two points clear at the top by the time Hekari returned to domestic competition. On 25 April, Hekari defeated Madang 8–1 while Lae could only draw against Admiralty,https://www.thenational.com.pg/reds-regain-top/ Reds regain top 2015-04-26 The National en-US 2019-01-29 meaning Hekari returned to the top of the league with a game in hand. In Lae's final fixture of the regular season, they surrendered the Minor Premiership to Hekari following a 3–1 defeat,https://www.thenational.com.pg/hekari-secure-minor-title-eye-another-premiership/ Hekari secure minor title, eye another premiership 2015-05-03 The National en-US 2019-01-29 but in finishing second, became the first team other than Hekari to qualifying for the OFC Champions League since University Inter in 2007–08. In the playoff semi-finals, which took place on 16 May 2015, Hekari faced Madang FC, whom they had beaten by seven goals less than a month prior. In what was described as 'the biggest upset in the history of the National Soccer League', Madang secured a shock 3–2 victory to end Hekari's eight-year dominance of the domestic league. They would play Lae City in the Grand Final after the regular season runners-up eased past third-placed FC Port Moresby in the other semi-final. While Hekari picked up third place as a consolation, Lae City won their first title after a one-sided Grand Final, which finished 5–1. Regular season main WDL Q HEK Hekari United LAE Lae City Dwellers PMO FC Port Moresby MAD Madang FC ADM Admiralty FC ORO Oro FC BPU Besta PNG United 8 2 2 29 9 7 2 3 28 16 C 6 3 3 20 18 5 2 5 19 24 3 5 4 17 16 3 1 8 13 31 2 1 9 13 25 #D0F0C0 Qualified for the 2016 OFC Champions League Group Stage CLGS CLGS #FFFFA0 Qualified to Championship Playoff CP CP 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. complete RSSSF Championship playoff 180 Semi-finals Final Third place Lae City Dwellers 3 FC Port Moresby 1 Hekari United 2 Madang FC 3 Lae City Dwellers 5 Madang FC 1 FC Port Moresby 0 Hekari United 3 Semi-finals 16 May 2015 Lae City Dwellers 3–1 FC Port Moresby Laiwaden Oval, Madang 16 May 2015 Hekari United 2–3 Madang FC Laiwaden Oval, Madang Third-place playoff 23 May 2015 FC Port Moresby 0–3 Hekari United Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, Lae Final 23 May 2015 Lae City Dwellers 5–1 Madang FC Lee Wabing 53Nigel Dabinyaba 68Obert Bika 81Raymond Gunemba 90Ken Kepe 90 58 Vanya Malagian Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, Lae References Category:Papua New Guinea National Soccer League seasons football Papua