Bula FC and Vanuatu United hash out a draw in opening OFC Pro League clash

Vanuatu United and Bula FC fought out a two-all draw in the opening match of the OFC Pro League at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

With warm conditions and fine weather blessing the first match, fans were not disappointed as the two teams got their campaigns off to a lively start.

Despite Bula FC's early dominance in possession the opening goal of the game came from Vanuatu United FC.

The set piece goal in the 21st minute seemed to have come from an Alex Saniel header, but his celebrations were short-lived as the goal was later awarded to his teammate Bill Kaltak whose name will go down in the history books as the first goal scorer of the new league.

Fiji football legend Roy Krishna drew his team level in the 31st minute with the two sides going into the breather tied at 1-all.

Bula FC looked dominant at the start of the second spell with the possession eventually paying dividends as Nabil Begg fired home from close range to give the Fijians the lead in the 70th minute.

With the lead in hand Bula FC parked the bus for the remainder of the match with Vanuatu United piling on the pressure but squandering multiple chances as the game ticked over into injury time.

But just as the final minute of the match ticked down and it looked like the Fijians had eked out a win Cardona's last-ditch attempt straight down the middle was fumbled into the back of the net by Bula FC goalkeeper Didier Desperez.

Goals - Vanuatu United FC: 2 (Bill Kaltak 21', William Cardona 90+5)

Goals - Bula FC: 2 (Roy Krishna 31', Nabil Begg 70')

Man of the match - Roy Krishna

Post Match Interviews

After the match Vanuatu coach Lars Hopp, who is only with the team for this first round having resigned before the tournament kicked off, said it was great to finally get things underway, and they just wanted to get something from the game.

"I think our first half was not really good. We actually scored with the only attempt on goal."

"But then second half was a little bit better and even though we were behind like the team didn't give up," Hopp said.

"And I think that is the big take away from today. It's the same as always, you've got to keep believing, you've got to keep fighting. And I am very happy for the team that they got rewarded in the end."

And although the history books will name Bill Kaltak, who got the last touch on the ball, as the scorer of the first ever goal in the OFC Pro League it did originally come off an Alex Saniel header from a corner-kick.

Asked by media how it felt to have his header go in Saniel had this to say.

"I just wanted to thank God for the talent and the skills that he has given me and especially the opportunity to score the first goal," Saniel said.

OFC Media has confirmed to RNZ Pacific the goal was officially credited to Bill Kaltak.

Despite the last-minute draw Bula FC coach Stéphane Auvray said he was pleased with his team's first outing.

"I was very happy for the players and for the fans as well, because for them, it was also the first professional game for a Fijian team."

"Unfortunately, we didn't get the result at the end. But again, if you've been listening to me for the past month, what matters the most was the content, and I think we could be very happy with the content, considering it was our first game, because we had no friendly games during the preseason," Stéphane Auvray said.

Player of the match Roy Krishna praised his Bula FC teammates for coming from behind in the first half to secure a lead in the second half.

"Overall, I'm proud of the boys," Krishna said.

"There was a lot of character shown…you know we were down; we came back."

As for the result?

"It's not the best way to finish the game…But yeah a lot of positives to take from this game, our first game," Krishna said.

"You know a draw…I'm just happy for the fans because at least we gave them something," he said.

Krishna said there were quite a few takeaways from the match they could go away and work on.

"I think with the ball we need to be a bit better. Sometimes we rushed in the final third we tried to make the final pass in moments where we could have controlled the game," Krishna said.

The Fiji football legend and former Wellington Phoenix forward also thanked Bula FC fans for turning out to support them on the day.

"Thanks to the fans just keep supporting us and hopefully we can have a 12th man in Mount Smart Stadium…hopefully we can give you the three points," Roy Krishna said.

Both teams are up against New Zealand opposition on Tuesday 20 January with Bula FC taking on South Island United at 3pm local time while Vanuatu United will take on Auckland FC in the later fixture at 7pm.