Auckland and Waitakere both hold an advantage going into the 2nd Leg after earning wins, 6-1 and 2-0 respectively, in the 1st Leg last weekend.
The aggregate winner of each semi-final will progress to the final, set to be held on Arena 2 at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, on Sunday 19 May.
See below for a look at the action that’s in store across the two 2nd Leg Semi-Final matches.
Ba [FIJ] vs. Auckland City [NZL]
The details:
2pm local time, Saturday 11 May
Govind Park
Ba, Fiji
The officials:
Referee: Gerald OIAKA [SOL]
Assistant referee 1: Ravinesh KUMAR [FIJ]
Assistant referee 2: Rakesh CHANDRA [FIJ]
4th official: Andrew ACHARI [FIJ]
The lowdown:
Hosts Ba face an almost impossible task in this encounter as they need to win by at least five goals against the defending champions to haul back the 6-1 deficit they incurred in the opening leg. That is a tough ask against any opposition but to pull it off against a team that has dominated this competition for the past two seasons and appear to be finding form at the right time is even more difficult to achieve. The Men in Black have largely themselves to blame for being in this position after ill-discipline saw them reduced to nine men in their heavy defeat last weekend. Avinesh Suwamy and Meli Codro both received their marching orders and will now not be available to coach Yogendra Dutt, who also lost his cool in the first-leg loss and was hence banished from the dugout. At the time of losing their second man, Ba were trailing by only 2-1 and had every chance of taking a competitive scoreline into the second leg had they not let the red mist descend. Their lack of discipline has now given Auckland an excellent opportunity to reach their third final in a row – and earn a shot at a hat-trick of titles – and coach Ramon Tribulietx simply needs his players to put on a professional enough performance to emerge from Fiji still on the right side on the ledger. Golden Boot leader Sanni Issa did not get much chance to shine in the first leg, although he did play a part in Ba’s sole goal, breaking into the box before laying the ball off to Tuimasi Manuca to roll into an empty net. Nigerian striker Issa will need to rediscover his goalscoring touch if the Men in Black are to have any chance of achieving mission impossible but the likes of Auckland’s Adam Dickinson and Manel Exposito, who notched a brace in the first leg, will also be keen to find the net as they now have Issa’s nine goals in sight. Ba can compensate somewhat for the absence of Suwamy and Codro as Fijian international Malakai Tiwa and Laisenia Raura are returning from suspension while Auckland will definitely be without the injured Gustavo Souto and possibly Adam McGeorge, who missed the first leg with a groin strain.
The quote:
“The next 90 minutes could be very long, especially if we don’t play with the required intensity. The tie is still alive and the conditions up in Ba are very different to here so there is no room for relaxation. Ba feel they can win it and we are expecting to play a very motivated team.” – Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx
The squads:
Ba: 1. Ratu JONE [GK], 4. Jacob MORRISON, 5. Ronil KUMAR, 6. Jone VESIKULA, 7. Tuimasi MANUCA, 8. Aisea CODRO, 9. Abbu ZAHID, 10. Mavileko NAKAMA, 11. Josefata NEIBULI, 12. REMUERU, 13. Kini VILIAME, 14. Malakai LEVATIA, 15. Osea VAKATALESAU, 16. Malakai TIWA, 17. Malakai KANAHEWE, 18. Laisenia RAURA, 19. Varun KUMAR, 20. Sanni ISSA, 21. Marika MADIGI, 22. Epeli CODRO [GK], 23. Fayah CAMARA, 24. Clarence CLARKE, 25. Jone SALAUNEUNE, 26. Scott GANNON, 27. Alvin SINGH
Coach: Yogendra DUTT [FIJ]
Auckland City: 1. Jacob SPOONLEY [GK], 2. Simon ARMS, 3. Takuya IWATA, 4. Adam MCGEORGE, 5. Darren WHITE, 6. Matthew RIDENTON, 7. James PRITCHETT, 8. Chris BALE, 9. Manel EXPOSITO, 11. Daniel KOPRIVCIC, 12. Tamati WILLIAMS [GK], 13. Alex FENERIDIS, 14. Adam DICKINSON, 15. Ivan VICELICH, 16. Albert RIERA, 17. Pedro GARCIA, 19. Mario BILEN, 20. Emiliano TADE, 21. David BROWNE, 22. Andrew MILNE
Coach: Ramon TRIBULIETX [ESP]
Waitakere United [NZL] vs. Amicale [VAN]
The details:
2pm local time, Sunday 12 May
Fred Taylor Park
Auckland, New Zealand
The officials:
Referee: Kader ZITOUNI [TAH]
Assistant referee 1: Terry PIRI [COK]
Assistant referee 2: Glen LOCHRIE [NZL]
4th official: Matthew CONGER [NZL]
The lowdown:
While Waitakere are not taking an advantage quite the size of local rivals Auckland into the second leg, they do have the benefit of being at home and are strongly favoured to retain the aggregate lead and book a return to the final for the first time since 2010. A solid defensive effort helped the west Aucklanders depart from Vanuatu last weekend with a 2-0 victory and Amicale coach Richard Iwai will have spent much of this week working out just how his men are going to find the net enough to get their noses in front. There is plenty of attacking talent in Iwai’s squad but top scorer Fenedy Masauvakalo has faded after a bright start to the campaign and no other Amicale player has scored more than once. To make matters worse, Irish centre back Brian Shelley may return from injury to further tighten Waitakere’s defence while goalkeeper Danny Robinson is in typically commanding form. Iwai will be disappointed to have lost by a two-goal margin at home as Amicale really needed to make the most of that leg to stand a fighting chance in the return. The Reds do not have fond memories of their previous visits to New Zealand – they lost 4-0 to Auckland in the second leg of the 2011 final and fell 3-2 to the same opponents in the group stages last season – and will need to create history by becoming the first Vanuatu side to win on Kiwi soil. The major obstacles in achieving that goal appear to be the resolute nature of Waitakere’s rearguard and the goalscoring threat of Roy Krishna, who struck twice in the first leg and could have earned a hat-trick had he not missed a penalty. With five goals to his name, the Fijian hitman still has an outside chance of winning the Golden Boot and will be hungry to provide the goals to ensure Waitakere’s passage to the final. Another factor playing into the home side’s hands may be the weather – Auckland has been hit hard in recent days by a bout of heavy rain and chilly temperatures and the Amicale players, used to much warmer climes back home, will not find those conditions to their liking.
The quote:
“I think it’s an advantage to play the second leg at home but it’s only a small one. If you prepare well for both games then it shouldn’t make too much of a difference but it does give you that little bit of an edge. There’s a few advantages to it but they are only minimal I would suggest.” – Waitakere United coach Paul Marshall
The squads:
Waitakere United: 1. Danny ROBINSON [GK], 2. Aaron SCOTT, 3. Jack BEGUELY, 4. Tim MYERS, 5. Brian SHELLEY, 6. Matt CUNNEEN, 7. Jeremy CHRISTIE, 8. Chad COOMBES, 9. Milos NIKOLIC, 10. Allan PEARCE, 11. Luiz DEL MONTE, 12. Roy KRISHNA, 13. Julyan COLLETT, 14. Daniel JONES, 15. Salesh KUMAR, 16. Tristan PRATTLEY, 17. Jake BUTLER, 18. Sam MATHEWS, 19. Daniel MORGAN, 20. Ryan DE VRIES, 21. Dylan STANSFIELD, 22. Richard GILLESPIE [GK], 23. Masaki NOMOTO, 24. Harshae RANIGA, 25. Bill ROBERTSON, 26. Billy COLTON, 27. Chris PALMER, 28. Alex CARR [GK], 29. Kyosuke KITANO, 30. Rory TURNER
Coach: Paul MARSHALL [NZL]
Amicale: 1. Chikau MANSALE [GK], 2. Samuel KALOROS, 3. Chanel OBED, 4. George VUTI, 5. Laitia TUILAU, 6. Samuela KAUTOGA, 7. Jean-Robert YALOU, 8. Johnny TIRAENG, 9. Jean NAPRAPOL, 10. Richard ANISUA, 11. Fenedy MASAUVAKALO, 13. Pape GUEYE, 15. Alphonse BONGNAIM, 16. Daniel NATOU, 17. Nelson Sale KILIFA, 18. Jack WETNEY, 19. Souleymane SARR, 20. Michael RUTHERFORD [GK], 21. Paul YOUNG, 22. Paul NGOM, 23. Roddy LENGA, 24. Kency TANGIS, 25. Joses NAWO, 26. Alick MAEMAE, 27. Moffat DEROMOA, 28. Aliou T
RAORE, 29. Dominique FRED, 30. Francois SAKAMA, 32. Natou NANUA, 33. Joel NAKAPUE [GK]
Coach: Richard IWAI [VAN]

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