Oceania Club Cup

1999
South Melbourne took top spot in the rankings after beating surprise finalists Nadi from Fiji, making their debut in the competition. In fact, Nadi finished above Central United whom they beat in the semifinal 1-0. Nadi originally finished second in their initial group behind eventual fourth placed A.S. Venus but did enough to qualify as the 2nd best placed team among the 3 groups. That included a crushing 13-0 win over 8th placed Kiwi Club.South Melbourne also crushed Konica 10-0 in group play. A 3-0 comfortable win in the semifinal over Venus led to a 5-1 rout of Nadi in the final.
The big disappointment was reserved for New Zealand`s Central United. They were firm favorites to take on Melbourne in the final but failed abjectly. They finished just above Venus in 3rd spot, although they did have the consolation of the most lopsided victory of the competition when the hammered bottom feeders Lotoha'apai 16-0. AS Venus on their part made Tahiti proud by finishing a very strong 4th on their debut.Highlight for them was a 14-1 win over Kiwi Club.
Vanuatu`s Tafea could be excused for being unhappy with 5th spot after an impressive showing on their debut. Having outclassed Lotoha'apai 10-0, they were brave enough to hold Central United to a creditable 2-2 draw but went out of the competition due to 2 goal difference less than Nadi in the other group.Malaita Eagles also can feel a little bit unhappy as they put on stiff resistance to eventual winners South Melbourne ,only losing by 2-1. That was also incidentally the closest any side came to the champions. They also bettered Melbourne 10-0 win over Konica by thrashing them 14-2. But they had to settle for 6th place overall.
Although Konica didnt have much to celebrate, finishing 7th out of 9th still represented somewhat of a bonus. Scoring twice against Malaita helped them in their cause, although they lost by double figure margins each time. Kiwi Club had a dismal campaign, especially finishing behind Konica was really galling. Scoring once against Venus did the trick for them as they avoided the wooden spoon but only just. That dubious distinction went to hapless Lotoha'apai who cried and burned their way to a disastrous and ultimately embarassing outing for their nation. Pretty dismal.Read about 1987 and 2000 editions here