The two teams took to the field at Port Vila Stadium in front of a record crowd, many of whom had eagerly taken their seats hours before the match was due to kick off.
Amical grabbed the initiative early with a superb free kick from captain Fenedy Masauvakalo. New signing Gibson Daudau, another Solomon Islands import, was brought down around 30 metres from goal and Masauvakalo stepped up to calmly swerve the ball over the Tafea wall and into the net.
But it was not long before Tafea got back into the game. Samson Obed kept his cool to convert a spot kick after the ball was handled in the Amical penalty box.
The sides went into the sheds for their half-time break with the scores locked at 1-1 and the match still very much up for grabs.
Tafea had several chances to snatch the lead but failed to take their opportunities. Francois Sakama came close to being the hero, only to be denied by a brilliant save from goalkeeper Ernest Bong, while Michael Kaltak failed to provide the finishing touch to a Jean Nako pass just inside the six-yard box.
Just as it looked as if neither side would be able to find a winner in the 90 minutes, Wetney popped up to shatter Tafea’s hopes and seal the cup for Amical with only a minute left on the clock.
“I am happy for my team’s performance today and thank Tafea for a very good match,” Amical manager and main sponsor Andrew Leong said.
“I think we played better, faster and found more space. In the first half we played too slowly and it was easy for Tafea to defend. But it was an interesting game and I am very happy.”
Leong was particularly pleased with the contribution of Daudau, a player he knew little about before signing.
“I have only known Gibson for a few days,” he says.
“He is in a good space at the moment, he is fresh because he has not played a lot of games with us. He played very well in this match and I am also thankful to Wetney for scoring the winning goal. I would also like to thank all my players and club supporters.”
There is plenty more action to look forward to in Vanuatu with the Port Vila Football Association Championship kicking off its new season this week.