Solomon mamula's chance of a world championship berth hangs on cotton

The Solomon Islands U-20 mamula soccer team has missed a huge opportunity to close the gap on frontrunners, Fiji when they had to play a catch up game with Vanuatu which ended in a 2-2 draw earlier today.

Fiji who are leading the race are on nine points with a bye today. New Zealand who is second is currently playing Tahiti. The draw now left the Solomon mamula with a dismal five points after four matches, trailing Fiji who only played three matches by four clear points. It is becoming apparent that the race would be solely between New Zealand and Fiji as Solomon Islands and Vanuatu hopes are hanging on the thread.

In the game today which was expected to be won by Solomon Islands, Vanuatu shook Solomon Islands by surprise when it scored twice inside five minutes from kick off to give the Mamulas a wake up call. The mamulas managed to hold them at bay from then on. It was not until the end of the dying minutes before youngster Tony Otini scored to cut back the goal margin.

Solomon Islands came back strong after the breather to score the equaliser and could have grabbed the winner had the frontliners made use of their chances. They play Tahiti on Saturday and Samoa on Monday before they head home early next week.