New Zealand will have to beat Tahiti in tomorrow's Oceania Under-17 tournament decider at North Harbour Stadium to win through to the Fifa World Cup in Nigeria.
The Kiwis, aware a 4-0 win over New Caledonia in the late game would have them inthe driving seat for tomorrow's finale - and able to progress to September's cup with a draw - were held scoreless in the first half before winning with a penalty and a late goal.
They can claim, with some justification, they were denied two other scoring chances.
Referee Lencie Fred turned down at least one, maybe two, other legitimate calls for a penalty and another chance was ruled out when Fred said the ball had not crossed the line after rebounding off the underside of the crossbar.
New Zealand coach Stave Cain remained philosophical after watching his team shrug off the difficulties of playing on the stadium's artificial surface to beat the island nation.
"Nothing has changed. We still have to beat Tahiti which is what we thought we would have to do," said Cain. "To play at the highest level, you have to win games. The pleasing aspect is that again we did not concede."
New Zealand's first goal was almost an hour in coming and then from the penalty spot after Thomas Spragg was brought down and Jack Hobson-McVeigh converted.
The game was made safe two minutes from time when Andrew Milne tucked the ball away after Cameron Lindsay's long-range effort was spilled by goalkeeper Kim Bellinger.
Cain, impressed by lively wide player Andrew Bevin, said the youngster could get a start tomorrow after playing the last 30 minutes yesterday.
In yesterday's early game, Moken Maltungtung gave Vanuatu a shock lead after 12 minutes against Tahiti before seeing his side slump to lose 4-1.
Teaonui Tehau, Heiari Tavanae and a pair from Raimana Dahlluin and Tavanae earned Tahiti's win.
Tahiti need only a draw against New Zealand to follow their nation's under-20 side onto the world stage.
