A place in the OFC Champions League semi-final is still open for three teams after Western United secured a hard earned 2-1 win against Malampa Revivors on the second day of action for Group C at Mangere Centre Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
Malampa Revivors opened with a significantly stronger performance in their 1pm fixture against Western United, forcing the speedy Solomons to fight to the final whistle for the 2-1 win.
Western earned an early lead when Joses Nawo sent in an impressive shot from the right edge of the 18-yard box in the 25th minute but the Ni-Vanuatu first-timers lifted their intensity after conceding and the rest of the half saw a more equal spread of possession as Malampa Revivors fought for the equaliser.
Their tireless effort paid off early in the second half when Matson Feni received a yellow card for a tackle on Ismael Edward in the box and captain John Alick scored Malampa Revivors’ only goal of the game from the penalty spot.
A penalty on the other side of the field allowed the Solomon Islands club to regain their lead after a foul from Greg Bani in the box in the 75th minute. Western United captain Henry Fa’arodo stepped up to the penalty spot and fired the ball just wide of a diving Naruel Maliu to bring the score to 2-1.
A chance for Western United to further their lead came after Greg Bani was shown a yellow card for another foul in the penalty box in the 84th minute, but Maliu pulled off an impressive save to stop substitute Paul Wale from getting his name on the score sheet.
Although the loss ended Malampa Revivors’ chance of reaching the semi-finals, assistant coach Steven Ham was very pleased with the valiant effort displayed by his side, and thought his inexperienced team put up an impressive fight against a more established squad.
“I’m really happy because Western United are a talented team, most of them play for their national team,” he said.
“We really tried our best and we are a new team so I am pleased with our effort.”
Western United coach Commins Menapi was overjoyed to leave the field with their first points of the competition, and felt proud watching his side persevere against their determined opponents for the full 90 minutes.
“I’m happy with the performance of the boys today, we got three points and I’m happy with the way they played,” he said.
“Malampa gave us a good game today, I think they improved from their last game against Lae City Dwellers, so I was very happy that the boys went out there and gave 100 per cent.”
Photo Twitter OFC Champions League