The Papeete-based club beat Tamarii Faa’a 2-1 in the final at the Napoléon Spitz ground to qualify for the French Cup, the premier knockout competition in French football.
The Coupe de France, as it is also known, is open to all professional and amateur clubs in France, as well as teams based in the overseas departments and territories.
The Laurent Heinis-coached Tefana earned their right to take part in the next edition thanks to goals from Tahiti international Alvin Tehau and fellow striker Roihau Degage.
But it was far from a straightforward victory against a determined Tamarii Faa’a outfit who have now completed a bridesmaids double after also finishing runners-up in the recently-completed Super Ligue.
After an even opening half, the sides went into the sheds locked at nil-all and it wasn’t until the 65th minute that Tefana finally opened the scoring through Tehau.
It stayed that way until the last minute of regulation time when Degage pounced to double the advantage and ensure the cup would be heading for the Tefana trophy cabinet.
There was still enough left on the clock for Tamarii to earn a consolation goal but Tehina Temorere’s effort deep into injury time arrived too late to make any difference to the outcome.
The majority of the Tefana starting line-up will not be able to go overboard on the celebrations though as their Tahiti Cup success is set to be swiftly followed by involvement in another major tournament.
Seven Tefana players – Pierre Kogogne, Heimano Bourebare, Stanley Atani, Lorenzo Tehau, Alvin Tehau, Angelo Tchen and Xavier Samin – have been included in the Tahiti squad for the OFC Nations Cup, set to take place in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara from 1-10 June.
Tahiti have been drawn in Group A and will face New Caledonia, Samoa and Vanuatu while Group B consists of Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
The teams will take part in a tournament based on a league system with semi-finals and a final and the winner will on to represent OFC in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.
The four highest-placed teams will then contest stage three of World Cup qualifying – a round-robin, home-and-away play-off series. The matches are foreseen to take place between 7 September 2012 and 26 March 2013 in FIFA windows.
The winner of the third stage will advance to an inter-continental home-and-away play-off against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF – the confederation of North America, Central American and the Caribbean – for a place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.
For more on Tahiti football go to www.ftf.pf

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