OFC News

ALL WHITES LEAVE IT LATE AGAINST MALAYSIA

Old snatches victory

Steven Old opened his international goal scoring account against Malaysia to the delight of the 10,000 spectators at QEII Park in Christchurch, New Zealand. The friendly between New Zealand and their Asian neighbours looked to be heading to a goalless draw, before the 20-year-old defender blasted home a loose ball from point-blank range in the 87th minute.

Spectacular goalkeeping from Mohammed Syamsuri, and the crossbar came to the Malaysians rescue at multiple stages during the match as the All Whites piled on the pressure. The Malaysian defence also struggled to deal with New Zealand's centre-back pairing of Old and skipper Danny Hay who proved a constant threat in the air from set-piece.

The All Whites handed debuts to Glen Moss and hometown hero Andy Barron, with Jeff Fleming and Jeremy Brockie also earning their first caps of the bench. New Zealand opened brightly with Barron whistling a shot past the right-hand upright after just 20 seconds, with Old and Hay heading over with two quickfire chances.

At the other end of the field Mohammed Safee Mohammed Salj looked dangerous on the break with his pace, but miscontrolled at crucial stages. Malaysia were unable to register a shot on target in the 90 minutes.

UK-based Leo Bertos began the match brightly and in the 18th minute shot just wide, he later played Brent Fisher into the 18-yard box but his effort shook the sidenetting. Bertos exploded into life in the second spell with a mixture of pace and dazzling footwork creating many of the All Whites' best chances.

Tim Brown was first to rattle the woodwork just after the hour with a rasping drive, four minutes later Vaughan Coveny brought the best out of Syamsuri who palmed his header the crossbar, his follow-up also cracked the frame. Coveny needs one goal to overtake Jock Newell as New Zealand's all time leading international scorer.

The Malaysia defence finally cracked three minutes from time, Barron's inswinging free-kick causing chaos inside the six-yard box, before the ball fell invitingly for Old who dispatched the ball into the roof of the net. In stoppage time Barron was denied by Syamsuri at full-stretch in the last meaningful attack of the match.

The teams now head to North Harbour Stadium for a second clash on Thursday night (23 February).

Match Facts

Result

New Zealand 1 (Steven Old 87')

Malaysia 0

New Zealand - 1. Glen Moss; 2. Steven Old; 3. Jeremy Christie; 5. Danny Hay (c); 7. Adrian Webster (19. Jeremy Brockie 68'); 8. Tim Brown (6. Jeff Fleming 77'); 10. Brent Fisher (9. Shane Smeltz 68'); 11. Leo Bertos; 14. Noah Hickey; 16. Andy Barron; 21. Vaughan Coveny

Subs not used - 4. Cole Tinkler; 12. Jarrod Smith; 13. Craig Wylie; 15. James Pritchett; 17. Campbell Banks; 18. Andrew Boyens; 20. Ross Nicholson

Malaysia - 22. Mohammed Syamsuri; 4. Ronny Harun; 5. Norhafiz Zamani Misbah; 6. Thirumuruhan Veeran; 8. Mohammed Safee Mohammed Sali; 9. Mohammed Amri Yahyah (7. Mohammed Fadzu Saari 60')10. Rasiah Surendran; 11. Rudie Ramli; 14. Mohammed Hardi Jaafar; 17. Nantha Kumar Kalliappan; 18. Chan Wing Hoong; 19. Ahmad Azlan Zainal; 20. Zairo Anuar Zalani

Subs not used - 1. Mohammed Faizal Abd Rashid; 2. Mohammed Saiful Mohammed; 12. Mohazim Shah Dawood Shah; 19. Ahmad Azlan Zainal; 20. Zairo Anuar Zalani