Tahiti went up 30-0 over Federated States of Micronesia before New Zealand made a winning start of their own with a 2-0 victory over Solomon Islands. Fiji and Vanuatu couldn’t be separated with a 1-1 draw in their match before New Caledonia edged to a 1-0 victory over hosts Papua New Guinea.
Tahiti U-23 got off to a flying start against competition debutants Federated States of Micronesia as Michel Maihi opened the scoring for the 2015 event with the first of Tahiti’s 30 unanswered goals in minute two of the match.
The Francophone side never really seemed troubled by their opponent with the match giving them time to ease into the competition and focus on the manner in which they operate as a team. By the time the first-half came to a close the team were already 10-0 up with another 45 minutes still to go.
While Micronesia can be credited with never letting their heads drop too far, Tahiti also have to be given kudos for the ruthless manner in which they continued to knock the goals past embattled keeper Walter Pengelbew, who celebrated every save he did make with the enthusiasm of a goalkeeper making a match-winning save.
Fred Tissot has put his name at the top of the goal scoring list with a double hat-trick, while six of his teammates, Maihi, Manuaari Hauata, Tevairoa Tehuritaua, Mauarii Tehina, Yohan Tihoni and Raimanu Tetauira, scored three or more each.
Tahiti coach Patrice Flaccadori says though no opening match in a competition is ever easy, it was an opportunity to test some of the tactics he’s introduced to the squad.
“The topics we discussed today were to be good in defence, how to react when losing the ball and to score a lot of goals,” he says.
This is the second time Tahiti have recorded a 30-0 victory in the Pacific Games football competition, the first time coming against the Cook Islands in 1971.
Next up was the encounter between New Zealand and Solomon Islands, with both sides playing for a place in the Olympic semi-final. While on paper the Kiwis looked the stronger side, the Solomon Islands are renowned for their exciting and unpredictable approach to the game.
While Solomons didn’t disappoint with some crowd pleasing footwork at times, New Zealand proved themselves deserving of the favourites tag. Olympique de Marsaille defender Bill Tuiloma, fresh from leading the U-20s at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, was an impressive general in the centre of the park, while up front Monty Patterson impressed with his high work rate and on-ball ability.
New Zealand calmly chipped away at the Solomons backline and after some near misses were finally rewarded for their patience in the 29th minute as Monty Patterson smashed the ball in off the post. A follow-up came courtesy of Alex Rufer who chased down his own rebound off the post to volley past a diving Philip Mango.
Solomon Islands coach Patrick Miniti says he expected a difficult game and though they had planned to counter the Kiwis it didn’t go exactly to plan.
“We tried to stick to our plans but unfortunately there were some errors that led to the goals. I think the boys performed really well despite the fact that we conceded two goals,” he says.
New Zealand coach Anthony Hudson was pleased to get a first win under the belt and says his side did what they had to in order to get the win.
“I thought the conditions were really difficult to play football on the pitch because it’s really hard, so I’m just really pleased to get the three points and it’s all about the result today,” he says.
Back over on Bisini Field 3 Fiji and Vanuatu got their first matches of the Games underway as New Zealand and Solomon Islands were wrapping up.
It was expected to be an exciting, and likely very close, pairing and that’s exactly what fans got. Vanuatu were first off the mark in what proved to be a terse affair as Jean Kaltck fired past Fiji goalkeeper Senirusi Bokini to open the scoring.
Despite plenty of tussle and pressure from both sides, it wasn’t until the 63rd minute that Carlos Buzzetti’s charges were able to pull themselves back onto equal footing courtesy of youngster Nickel Chand.
Unfortunately the match got a little heated which eventually resulted in Fiji going down to ten men after defender Kolinio Sivoki was handed his marching orders after receiving a second caution.
Vanuatu tried to capitalise on the man advantage but in the end were unable to get the goal which leave them looking comfortable for both the Pacific Games and Olympic Qualifier semi-finals.
The final action of the day was, for home fans, the big one as the hosts Papua New Guinea took on defending gold medallists New Caledonia.
The early pressure appeared to come from the PNG captain Alwin Komolong and his teammates as they pushed forward via speedy striker Tommy Semmy and his attacking partner Patrick Aisa.
Possession appeared hard for either team to keep hold of in the centre of the park and that frustration showed. Following the break it appeared that Papua New Guinea came out the hungrier side with Caledonian keeper Thomas Schmidt forced to make several impressive saves to deny the PNG forward pack.
It was a standard set-piece that eventually broke the deadlock when New Caledonia fired in a corner which Pierre Kauma was able to get his head to. With so much on the line the game’s intensity upped as New Caledonia pulled out all the stops to defend their lead while Papua New Guinea had to go on the chase. As an indication of just how hungry the two sides were for victory, the goal was followed by a five minute period during which three cautions were handed out.
In the end, despite their best efforts, Papua New Guinea were unable to get the win the large domestic crowd desired, but coach Ricki Herbert praised the effort they put into the match.
“I think with PNG ranked 202 in the world you’re always looking for improvement and if I’m honest I think we should have won three or four nil today. One goalkeeping mistake has cost us the game,” he says.
For the victors, coach Thierry Sardo was elated to get the title defence off to such a great start.
“I’m incredibly pleased with the win because to beat the host country, at their home, is huge. It’s the first match of the competition, the host team, and in spite of the home fervour the boys did it.
“But it’s not over yet. We won today but we can’t let loose because in two days is our next game and we need more points in this group to go into the Pacific Games semi-finals and continue to defend our title.”
The XV Pacific Games/OFC Olympic Qualifier continues on Sunday 5 July with Match Day 2 of the Men’s Football Tournament at Bisini Sports Complex.

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