Played in front of a good-sized crowd at the Cook Islands Football Association headquarters in Matavera, the unique friendly match acted as a warm-up for both sides.
For Waitakere, it is part of the West Auckland team’s preparations for the upcoming ASB Premiership and O-League seasons while the Cook Islands used it as a prelude to the XIV Pacific Games, which kick off in New Caledonia on Saturday.
The Cook Islands selection, the majority of which will now go on to compete for their country at the Games, were always going to find the going tough against their more accomplished rivals and coach Maurice Tillotson must have feared the worst when former Welsh semi-professional Chris Bale put Waitakere ahead in the 20th minute.
But it could have been 1-1 just two minutes later when Campbell Best, one of the home side’s best performers, broke away and squared the ball for striker Joseph Ngauora. The goal was at Ngauora’s mercy but he could not make the most of the opportunity, much to the disappointment of the numerous locals who had gathered for the rare chance to see some of the Pacific’s best players in action.
Most of the rest of the half was evenly fought but the turning point arrived in the 38th minute when the Cook Islands’ New Zealand-based defender Alan Boere was seriously injured. Waitakere took full advantage of his loss, smashing three answered goals home to make it 4-0 at the break.
It was now obvious that the home side was well out of the contest but Tillotson’s players refused to let their heads drop and had the reward their stoic showing deserved soon after the restart, Best latching onto a Nathan Tisam pass and scoring his team’s sole goal with a brilliant individual effort.
That was to be their only cause for celebration though and Waitakere rattled in four more strikes before the final whistle to make it 8-1. The star to catch the eye most for Neil Emblen’s men was young midfielder Jordan Vale, who, fresh from representing New Zealand at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico in June, underlined his potential by netting a hat-trick.
Luke Adams, the captain of that U-17 side, also took part in the match and there was plenty of other top-class experience in the Waitakere ranks. Former English professional Martin Bullock, who enjoyed a one-season spell in the Premier League with Barnsley, and the likes of age-group internationals Tim Myers, Ross McKenzie, Jason Rowley and Jake Butler also featured.
In the curtain raiser, the Cook Islands women’s national team defeated an U-16 boy’s youth selection 2-0 in a close and exciting match with Linade Unuka scoring both goals in the first half.
For more on Cook Islands football go to www.cookislandsfootball.com

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