The opening match was a terse affair from start to finish, with Amicale and AS Dragon keen to avoid an opening day defeat in sweltering conditions.
Both sides had some marginal opportunities to edge ahead early, but they also had a strong defender in place to shut down any breaks – for Dragon it was Nicolas Vallar at the heart of defence, while Amicale’s Scotsman Colin Marshall constantly found himself in the right place at the right time.
Amicale’s Solomon Island import Jack Wetney looked the most dangerous and finally helped break the deadlock 19 minutes into the first-half. A well-timed pass off to Francois Sakama was picked up and blasted past Dragon keeper Mikael Roche to open proceedings.
The back-and-forth continued throughout the first period with neither side really testing the other where it counts. Just ahead of the break the tensions finally boiled over as Vallar and Amicale’s big Serbian striker Nicolas Vasilic had an altercation next to the benches resulting in a yellow card for the both of them courtesy of referee Gerald Oiaka.
Dragon come out much more organised in the second half but coming from behind is never an easy task. While they looked more in control, they still struggled to deploy many on-target efforts.
The cautions were flowing in this period as with Jonathan Tehau going in the book for Dragon, while Shivan Swamy, Marko Dordevic and goalkeeper Don Mansale were all added for Amicale. In sweltering heat it comes as no surprise both sides used all of their available substitutions, especially given the nature of the game – full-on contact.
Despite their best efforts and a high-tempo goal assault towards the end of play Dragon couldn’t pull one back as Amicale stood fast in defence.
AS Dragon coach Ludovic Graugnard says his side’s first-half performance was their downfall.
“I don’t think that we were really present enough in terms of our aggressiveness, we lost a lot of ground in the middle of the field and that made it really difficult for us,” he says.
“On top of that, to go down a goal so early in the half – Amicale were very good. If we want to qualify we really don’t have the right to make any errors.”
Victorious coach Nathan Hall says he’s incredibly pleased to have three early points.
“It’s a pleasing result, it was a very tough game physically. It’s one ‘o clock in the afternoon, very demanding conditions,” Hall says.
“I thought we were the better team in the first half, as the game went on they came back into it a little bit stronger and probably towards the end it was an even battle.
“But I’m just really proud and delighted for all the players to get off to a good start with the three points, it just gets everybody a big boost and hopefully we can carry that confidence into Nadi and Auckland City.”
In the day’s second encounter the physicality continued as expected, and thanks to a combination of defensive errors and a quality passing game, Auckland City edged ahead early and remained the dominant side.
Auckland City’s Portuguese striker Joao Moriera opened his OFC Champions League account when he finished the fine work started by his teammates 12 minutes in. The second goal followed just over ten minutes later when former K-League midfielder Daewook Kim capitalised on a moment of miscommunication between Nadi goalkeeper Benaminio Mateinaqara and his defenders to send the New Zealanders two goals clear.
Nadi gave their best on the field but despite their sturdy stature Kamal Swamy’s charges struggled to pull themselves back in line with the defending champions.
Auckland City further increased their lead over the hosts in the 40 minute when another great team build-up was finely finished by Emiliano Tade.
Ilimotama Jese was the first player of the match to receive a caution in the 31 minute, but far from the last. Goal scorer Moriera was next for unsporting behaviour inside the Nadi box, followed by teammate Mario Bilen. The final yellow was handed over to Jone Salauneune in the 77 minute.
The crunching physicality continued as Nadi looked to claw their way back into the match, while Auckland City denied them time and time again. As the clock ticked down Nadi became more and more desperate and a number of rouge tackles started to fly culminating in an anti-climax of the worst kind.
A studs-up challenge from Samuela Drudru on Auckland City defender Angel Berlanga earned him a direct red card from Billon and saw Berlanga being stretchered off with a suspected leg fracture.
It will be subdued celebrations with the win for Auckland City FC coach Ramon Tribulietx given the way the match ended for his side.
“Probably the only good thing is the three points we got out of it,” he says.
“We had a couple of injuries, the game was very rough in the end unfortunately but what can we do. At least we’ve got to be happy with those three points.
I think in the first half we created a lot of chances, not just those three goals, but a lot of opportunities to capitalise. I think the football was very good in the first half, the second half changed a bit as we expected but we’ve got to be positive.”
For defeated Nadi coach Swamy there were both good and bad points his side can take from the match.
“I think in the second half we contained them and that was a great achievement,” Swamy says.
“In the first half, the goals were just because of our decision making and they’ve just given the goals away. Our defenders made blunders where they’re not supposed to do it and they did it, and that’s why Auckland City scored.
“It is a learning experience for Nadi and I think we will go back to the drawing board and work on the strategies to come back and play against the other teams well.”
The OFC Champions League continues tomorrow, Wednesday 9 April, with the first Group A encounter of the competition at Churchill Park in Lautoka, Fiji. Kiwi kick things off against Waitakere United at 1pm (local) before Solomon Warriors take on AS Pirae at 4pm (local).

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