Waitakere and Auckland have between them won five of the last six O-League titles but they have never met in the final of the tournament. That will change on Sunday at Mt Smart Stadium in a clash that will be the sides' seventh meeting this season.
Waitakere have won three of those games, including a dramatic 4-3 victory in the ASB Premiership final, and they will be chasing their fourth piece of silverware to compete a perfect season.
But Auckland, aiming to clinch the Oceania trophy for a third year running, will have something to say about that in what must be regarded as one of the most finely-balanced finals in the history of the competition.
Auckland football fans looked like they could be denied the dream final after Joses Nawo opened the scoring for Amicale shortly before halftime with a spectacular volley which bounced in off the crossbar.
The goal came against the run of play and was virtually the Vanuatu side's only chance of the half, but it cut in half the hosts' aggregate lead and left the tie in the balance.
That was until the enigmatic Coombes levelled the scores with a delightful volley of his own, controlling the ball on his chest before dinking it over a defender and rifling home.
Amicale were left needing two goals and the visitors were always going to leave space at the back in search of an unlikely comeback. Dan Morgan was able to exploit that space down the left, drawing a defender behind sliding the ball across to an unmarked Krishna to slot the clinching goal.
Waitakere will head into the final buoyed by a 1-0 victory in the sides' last meeting, at Kiwitea St last month, but prior form will count for little in arguably the most important derby to date.
