Toti City make last eight

TOTI City secured their passage to the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Champions League final eight after they played out a draw (1-1) with Hienghene Sport in New Caledonia on Saturday.
In the earlier game, Tahiti’s AS Tefana and Vanuatu’s Malampa Revivors were also forced to settle for a draw (3-3) at Kone’s Stade Yoshida before both bowing out of this year’s edition of the tournament.
Although Hienghene Sport and City lined up against each with qualification to the next stage already under their belt, there were plenty on offer on the final match in group A with both sides desperate to top the table in order to secure a home ground advantage in the knock-out stage.
Hosts Hienghene only needed a draw for group supremacy and their outlook got even brighter in the 9th minute when the lively Brice Dihate beat the goalkeeper with a well-executed shot to the delight of the crowd.
Falling behind caused no panic for the Papua New Guineans who conceded early goals in all of their three matches of the tournament and Peter Gunemba’s troops were back on level terms in the 24th minute courtesy of Nigel Dabinyaba’s fourth goal of the competition.
An absorbing open contest developed for the remainder of the match with both sides creating clear cut chances only to be denied by poor finishing, desperate goal-line clearances and a number of top class saves.
Despite countless attempts on goal up until the dying minutes, neither side were able to break the deadlock forcing them to settle for a share of the points.
When the final whistle blew, the vocal Hienghene supporters raised their arms in the air triumphantly, knowing Stade Yoshida would be one of the four home venues for the quarterfinals of the 2019 OFC Champions League on the weekend of April 6 and 7.
Despite finishing on top of the group, Hienghene coach Felix Kagawa refused to get carried away.
“We had so many opportunities to finish the game but we were missing some pride and aggression,” Kagawa said.
“We didn’t press high enough so we were forced back a bit in attack.
“Luckily, we have a great goalkeeper and he has proven his worth. We don’t underestimate our achievement of finishing on top of the group because we fought for it hard, it wasn’t easy.”
Meanwhile, City will find out their quarterfinal destiny following the draw at OFC’s Auckland headquarters on March 5.
Coach Peter Gunemba is confident his side will be ready for any challenge ahead.
“I thank God for the qualification,” he said.
“We came here to finish in the top two. Of course our aim was to finish on top, unfortunately we couldn’t achieve that.
“But I thank the players for fighting very hard. We started slowly in the tournament but got better.
“We just have to work on the lapses in concentration at the back, because we made the same defensive mistakes that cost us silly goals.
“I know the quarterfinal will be very tough.
“We will be playing away against a team with their crowd behind them. So we will go back and prepare for wherever we go.” – OFC