Fiji and Vanuatu seal Prime Minister’s Cup wins

Fiji and Vanuatu won the MSG Prime Minister’s Cup titles for men and women.

Vanuatu had the chance to seal both titles, but the men’s team lost 1-0 to Fiji in a close fought final.

Fiji had finished second in the table, behind Vanuatu, with a match day 5 victory over New Caledonia securing their place in the final.

In the final of the tournament, which was hosted in Fiji, the hosts came out on top.

Bula FC’s Thomas Dunn proved to be Fiji’s hero, scoring the only goal of the final in the 10th minute to send the home crowd into celebration.

Fiji enjoyed considerable success when the competition was previously played as the Melanesia Cup, winning five of the seven editions staged between 1988 and 2000.

However, Fiji had not lifted the regional trophy since 2000.

On the women’s side it was Vanuatu who would come out on top, beating defending champions Papua New Guinea 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Papua New Guinea had threatened to pull out of the tournament, but did show up to the tournament in the end with both a men and women’s side.

In the final, Vanuatu’s Leimata Simon emerged as one of the stars, scoring Vanuatu’s equalising goal to bring the match to 1–1 before stepping up during the penalty shootout to score the decisive winning penalty and secure a historic victory for Vanuatu.