The result is Hekari’s first win of the campaign and means they have now leap-frogged Warriors into third place on the Group A table by a narrow goal difference of just one.
Both sides have recorded one win and one draw from their six group matches – a return not good enough to secure a place in the semi-finals.
The group’s two semi-final places have instead gone to Fiji’s Ba and Vanuatu’s Amicale, who played each other at Govind Park in Ba today. The Men in Black from Ba came out on top by a 2-0 scoreline and will now meet the second-placed team in Group B in the home-and-away semi-finals on May 4 and 11.
Hekari, who won the tournament in 2010, will be disappointed not to be joining them but can at least celebrate finishing the season on a high note after finally securing three points.
Jerry Allen’s side began as if they had plenty to prove and were two goals to the good within the first half an hour after net-busters to Raymond Gunemba in the 17th minute and Nigel Dabinyaba ten minutes later.
Solomon Warriors, who secured their first ever win of the competition the week before at home to the same opponent, threatened to launch a comeback when a Moffat Kilifa strike put them right back into the contest on 54 minutes.
But the equaliser failed to arrive as Hekari held on to haul themselves off the foot of the table.
The group stages of the OFC Champions League conclude tomorrow with the final round’s Group B matches as Dragon play host to Auckland City – a vital match that will decide which of those teams qualifies for the semi-finals – and Waitakere United travel to Mont-Dore.

Share