Tonga opened their tour of New Zealand in preparation for the upcoming 2006 OFC U-20 Women’s Championship in Samoa with a 0-6 loss at the hands of Auckland’s Three Kings United.
The visitors barely had time to unpack their kitbags before they were whisked onto the OFC Academy field for the friendly match.
After a scrappy start to the match, Three Kings settled into their work, shifting the ball around the pitch and regularly getting in behind the Tongan defence.
Only poor finishing and brave goalkeeping kept the scoreline at 0-0, until the 26th minute when NZ U-20 rep Hannah Rishworth converted from close-range. Two minutes later Zoe Thompson doubled the lead.
It was not all one-way traffic however with Tonga threatening on the counter-attack, but they were restricted to half chances with Three Kings ‘keeper Jenny Bindon called into action once denying the Tongans a consolation goal with a smart kick-save.
A four goal burst midway through the second half killed the match off, leaving Tonga with plenty to work on ahead of their clash with New Zealand U-20 on Wednesday (14 March 2006).