2008–09 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League

Papua New Guinea National Soccer League 2008–09 8 November 2008 – 28 March 2009 Hekari United (3rd title) 2009–10 OFC Champions League Hekari United 2007–08 2009–10 The 2008–09 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League season, known as the Telikom NSL Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the third edition of Papua New Guinea National Soccer League. The title was won by Hekari Souths United, who won their third consecutive title.https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png08.html Papua New Guinea 2008 RSSSF 2018-06-16 The side were awarded the title after several postponements and the eventual cancellation of the Grand Final, by virtue of their superior regular season finish compared to Rapatona Tigers, who they were due to face in the final. Teams Eight teams entered the competition, an expansion of one from the previous season's seven. Previous season's runners-up Gelle Hills, and bottom two clubs Madang Fox and Besta Madang Fighters, all withdrew.https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-12301/ NSL CALLS FOR FRANCHISE REGISTRATIONS Oceania Football Confederation 2008-10-09 Oceania Football Confederation 2018-06-16 en-US Of the four new teams, only University Inter had any sort of previous history, having been founded in 1969https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/pngfound.html Papua New Guinea - Foundation Dates of Clubs RSSSF 2018-06-16 and having won five national titles before the induction of the National Soccer League. Eastern Stars, Sepik and Nabasa United were all newly formed teams ahead of the 2008–09 season. +Papua New Guinea National Soccer League 2008–09TeamRegionPrevious recordOther honoursHekari Souths UnitedSouthern2006, 2007–08: Champions (as PRK Hekari United)2007 Port Moresby Premier League: ChampionsGigira Laitepo MorobeNorthern2006, 2007–08: 3rd (as Morobe Kumuls FC)1998 National Club Championship: Runners-Up 2001, 2005 Lae Regional Championship: ChampionsCMSS Rapatona TigersSouthern2007–08: 4th (as Inspac Rapatona)1984, 1999 National Club Championship: Runners-Up 1989, 2004 Port Moresby Premier League: ChampionsWelgris HighlandersHighlands2006, 2007–08: 5th2005 National Club Championship: 3rd 2005 Highlands Regional Championship: ChampionsUniversity Inter F.C.SouthernN/A2007–08 OFC Champions League: Preliminary round 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006 National Club Championship: Champions 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2006 Port Moresby Premier League: ChampionsEastern Stars F.C.SouthernN/ANoneSepik F.C.NorthernN/ANoneNabasa United F.C.NorthernN/ANone Format In the regular season, each team played each other twice. The team at the top of the league after all matches were played was crowned 'Minor Premiers' and secured qualification for the 2009–10 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 Fourteen rounds of action were scheduled, with this season being the first in the competition's history to have an even number of sides taking part and therefore no need for the usage of byes. On the opening day of the season, on 8 November 2008, reigning champions Hekari United secured a last-gasp victory over Rapatona after a late goal from Fijian import Lorima Dau gave them a 2–1 victory, but it was Gigira Laitepo who led the league thanks to a 4–2 victory over newcomers Sepik. Thanks to heavy rain, University Inter and Eastern Stars had to wait until the following weekend for their season to kick-off.https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-18637/ 2008/09 TELIKOM NSL – HEKARI OPEN SEASON WITH WIN Oceania Football Confederation 2008-11-14 Oceania Football Confederation 2018-06-16 en-US However, it was Hekari who led the way early on, leading the league after four rounds despite having a game in hand on most of the teams directly below them thanks to a postponed fixture against University Inter, who were level on points in second place alongside Welgris and Eastern Stars, with seven, two behind Hekari.https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-9031/ 2008/09 TELIKOM NSL – HEKARI BOUNCE BACK ONTO WINNING TRACK Oceania Football Confederation 2008-12-01 Oceania Football Confederation 2018-06-16 en-US Heading into Christmas, Hekari led the table by one point from University Inter, with 15 and 14 respectively, with both sides unbeaten and Hekari with a game in hand, and the two sides' rearranged fixture still to be played. On 17 January 2009, Hekari took a huge step towards OFC Champions League qualification with a 3–0 victory over University Inter, putting them four points clear.https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-17941/ PAPUA NEW GUINEA NATIONAL SOCCER LEAGUE – HEKARI SOUTHS ROLL ON Oceania Football Confederation 2009-01-19 Oceania Football Confederation 2018-06-16 en-US This gap would widen to seven after the side won their game in hand against Eastern Stars, ensuring they secured a 100% record in the first half of the season. With Hekari and Inter clear leaders, it was the battle for playoff qualification that was the most closely fought. After the eighth round of fixtures, Welgris and Gigira Laitepo were joint third with 11 points, with Rapatona on 10 and Eastern Stars on 9. On 21 January 2009, Welgris secured a massive 2–1 victory over league leaders Hekari United, not only inflicting Hekari's only defeat of the season onto the reigning champions, but also boosting their own playoff hopes in the process. However, the following weekend, Welgris would suffer a damaging 2–1 defeat against fellow playoff chasers Gigira Laitepo, who leapfrogged them into the playoff places alongside Eastern Stars, who secured a narrow 1–0 win over struggling Nabasa. Welgris responded in style, however, securing a 4–0 victory over Eastern Stars on 14 February, returning to third place, with Rapatona now in fourth after two consecutive victories against the bottom two clubs. Fortune shifted again the following weekend as the four sides played each other, with Eastern Stars defeating Gigira Laitepo 2–1, and Rapatona securing a 2–1 victory over Welgris, putting Rapatona and Eastern Stars in the driving seat with two fixtures remaining. Ahead of the penultimate weekend of the season, Hekari United led the league by six points from Inter, meaning they just needed one draw from their final two matches to secure a third successive OFC Champions League campaign. As it happened, Inter fell to a surprise 2–0 defeat to Welgris Highlanders, gifting Hekari the title even if they hadn't defeated Eastern Stars 3–0 that same day. Rapatona secured their playoff status with a 2–1 win over Gigira Laitepo, while Welgris' shock win meant they just needed victory over 7th-placed Sepik on the final day to join them, a result they were easily able to secure, 3–0. In the playoffs, Hekari secured a 1–0 victory over Welgris thanks to a Michael Foster goal, while Inter suffered a surprise 2–1 defeat at the hands of Rapatona, with goals from Richard Auram and Raymond Gunemba overhauling Tau Winnie's early opener for the university-based side. However, after two postponements, the NSL board decided on 4 April 2009 that the final two games – the Grand Final and the third-Place Playoff – would be cancelled entirely, granting the title to Hekari United by default after they secured the best regular season record. Regular season main WDL Q y HEK Hekari United INT University Inter WEL Welgris Highlanders RAP Rapatona Tigers EAS Eastern Stars FC GIG Gigira Laitepo Morobe SEP Sepik FC NAB Nabasa United 12 1 1 32 7 C 8 4 2 31 13 7 2 5 24 16 7 1 6 20 19 6 3 5 19 24 4 3 7 15 17 3 0 11 16 34 1 2 11 12 39 #D0F0C0 Qualified for the 2009–10 OFC Champions League Group Stage CLGS #FFFFA0 Qualified for the Championship Playoff CP CP CP 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. complete RSSSF Championship playoff 180 Semi-finals Final Third Place Hekari United 1 Welgris Highlanders 0 University Inter 1 Rapatona Tigers 2 Hekari United - Rapatona Tigers - University Inter - Welgris Highlanders - Semi-finals 14 March 2009 Hekari United 1–0 Michael Foster Welgris Highlanders Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby 14 March 2009 University Inter 1–2 Tau Winnie Richard Auram Raymond Gunemba Rapatona Tigers Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby Third place 28 March 2009 University Inter w/o Welgris Highlanders Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby Final 28 March 2009 Hekari United FC w/o Rapatona Tigers Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby References Category:Papua New Guinea National Soccer League seasons football football Papua New Guinea