The title chances of Samoa and Papua New Guinea have both been dashed though after the pair fought out a 1-1 draw.
New Zealand’s result very much puts them in the box seat for the title as their goal difference is now vastly superior to that of New Caledonia, the only side that can draw level with them on points in the final pair of games on Saturday.
Hannah Wilkinson, whose services were not required for the opening day win over Papua New Guinea, captain Rosie White, Katie Rood, Kate Loye and substitute Georgia Brown played big roles in adding to that goal tally by all notching doubles as the Junior Ferns went on the rampage to put themselves within touching distance of Japan.
Aaron McFarland’s charges now have only one more side to face at the tournament and a draw in that fixture against Samoa would be enough to make sure of a fourth successive World Cup appearance.
“I thought there were patches where we were really good today,” McFarland said.
“We moved the ball really quickly and having a little bit of rain helped our passing game. But the girls have set themselves high standards and they’ll be disappointed with other parts of the performance. Conceding a goal and the manner in which we conceded it will be reviewed and we’ll have to look at that for our long-term development. But on the whole I’m very pleased with them.”
As well as providing the chance to qualify for a World Cup, McFarland is making the most of this week as it offers the opportunity to cast his eye over the talent at his disposal, some of which is based overseas, particularly in the United States university system.
“We’ve tried to get as strong a squad together as possible and bring those overseas players back because we want to see how they compare to the players that are training in New Zealand. It’s been good to see them and they’re all trying to put their hands up for World Cup selection because it’s probably one of the few chances they’ll have.”
Despite the heavy nature of the defeat, New Caledonia’s Les Cagous did give the Junior Ferns a slight scare in the first half, becoming the first side to breach their defence when Marie Heutro lifted the ball into the net off goalkeeper Erin Nayler from close range in the 28th minute. That made the score 3-1 and gave New Caledonia a glimmer of hope but they struggled to threaten seriously again as New Zealand completely dominated proceedings.
“As we predicted, it was very hard,” Les Cagous coach Matthieu Delcroix said. “But I am proud of the players because they never gave up and had opportunities to score goals.”
Chances to score proved harder to come by in the second match and there was little to take note of until shortly after the hour mark when the game burst into life. Samoa finally broke the deadlock in the 67th minute when Papua New Guinea goalkeeper Dephne Flinders failed to gather the ball at the feet of Lanuola Mulipola and the striker prodded it home.
Samoa celebrated the strike wildly but that exuberance was cut short just seconds later as Papua New Guinea broke forward straight from the restart and equalised through Sandra Birum. Papua New Guinea had two chances to win the match in the dying seconds when Meagan Gunemba hit the bar and Birum failed to force the ball into an open goal in quick succession but both sides had to settle for a point that saw their respective World Cup hopes suffer a fatal blow.
“We almost scored at the end there but the ball just wouldn’t go in,” Papua New Guinea coach Max Foster said. “We knew Samoa would be physically strong so we told our players just to move the ball quickly and be more attacking than in the first match against New Zealand. We have to score more goals if we want to win games.”
Samoa counterpart Phineas Young put the concession of his side’s equaliser down to the players’ lack of concentration after taking the lead.
“I’m happy to have got a draw but we were aiming to have a win,” he said. “We were a bit too overjoyed after scoring the goal and the next minute Papua New Guinea went and scored. We were sleeping and let them through.”
The final round of matches in the OFC U-20 Women’s Championship take place on Saturday with Papua New Guinea meeting New Caledonia at 1pm and Samoa facing New Zealand at 3pm.
New Caledonia vs New Zealand Match Summary: Download Here
Papua New Guinea vs Samoa Match Summary: Download Here
Competition Summary: Download Here

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