Cory Chettleburgh (second left) collides with New Caledonia's Ludwig Zeoula on the way to New Zealand's emphatic 10-0 victory. Photo / Richard Robinson
After cruising to an emphatic 8-0 halftime lead, New Zealand went on to shut out New Caledonia 10-0 to book their place in tomorrow's semifinals of the Oceania Under-20 Championship.
The easier-than-expected win ensured the Solomon Islands would join the Junior All Whites at the business end of the tournament
at Mangere's Centre Park.
In the other group, Vanuatu and Fiji won their final pool matches to progress although it was a close run thing for the Fijians who went through by a mere goal-on-goal difference from Papua New Guinea, who could have claimed second spot in group A if they had scored one more goal against Vanuatu, who won 5-2 after leading 3-0 at halftime.
Fiji, led by a Jone Salauneune hat-trick, got home 5-1 over winless American Samoa.
In tomorrow's early semifinal Vanuatu will play old foes Solomon Islands with New Zealand to play Fiji in the late game.
New Zealand's set play was impressive as they swept aside New Caledonia with defenders James Musa and captain Nick Branch netting hat-tricks on the back of a barrage of corners, free kicks and long throws.
Coach Chris Milicich was impressed by his team's display.
"Our delivery and runs were spot on," said Milicich. "It's not very often both centre-backs get hat-tricks but they can't score unless the ball is in the right place and they make the right runs.
"I thought we played some great football. We took a step up today and moved the ball really well and created problems.
"We kept the ball safe at the back and when we had the opportunity to move forward with pace on the deck we did."
New Caledonian coach Stephane Drahusak was disappointed with his team's effort. "We caught New Zealand on a very good day," said Drahusak.
"We knew it was going to be tough to get to the semis and without two of our key players it was going to be more difficult."
In Lotto Northern Premier action, defending champions East Coast Bays slumped to their first loss of the season beaten 2-1 at home by East Coast Bays who trail Bay Olympic, 4-1 home winners over Melville, by two points.
