Ba have won through to the 2007 OFC O-League Final tonight after recording a 1-0 win over Tahitian champions AS Temanava at Churchill Park, Lautoka.
Tuimasi Manoca’s 72nd minute winner was enough to give Ba their greatest moment in Oceania Football club competition and effectively end AS Temanava’s interest in the O-League. AS Temanava’s second place finish gaurentees Tahiti will retain a spot in next season’s O-League draw regardless of the outcome of their remaining match against Marist FC.
Ba’s victory secured top spot in O-League Group B with ten points and left AS Temanava stranded on four points with only one game remaining against Marist FC in Honiara on Thursday.
The victory comes 24 hours after the fixture was abandoned just ten minutes into proceedings at a waterlogged Govind Park, Ba, and fires the Fijian champions one step closer to a possible place at the FIFA Club World Cup – Japan 2007.
Ba’s third victory in four O-League matches means that AS Temanava’s final Group B match against Marist FC will be of more consequence to the Solomon Islanders who have to secure points to place pressure on New Caledonian champions AS Mont Dore in the race to avoid ‘relegation’ to the O-League Preliminary Tournament in the Cook Islands in May.