As the 12th edition of the OFC Champions League draws closer www.oceaniafootball.com reflects on the third and fourth editions of Oceania’s flagship annual competition.
OFC Club Championship Tahiti 2005
A four year hiatus for the OFC Club Championship ended when Hyundai A-League champions Sydney FC lifted the Oceania club crown becoming the last Australian club to do so in 2005.
Sydney FC travelled to Tahiti as overwhelming favourites for the title.
Coached by former Germany FIFA World Cup winner, Pierre Littbarski – Sydney FC qualified for the OFC Club Championship 2005 after winning a three-way qualification tournament that featured Queensland Roar, Perth Glory and the Central Coast Mariners.
Three victories ensured the Sydney-club’s passage to the finals where they were drawn alongside host club AS Pirae, New Zealand rivals Auckland City FC and unknown quantity Sobou FC of Papua New Guinea.
The favourites tag always comes with additional pressure and that nearly told when Auckland City FC took Sydney FC to within a whisker of a 2-2 draw.
Twice Sydney FC led courtesy of goals by Alvin Ceccoli and Andrew Packer, twice Auckland City FC equalised through Paul Seaman and Jonathan Smith.
It took a last gasp goal by Steve Corica, three minutes into additional time, for the Australians to snatch the points, 3-2.
AS Pirae, 5-1 winners over Sobou, booked their semifinal spot when Raimoana Bennett netted the winner in the Tahitians 1-0 win over Auckland City FC.
Sydney accounted for AS Pirae 6-0 while Auckland City FC finished on a relative high knocking over Sobou 6-1 in their final match.
AS Magenta of New Caledonia kept the French theme alive, winning Group B, with Tafea FC – beaten finalists in 2001 – joining them in the last four.
Makuru of the Solomon Islands boasted a formidable side containing Commins Menapi, Bartram Suri and Alick Maemae, but despite that talent couldn’t force themselves into the playoff picture after an opening day loss to Tafea by 3-2.
Tahiti’s second entrant – AS Manu Ura – were no match for their three opponents losing all their games convincingly.
Any illusions Tafea had of a repeat final were quickly quashed when Sydney FC went on a goalscoring spree in the first semifinal.
Three goals both sides of the break gave Sydney FC a 6-0 victory and put them within touching distance of the FIFA Club World Championship in Japan.
In the Francophone derby, AS Magenta tipped AS Pirae out of the running with a 4-1 thrashing of the last Tahitian club involved in the competition.
Pirae led early when Robert Wadriako put the ball in his own net but from there, AS Magenta took full control winning the match with plenty to spare.
Dispirited by their semifinal exit, Pirae lost the play-off for third by 3-1 to Tafea.
By contrast to previous matches, Sydney FC laboured to victory over AS Magenta at Stade Pater.
Matt Bingley edged the Australians in front on 16 minutes before a David Zdrillic goal near the hour mark gave Sydney FC a comfortable 2-0 lead, Zdrillic winning the golden boot with nine goals.
Beaten 1-0 by Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Championship, Sydney FC bounced back in the play-off for fifth place when they downed Egypt’s Al-Ahly 2-1 thanks to goals by Dwight Yorke and David Carney.
OFC Club Championship New Zealand 2006
A year later, and with Australia departed to the Asian Football Confederation on January 1st, 2006, the fourth edition took place at a rain-soaked North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Eliminated at the group stage the year before, Auckland City FC were installed as favourites for the title alongside fellow Kiwis YoungHeart Manawatu, making their first appearance on the regional stage.
AS Pirae returned, as did Sobou, AS Magenta and Tafea FC, while Marist of the Solomon Islands and Fiji’s Nokia Eagles made their tournament debut.
Drawn together in the group stage again, Auckland City FC and AS Pirae emerged from the pool after two strong wins over Sobou and Marist.
The Navy Blues won some sense of satisfaction beating AS Pirae 1-0 in their final group stage match while Marist’s forgettable experience at least finished positively with a 7-1 win over Sobou.
All the drama and excitement belonged to Group B where the jostle for the prized semi-final slots involved all four clubs and went right down to the final match.
YoungHeart Manawatu won the group with a single win and two draws, escaping a desperate comeback from Tafea FC in their final group game that produced a six-goal thriller that finished 3-3.
Nokia Eagles erratic form meant they couldn’t take anything for granted.
A 2-2 draw with YoungHeart Manawatu was followed by a 1-0 win over Tafea, results that appeared to see Nokia Eagles in a comfortable position for the semi-finals.
But Nokia Eagle’s plans nearly flew out the window when they lost 1-0 to AS Magenta in their final game, a result that had them looking over their shoulder as Tafea FC and YoungHeart Manawatu scrapped it out in the final pool match, Tafea FC desperate to snatch the last playoff place.
The 3-3 draw saw Tafea FC eliminated on goal difference and allowed Nokia Eagles to breathe a sigh of relief.
The semi-finals set up Auckland City FC with what appeared to be a difficult tie with Nokia Eagles.
But any fears Auckland City FC may have had of Nokia Eagles turning in a big performance were misplaced as the Kiwis racked up a 9-1 semi-final win despite falling behind 1-0 to a Malakai Tiwa goal on 17 minutes.
In the other match, YoungHeart Manawatu never recovered from a whirlwind start to their semifinal by AS Pirae.
The Tahitians scored twice in the opening eight minutes through New Caledonian forward Jose Hmae and talismanic skipper Naea Bennett.
The Palmerston North-based club rallied in the second half when Benjamin Totori scored near the hour mark but for all their endeavours AS Pirae remained steadfast and booked their place in the final.
The final itself would prove to be contentious.
Scheduled on a Sunday evening, Naea Bennett confirmed his unavailability for AS Pirae for religious reasons and, without their on-field leader, much of the responsibility for winning the title fell onto the shoulders of Hmae.
That pressure proved too much as former South Africa international striker Keryn Jordan bagged a hat-trick for Auckland City FC.
AS Pirae’s Samoa forward Desmond Fa’aiuaso netted a consolation goal six minutes from the end but it was not enough to deny Auckland City FC their first Oceania club title and a berth at the renamed FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006.
But the Auckland City FC performance in Japan fell flat.
Coach Roger Wilkinson was sacked just weeks before the tournament and Allan Jones – the man who guided Auckland City FC to Oceania club success – was recalled to offer some much-needed stability.
Defeats to Al-Ahly of Egypt 2-0 and Jeonbuk Motors of Korea Republic 3-0 put paid to the Kiwi club’s hopes of matching Sydney FC’s 5th place finish the year before but did open the door for other Oceania clubs to dream of reaching the international stage.
Ends

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