NOUMEA: There is as much interest surrounding the neck and neck race for the third position between AS Poum and JS Baco as there is for New Caledonia division d`honneur national league leaders AS Magenta and Mont Dore. This is because Magenta and Mont Dore are safely into the playoffs which start in March.
The third spot is a two-horse race between current occupant AS Poum and JS Baco and the margin between the two rivals got even slimmer after round 16 matches last weekend. Both teams now have the same points differential after Poum’s magnificent 2-0 upset of Mont-Dore and JS Baco’s 4-2 victory over Olympique. Poum still leads Baco by 2 points; however, Baco has a match in hand and could well pull the rug from under Poum in the climactic round.
The top three teams in the division d’honneur will playoff for the championship with the winner of the territorial league finals in a round robin series.
Round 16 results
Gaïtcha FCN- AS Magenta 2 – 4
Olympique – JS Baco 2 – 4
USC – ASLN Kouaoua 1 – 2
Mont-Dore – Poum 0 – 2
ACB Poya – Auteuil 2 – 2
Points Ladder (after rd 16)Teams Pts P W D L F A diff
1. AS Magenta 56 16 13 1 2 57 21 +36
2. Mont-Dore 51 16 11 2 3 29 12 +17
3. AS Poum 47 15 10 2 3 35 22 +13
4. JS Baco 45 14 10 1 3 35 22 +13
5. Gaitcha FCN 39 15 7 3 5 25 26 -1
6. USC 29 16 3 4 9 22 29 -7
7. Kouaoua 29 15 4 2 9 22 43 -21
8. ACB Poya 28 15 4 1 10 28 31 -3
9. AS Auteuil 26 14 3 3 8 26 37 -11
10. Olympique 20 16 1 1 14 20 56 -36