A wrap of the action from Match Day 1 of the OFC Futsal Cup 2022 at the Vodafone Arena in Suva, Fiji.
Second-half blitz sees New Zealand to victory
New Zealand overcame a determined Fiji Football Association President’s Five with three unanswered second half goals to win 5-1 in the opening match of the tournament.
The Futsal Whites led 2-1 at the break after opening the scoring two minutes in through Rahan Ali, and adding a second just before half-time when Ethan Martin drove the ball across the goal for Sean McIntee to finish with a clever reverse shot with his right foot.
In between that Ravneel Pal equalised for the ‘FP5’.
A stunning overhead strike from Jordan Ditfort and further goals from Ali and Hamish Grey in the second period saw New Zealand to victory.
FFA President’s Five: 1 (Ravneel PAL)
New Zealand: 5 (Rahan ALI x2, SEAN MCINTEE, Jordie DITFORD, Hamish GREY)
Half time: 1-2
Vanuatu open account with win over Tonga
Rhydley Napau, Athanas Alick and Sandy Mesau all scored doubles to help Vanuatu to a 9-0 win over Tonga in their opening match of the tournament on Tuesday night.
Vanuatu led 5-0 at the break, and it could have been more if not for the heroics of Tonga shot-stopper Sitaleki Tualau, who made a number of impressive saves as Vanuatu banged in 16 shots on target through the opening half.
After a long break in the scoring in the second stanza, Mesau scored twice in the space of a minute, before Bill Tamuri bagged the ninth for Vanuatu.
Tonga: 0
Vanuatu: 9 (Rhydley NAPAU x2, Athanas ALICK x2, Kemly LEHI, Lulu SOPUSO, Sandy MESAU x2, Bill TAMURI)
Half time: 0-5
Qenegeie on time as New Caledonia skipper seals comeback win
A hat trick inside the final 10 minutes from Use Qenegeie saw New Caledonia beat Fiji 4-2, having earlier trailed them 2-0 midway through the second half.
Played in front of a vocal crowd of mostly Fiji supporters, the first half was contested at a ferocious pace, with both sides enjoying a stack of scoring chances and the keepers being called upon to produce some acts of brilliance to stop the ball hitting the back of the net.
Ramzan Khan’s goal in the shadows of the break gave Fiji a 1-0 lead at the halfway point, before Merrill Nand scored early in the second half to double the advantage.
But Emmanuel Hmaen’s goal for New Caledonia with 15 to play appeared to give his side a confidence boost.
At that point Qenegeie went on a run and couldn’t be stopped, scoring to tie the game, before banging in to more goals to seal the comeback win.
New Caledonia: 4 (Emmanuel HMAEN, Uge QENEGEIE x3)
Fiji: 2 (Ramzan KHAN, Merrill NAND)
Half time: 0-1
