BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
FANS, friends and supporters of Marist Men’s Football Club (FC) will miss some of the big names for the upcoming new season of the Telekom Super League (TSL) 2021 which is set for early June.
Marist technical head coach Patrick Miniti in an interview with Raw Sport said the team had lost Bobby Leslie to Waneagu FC, Allan Junior for Honiara City, and Fred Osifelo for Kossa FC.
Miniti told Raw Sports on 19 May (this week) at the SINU, Kukum campus playing ground that the team will also miss its veteran player Abraham Iniga.
“We lost Bobby Leslie to Waneagu FC, Allan Junior to Honiara City, and Fred Osifelo to Kossa FC and our veteran Abraham Iniga as he has decided to take a break,’’ said Miniti.
Mr. Miniti however said that five youngsters from Marist under 19 team had teamed up with the Marist men’s senior training squad in replacement of the outgoing teammates.
“You cannot expect big names with us at the moment, but yeah…we have John Oge from our U-19, Fred Osifelo, John Molis, Rolland, and Dickson (Goal Keeper).
“However we are yet to finalized the squad but those are some of the names and changes we are looking at for this season,’’ said Miniti.
He said that with this combination Marist FC is continuing with their pre-session training before the trimming of the final squad from the 30 plus men training squad by the end of this week.
“Mental and physical fitness, game plans is some of our focus which is for me as a coach will work on to address now. We are also looking forward to having one friendly match this weekend to assess the team,’’ he told raw sport.
“We cannot achieve a good combination or team overnight and I have seen that there’s a huge gap to be addressed in the team, I have to mould them together to grow in one spirit ahead of this season as it seems to be tough this season,’’ he said.
Mr. Miniti said the Marist final squad will be finalized at the end of this week and he said he hope his new combinations will compete at this season’s TSL that is set for the second week of June this year.
According to Miniti, Marist FC has now yet to secure a sponsorship for this season’s Clubs TSL campaign and they are expected to secure the sponsorship by the end of this week as well.
Meanwhile, he thank Marist’s former major sponsors such as Y-Sato, APCO, and many of the individuals who have supported the team for the past seasons.
Marist final squad will be named and announced on a later date once the squad is finalized and sponsorship secured.
