2007–08 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League

The 2007–08 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League season, known as the Telikom NSL Cup for sponsorship purposes, was the second edition of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League.

The title was won by PRK Hekari United, who picked up their second title. The Golden Boot was won by Hekari's Kema Jack, who scored 15 goals, while the Player of the Season award was shared by Ian Yanum of Welgris Highlanders and Ila Ilaita Jr of Gelle Hills.

Teams

Seven teams entered the competition, an expansion from the previous season's five.

Earlier in the year, there had been interest from further clubs, with the most notable being PS Rutz, who had competed for several years alongside Rapatona in the Port Moresby Premier League. However, their participation eventually failed to materialise.

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 2008–09 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

After a successful first season, the league secured sponsorship from Telikom before the season kicked off.

With an odd number of teams, fourteen rounds of action were scheduled, with one team taking a bye each round.

The season started on 10 November 2007, and Morobe Kumuls took an early lead after an opening day 3–0 victory over Hekari United followed by a 3–0 away win against newcomers Inspac Rapatona. Champions Hekari rather stumbled out of the blocks, following up their opening defeat with a 4–4 draw against newcomers Madang Besta, and thanks to a third round bye, they found themselves joint-bottom of the table after three rounds.

Ahead of the fifth round of action, Hekari United's match against Welgris Highlanders was postponed, as the Hekari players were unable to secure flights to the venue. With Rapatona winning their fourth match from five and moving top of the league, this left Hekari 8 points behind with two games in hand; however, the sixth round of fixtures saw Hekari defeat Rapatona 1–0 to drag them back into the top four. At the half-way stage, with Hekari still to play their postponed fixture, Gelle Hills, Morobe Kumuls and Rapatona were all level at the top with 12 points, with Hekari a further two behind.

With Hekari winning their re-arranged fixture against Welgris 2–1 on 19 January 2008, the champions headed into the second half of the season on top. However, they were unable to exact revenge on Morobe Kumuls in the first round of the second half, drawing 3–3 and surrendering their lead to Rapatona, who secured a 2–0 victory over newcomers Madang Besta. However, defeat for Rapatona against Morobe Kumuls the following week, and a 6–0 win for Hekari over Madang Besta, saw them re-take the league lead ahead of their bye week. On 9 February, Gelle Hills, with their game in hand, rose to the top of the league by a single point after a 2–1 away win over Madang Besta. With Rapatona's form stuttering, the following weekend's clash between Gelle Hills and Hekari United would be crucial to deciding which way the Minor Premiership would fall.

Led by a brace from Kema Jack, Hekari secured a 3–0 away win against Hills, and that, combined with shock defeats for other title rivals Morobe Kumuls and Rapatona, saw Hekari two points clear and with a clear sight at the league title. They secured the title with one game to spare, winning all three of their remaining fixtures, while Gelle Hills held out for a 1–1 draw against Morobe Kumuls on the final day to secure second place. Rapatona earned just one point from their final five fixtures but still held on to their playoff qualifying spot in 4th.

In the playoffs, it would be Hekari against Gelle Hills in the final, as Morobe Kumuls defeated Rapatona in the third-place playoff. Hills succumbed to a sixth straight defeat to Hekari United, going down 3–2 despite a late comeback, handing Hekari their second league title.

Regular season

Championship playoff

Semi-finals

Third place

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League
Papua New Guinea National Soccer League seasons
football
football
Papua
Papua