NUKUALOFA – A young Cook Islands national men’s team has held Tonga to surprise 1-1 draw in their first of two international friendly matches at the National Soccer Centre in Atele on Thursday.
The match kicked off at 4:00pm under perfect weather conditions with the Tongans hot on attack for the first 20 minutes creating a handful of scoring opportunities that immediately put the home crowd in an expectant mood.
But against the run of play it was the Cooks who opened up the Tongan defense in the 29th minute of the game with an opportunistic individual goal.
Midfielder Joseph Ngauora capitalised on a one-on-one with the Tongan goal keeper after a turnover just shy of halfway and a quick through-ball that caught the home defense napping.
With 10 minutes remaining in the first half it was another midfielder Ma’ake ‘Uhatahi who finally managed to break through for the Tongans to draw the scores level.
With the scoreboard at 1-1, the tension rose in the second half as both teams strove to break the deadlock.
Determined to keep their clean home record against the Cooks, the home side enjoyed a significant territorial dominance but missed several good scoring opportunities. Tonga’s frustration showed as two players were cautioned for reckless tackles.
Tongan Coach, Kilifi Uele took a philosophical view of his team’s performance.
“We had to win the game, we had so many golden opportunities and didn’t finish well in front of goal and ended up with a draw but I am happy we were able to equalise,” Uele said.
According to Kilifi, Saturday’s lineup will definitely see changes.
Meanwhile, Cook Islands Head Coach, Maurice Tillotson was delighted with a first up confidence boosting draw for his inexperienced team.
“To have travelled to Tonga and get a draw is a great teaser and sets the scene for Saturday’s match. These are inportant development games for us and the Tongans.
The result of the second and final friendly match is set to affect the ranking of both countries and will kick off at 2:00pm Saturday at the National Soccer Centre with the Cook Islands national men’s team flying home from the Kingdom that night.
Courtesy of TFA Media