Heraki United 3
Waitakere United 0
Waitakere United will hope a southerly blast hits Auckland in a fortnight after they were comprehensively beaten by Heraki in the first leg of the O-League final yesterday.
Neil Emblen's team couldn't cope with the heat and the skill of Papua New Guinea's top club side and will have to overcome a three-goal deficit to qualify for the Club World Cup when the two sides meet in Auckland in a fortnight.
While it sounds a tall order, and it is, Waitakere have done it in O-League finals in the past. They have traditionally struggled in the islands but prevailed in home conditions to take their place in the lucrative club competition.
Three years ago, they trailed Fiji's Ba 2-1 after the first leg but won the second leg at home 1-0 to progress on the away goals rule.
The following year they were beaten by Solomon Islands side Kossa 3-1 in Honiara in the first match only to win the return leg 5-0 to comfortably progress.
The rewards for qualifying are significant, with the O-League champions guaranteed US$500,000 for December's Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. Last year Auckland City banked US$1.5 million for finishing fifth.
Emblen refused to blame the stifling conditions for his side's poor performance yesterday: "The weather is the same, the pitch is the same for both teams so we can't make any excuses," he said. "Hekari just scored three goals today and we didn't.
"We wanted to come back with a closer score but Hekari played very well today. We'll just have to be at our best in two weeks' time when they come to our place."
Waitakere had their chances yesterday, with Emblen hitting the woodwork with a stinging shot from just outside the box as early as the second minute and Benjamin Totori also struck the upright on the stroke of halftime after a surging run from Roy Krishna.
Hekari led 1-0 at the break after a relatively even first 45 minutes, thanks to a goal to Kema Jack, who capitalised on an error from Waitakere goalkeeper Danny Robinson. They took control of the match in the second spell with goals to Jack and Solomon Islands international Alick Maemae.
Hekari have made a concerted effort in recent months to break the New Zealand stranglehold on the O-League. An island club has never won Oceania's competition to find the region's best club side but Hekari made a host of signings in recent times to challenge for the O-League title.
Their two playmakers, Maemae and Henry Fa'rodo, both played in the NZFC, as did Stanley Waita. Fa'arodo also played for Perth Glory in the A-League while Fijian Tuimasi Manuca comes with a good pedigree having played in the 2007 and 2008 O-League finals.
Hekari 3 (K Jack 30, 75, A. Maemae 48) Waitakere 0. HT: 1-0.
