The result at Kiwitea Street, secured thanks to a 26th-minute goal by captain Jake Butler, means Waitakere have now leap frogged their fierce foes into first place in Group B and, with just one match against winless Mont-Dore remaining, have an excellent chance of topping the pool.
Given that the top two sides from each group progress to the semi-finals, Auckland are also still in the running but they have a tough trip to Tahiti looming to play a Dragon side that has lost only once and beat them 3-1 on home soil in the previous round. City are likely to need to win that match as Dragon are heavily favoured to heap more misery on fellow francophones Mont-Dore in this round’s final fixture on Tuesday.
Waitakere coach Paul Marshall was understandably delighted with the day’s turn of events and felt the win was a further indication of Waitakere’s superiority over their neighbours in recent months.
“Any win here at Kiwitea Street is a good win and we’ve kept Auckland scoreless,” he said.
“It was a definite tactic of ours to keep the game tight and we changed what we have been doing quite considerably for this particular game. They beat us a few weeks ago but we’ve played them six times now in all competitions and have won four of those encounters. I think we’re a far better team, this season at least, and the results show that, it’s clear and simple for me,” he said.
Marshall is confident his side can complete the job by picking up three points in Noumea against Mont-Dore in the final round but is aware that will not be a foregone conclusion.
“All games are tough but I’d certainly rather be going to New Caledonia than to Tahiti where Auckland are going. They’ve already lost to them and the pitch there isn’t great whereas we’re going to a good pitch so that pleases us.”
Marshall’s opposite was disappointed to have lost a game of such significance but feels the semi-final race is far from over for his men.
“We both really needed to win and it was very tense. The game was decided by a one-off chance, it was the only chance they had in the first half and, fair play to them, they put it away. We kept fighting until the end and had a few decent chances but we couldn’t put them away,” Auckland coach Ramon Tribulietx said.
“When you’re chasing the game you have to go a little more direct than you normally do and we probably should have been a bit more patient on the ball. But it’s difficult if you are down in the last 25 minutes because you want to bring the ball forward as quickly as possible. We’ll stand back on our feet and prepare for the next game because that’s going to be like a final for us now. If we want to be in the semi-finals we have to win that game, it’s as simple as that.”
In a match of few clear-cut chances, the outcome was decided when Waitakere skipper Butler received a Roy Krishna lay-off in front of goal and tucked it beyond goalkeeper Tamati Williams just before the half-hour mark.
Auckland’s prospects had earlier taken a blow when key striker Gustavo Suoto was stretchered from the field in just the third minute and the Spaniard is likely to be out of action for some time as he has a suspected broken shoulder.
It is only the second time Waitakere have beaten Auckland in the OFC Champions League and the loss is the first occasion Auckland have tasted back-to-back defeats at this level since Australia’s Sydney FC and Tahiti’s Pirae handed them consecutive setbacks in 2005.
Auckland will be keeping their fingers crossed that Mont-Dore can do them a favour against Dragon on Tuesday in the francophone derby but Tribulietx isn’t holding his breath and will instead focus on his own side.
“We have to rely on ourselves if we’re going to qualify,” he said. “If we’re good enough to make the semi-finals, we’ll win that game against Dragon.”
Dragon, who are also very much in the mix for the semi-finals, take on Mont-Dore in Papeete at 7.30pm local time on Tuesday 23 April in the last match in round five of the OFC Champions League.

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