The hosts went behind just ten minutes into the contest at Stade Numa Daly to an opportunistic effort from Bernie Ibini. But they hit back 11 minutes after the interval with a stunning free kick by Miguel Kayara and neither side was able to find a winner.
New Caledonia coach Alain Moizan made good use of the chance to cast his eye over as many players as possible, fielding an almost completely different team for the second half.
Central Coast counterpart Graham Arnold also took the opportunity to rotate his charges, handing game time to all but two of the Mariners players on the trip.
The former Australia international was pleased to face a team of New Caledonia’s quality and felt his charges gave a strong display.
“We put in a very good performance,” he said.
“They beat New Zealand in the Oceania World Cup qualifiers recently and for our first hit out we did exceptionally well. This game provided us with a much higher intensity than probably any game in Australia could at this time of the year, so I couldn’t be happier with the start we’ve made.”
Papua New Guinea-born defender Brad McDonald made a rare start for the Mariners and Arnold was impressed with the 22-year-old’s showing.
“Brad did exceptionally well, as did all our young boys,” he said.
Arnold described Kayara’s 56th-minute free kick as a “bomb that no one could do anything about”.
New Caledonia will host Central Coast at Stade Numa Daly again on Saturday from 6pm local time.
The matches are part of Les Cagous’ preparations for Stage 3, which kick off for Moizan and his men with a clash against New Zealand’s All Whites in Noumea on September 7.
Fédération Calédonienne de Football President Edmond Bowen believes the Central Coast games are the ideal warm-up for the challenges ahead.
“We have put a lot into the preparation of the team and it is a great challenge for us to play the Central Coast Mariners,” he said.
“It is a professional team, they did well last year so it is a quality opponent for us to prepare for our first qualifying game against New Zealand.”
New Caledonia will also take on Solomon Islands and fellow francophones Tahiti in Stage 3, which consists of a round-robin home-and-away play-off series based on a league system. The winner will advance to an inter-continental play-off against the fourth-placed CONCACAF nation, scheduled to be held in November 2013, for a berth at Brazil 2014.
For the full match schedule of the Oceanian Zone Stage 3 Qualifiers 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ click here

Share