New Zealand will face Tonga in the semi-finals of the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship in Fiji, after finishing top of their group at the tournament.
New Zealand won their final group games 1-0 against Solomon Islands to ensure they’ll meet Tonga in the last four.
The tournament decides which nations will represent Oceania at next year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, with the finalists guaranteed qualification.
Wednesday’s other semi-final will be between Group A winners Fiji and Group B runners-up New Caledonia.
Early goal enough to earn New Zealand their third win
Solomon Islands went into their game against New Zealand needing a win for the best possible chance of progression to the semi-finals.
New Zealand, having all but already secured a semi-final place after comprehensive wins over New Caledonia and Tahiti, had two of their usual players sidelined through injury.
With a warm midday kickoff, the conditions were there for Solomon Islands to cause an upset and secure progression to the semi-finals.
But it was New Zealand who got on the scoreboard early through Piper O’Neill, whose emphatic finish took the pressure off the Group B leaders in the early stages.
New Zealand remained composed as they absorbed pressure from Solomon Islands’ efforts, with midfielders Mikaela Bangalan and captain Natalie Young adeptly screening the defence.
They came close to extending their lead just before half time, as Heidi Draai danced down the right wing and sent in a good cross, but Derelle Avery was denied by a sharp Fiona Goroani save.
Main photo: Neidi Draai (left) takes on the Solomon Islands defenders. Photo credit: OFC Media / Kirk Corrie / Phototek.
In the second half, New Zealand were creating opportunities to extend their lead but struggled to find the decisive touch to make the chances count.
Bangalan and Grace Duncan combined well to set up the latter but blasted her shot wide. Kya Solomon also came close to doubling the lead, but her powerful shot cannoned off the crossbar.
Despite conceding early, as the game wore on and Solomon Islands remained just 1-0 down, the belief grew that they could perhaps get something out of this game.
Goroani offered a calming presence at the back, and her defenders were effectively blunting the New Zealand attack.
The introduction of midfielder Pia Vlok and last year’s Championship-winning goal scorer Katie Pugh upped the ante on the Solomon Islands defence, well-marshalled by Hellen Reubinson, but they were unable to find a moment of magic, with Megan Waayer effectively a spectator for the majority of the second half.
New Caledonia reach last four with win against Tahiti
While progression to the semi-finals was a slightly complicated equation this morning, in the end. New Caledonia secured a comprehensive victory to ensure progression.
After their narrow defeat to New Zealand earlier in the day, Solomon Islands knew they had a chance and stayed behind to cheer on Tahiti who needed to beat New Caledonia, but not by too much, to ensure Solomon Islands progressed.
New Caledonia, meanwhile, simply needed a win or a draw to reach the semi-finals.
With those permutations at play, it was New Caledonia who set the match tempo.
Matha Bako and Gisèle Hace were a calming presence in their midfield, while Kané Dralu kept her opposite number occupied with her driving runs and quick feet down the right-hand side.
Like she was in New Caledonia’s hard-fought win over Solomon Islands, Kinë Hmaen was the focal point of New Caledonia’s attack. And, inevitably, it was she who broke the deadlock in the first half, winning the ball off the toes of the Tahitian defence, and thumping home in the 36th minute.
Tahiti hit back quickly, but Lydie Gendron was unfortunate to mistime her shot and got the ball stuck under her feet, with New Caledonia able to regroup quickly and clear to safety.
Tahiti looked to have been offered a gift of an opportunity a minute after the restart, as Kunuhei found herself in front of goal with the ball at her feet but scuffed her shot wide. Had she scored, however, it wouldn’t have counted with the assistant referee’s flag then raised.
She was instrumental in setting up another opportunity a few minutes later, with a slick no-look pass teeing up Gendron in the area but was thwarted by the tight New Caledonian defence.
As the game wore on, it seemed that Tahiti was most likely to score from outside the penalty area, with captain Maerehia Dehors trying her luck just after the hour mark, but her effort spun wide.
The result was put beyond doubt by substitute Bernadette Nyikeine in the 69th minute with a clean finish after being set up by Hmaen.
Tahiti got one back four minutes later through Vaiuta Pani, who won her foot race with her opposite number to go one-on-one with Elizabeth Aben, and she confidently fired home.
Scoring their first goal of the tournament buoyed the Tahitians, who went in search of an equaliser, but it was ultimately too little too late, and New Caledonia finished the game with probably the goal of the tournament so far.
The sucker-punch came in the 81st minute, when Hmaen scored a truly wonderful volley, finding herself with a little space in the penalty area to meet the cross from the right with an emphatic finish.
They will face Samoa in the semi-finals, knowing that a win there will secure them a first-ever place at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Acknowledgement
We thank OFC Media for providing information for this story.
Results
Games played on Sunday September 15, 2024
Group B
New Zealand 1 (Piper O’Neill 15′)
Solomon Islands 0
New Caledonia 3 (Kinë Hmaen 36’; Bernadette Nyikeine 69’)
Tahiti 1 (Vaiuta Pani 73′)
Fixtures
Games to be played on Wednesday September 18, 2024
Semi-finals
Samoa v New Caledonia
HFC Bank Stadium, Suva, Fiji, 12pm (NZT)
New Zealand v Tonga
HFC Bank Stadium, Suva, Fiji, 3pm (NZT)
Games to be played on Thursday September 19, 2024
Play-off for 7th
Cook Islands v Tahiti
HFC Bank Stadium, Suva, Fiji, 12pm (NZT)
Play-off for 5th
Fiji v Solomon Islands
HFC Bank Stadium, Suva, Fiji, 3pm (NZT)
Games to be played on Saturday September 21, 2024
Play-off for 3rd
Losing semi-finalists v losing semi-finalists
HFC Bank Stadium, Suva, Fiji, 12pm (NZT)
Final
Winning semi-finalists v winning semi-finalists
HFC Bank Stadium, Suva, Fiji, 3pm (NZT)
This story was first published on September 15, 2024.
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