South Island United have recorded their first ever OFC Pro League win, holding off a second half comeback from Vanuatu United FC to claim a 2-1 victory at North Harbour Stadium.
Two goals inside the first ten minutes put South Island United in pole position, but changes from Lars Hopp at the break swung the match in Vanuatu United’s direction, who almost claimed a deserved point at the end, but a VAR intervention denied Owen Smith.
After wet conditions forced the postponement of three mid-week matches, the OFC Pro League finally resumed in Auckland on Friday afternoon.
South Island United were hampered by the loss of New Zealand international Oskar Van Hattum moments before kick-off – one of only two changes to the side that lost to Auckland FC on opening day of the competition.
Meanwhile, one of only two sides to have completed their two scheduled matches as part of the opening round of the league, Vanuatu United made seven changes to the starting eleven that lost to the same side on Tuesday evening.
Wholesale alterations and match fatigue counted against Vanuatu United though, who were punished early on by a much fresher South Island United side.
It took just four minutes for Ryan Feutz to open the scoring, running onto a long ball in-behind from Ollie Van Rijssell, and slotting past Matt Acton with a calm right-footed finish to score the first goal in South Island United history.
The second followed shortly after, with Ry McLeod and David Yoo combining, and Haris Zeb picking out the top-left corner of the net with a superb right-footed finish from the top of the penalty box.
Zeb should have scored another just three minutes later, racing in-behind the Vanuatu United defence again – this time to be denied by Acton.
Slowly but surely Vanuatu United got a foothold after their disastrous start and should have at least halved the deficit before half-time.
Twice goalkeeper Steven van Dijk came to the rescue for South Island, tipping William Cardona’s long shot over the top, and then denying Azariah Soromon in a one-on-one situation, as Rob Sherman’s side took a 2-0 lead into the break.
Vanuatu United were nearly caught cold again at the start of the second half despite making four changes, midfielder Jackson Manuel rattling the crossbar on his right foot, seconds after the resumption of play.
Feutz remained a constant threat, forcing Acton into a save from close range on his right foot, and firing inches wide after a cut-back into the penalty box from David Yoo off the right wing.
With Lars Hopp continuing to bark orders from the sideline though, Vanuatu United FC found a lifeline, substitute Alex Saniel nodding a header past the outstretched arms of Van Dijk and into the top-left corner of the net in the 67th minute.
Just as in their two prior matches, Vanuatu pushed numbers forward in search of an equaliser through the closing stages. Cardona fired over the top of the bar, whilst Saniel also had a penalty shout waved away by the VAR.
The equaliser seemed to have arrived in the 86th minute, Owen Smith picking out the bottom-left corner on his left foot, following a driving run into the penalty area from Alex Saniel.
A VAR check however deemed there to have been a soft foul in the build-up on Christian Gray and after a pitch side check, the goal was ruled out.
It proved to be the final true threat from Vanuatu United and they were unable to find what would have been a deserved leveller.
Both sides can now look ahead to Round 2, which commences next week in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
South Island United: 2 (Ryan FEUTZ 4’, Haris ZEB 9’)
Vanuatu United FC: 1 (Alex SANIEL 67’)
HT: 2-0
Photo Credit: OFC Media via Phototek