Summary
The Southern Conference kicked off on 26 January 2019, the first of the four conferences to begin. Hekari United played their first NSL match for almost three years, winning 1–0 against debutants FC Bougainville, while there were opening day wins for debutants Central United and Port Moresby United. [9] Both of the latter started strongly before Central United faded, while Port Moresby United went into the mid-season break in second with 16 points, five behind leaders Hekari, who had won seven games from seven, and four ahead of Bougainville on 12. Gulf Komara and Central sat fourth and fifth on 10 points. Two-time runners-up Eastern Stars had struggled to find their feet upon their return to the league, losing three of their opening four games before a minor recovery saw them into the halfway point in sixth with nine points. [10]
It soon became clear that Hekari would be the runaway winners, while the battle for the second qualification spot was far less predictable. By mid-April, with three games to play, any of the sides from second to sixth could still clinch the second spot, although it was Port Moresby United who had retained the advantage, still sitting three points clear of Central United in third. [10] On 20 April, second-placed Port Moresby lost 4–1 to leaders Hekari, while Central were thrashed 6–2 by a resurgent Eastern Stars, thanks in part to four goals from Tau Winnie, [11] and by the final day, Central were out of contention completely following a 6–1 defeat to Port Moresby United on the penultimate week of fixtures. On the last day, Port Moresby United needed just a win against second-from-bottom Star Mountain to qualify behind Hekari, but they were held to a shock 3–3 draw, meaning the winner of Bougainville and Eastern Stars would clinch second spot. A late own goal decided the match 1–0 in Eastern Stars' favour, completing an excellent second half of the season for the Milne Bay side. [12]
The first half of the Northern Conference was disrupted slightly by Toti City and Morobe Wawens' participation in the 2019 OFC Champions League. Both sides were able to play their opening fixture alongside the rest of the teams, with Toti City winning 3–1 against Morobe United and Wawens suffering a narrow 4–3 defeat at the hands of Besta PNG United. [13] Both sides missed the next three rounds of fixtures, with Wawens dropping to the foot of the table and Toti to sixth as a result, with Morobe United leading the way having won their next three matches, including a narrow 1–0 win over current runners-up Besta PNG. [14] Toti soon recovered, however, and by the halfway stage, they were on top of the league with seven wins from seven. Morobe United looked certain to join them in the playoffs, sitting second on 18 points, with Laiwaden FC third with 10. [10]
A second-half-of-the-season surge from Besta PNG United almost threatened to disrupt the placings of the top two, with Besta winning all seven of their second-half fixtures, including a 1–0 win over Toti on 13 April, and a 3–2 victory over Morobe United the following weekend. [15] However, this was to be Toti's only defeat of the regular season, while Morobe did enough to hold off the advances of their rivals and qualify behind the reigning champions. [10] [16]
The Highlands Conference kicked off on 10 February, with Aporo Mai taking the early lead following a 5–0 opening day victory over Enga Laima. [17] Laima suffered another heavy defeat the following weekend to Kagua-Erave, losing 11–1, [18] and Aporo Mai's 4–2 defeat to Blue Kumuls allowed Kagua-Erave to go top of the table. Five wins from five saw Kagua lead the way at the halfway stage, with Mount Hagen FC in second on 10 points, and Blue Kumuls in third on seven. [10]
On 23 March, Blue Kumuls defeated Mount Hagen 2–0, going level on points in second place and setting up a close race for the second playoff spot behind Kagua-Erave. [19] However, fourth-placed Aporo Mai threatened to upstage them both, inflicting a 1–0 defeat on previously undefeated Kagua-Erave the following weekend, [20] and securing a 2–1 victory over Blue Kumuls on the first weekend of April. [21] This left Aporo Mai four points behind Kumuls and Hagen with a game in hand and two weeks to go. However, a 2–1 defeat to playoff rivals Mount Hagen on the penultimate matchday ended their challenge.
With points tied on the final day of fixtures, Blue Kumuls went into their final match against Kagua-Erave knowing victory would guarantee qualification for the playoffs, while Mount Hagen needed to better Kumuls' result against Enga Laima. Despite Kagua-Erave securing a 1–0 victory over Blue Kumuls, Mount Hagen were unable to capitalise, losing 3–1 to Enga Laima and missing out on the playoffs on goal difference. [10] [22]
The Islands Conference was the last to kick-off, starting on 24 February. Chebu AROB FC secured an opening-day 4–0 victory over Radazz FC, while West Tribe FC and Greengold Liners played out a 0–0 draw. [23] West Tribe and Chebu AROB had a strong first half of the season, sitting first and second respectively after both sides won all their matches, excepting Tribe's 1–0 victory over Chebu on 9 March. [10] However, Radazz FC came back strongly in the second half, securing 3–2 victories over Tribe and Chebu on consecutive weekends, propelling them into second, with Chebu a point behind with a game in hand. However, on 20 April, they could only manage a 2–2 draw against bottom side Gazelle FC, while Chebu secured a vital 3–2 win over West Tribe. Radazz completed their season with a 2–1 win after Greengold Liners, and sat second ahead of West Tribe by a point and behind the already qualified Chebu AROB, but having played a game more than both sides. As such, they could only watch as West Tribe played out their final fixture: a 5–1 thrashing of Gazelle, meaning that they and league winners Chebu would qualify for the playoffs. [10]
In the playoffs, all four Highlands and Islands teams were eliminated by Northern and Southern Conference sides, with reigning champions Toti City defeating Blue Kumuls 8–1 thanks to a double hat-trick from Raymond Gunemba. [10] [24] In the two-legged semi-finals, previous champions Hekari United and Toti City came out on top against their conference rivals Eastern Stars and Morobe United respectively, before a penalty shoot-out decided the final in Toti City's favour after a 0–0 draw, allowing them to win their fifth consecutive league title. [3] [10]
