The All Whites also enjoyed an important win of their own, 3-0 against OFC Nations Cup champions Tahiti in Christchurch, but it is Les Cagous who have earned the day four spotlight after a scintillating display of attacking football in ideal conditions at Stade Numa Daly.
The round’s results mean New Zealand and New Caledonia continue to occupy the top two placings in the four-team group and leave the Brazil 2014 dreams of Tahiti and Solomon Islands in tatters. Both those sides are now out of the running for Rio but tonight’s victors are very much on track and will now face off in a vital clash on March 22 next year, a match that will go a long way to deciding who progresses through to the inter-continental play-off.
Les Cagous coach Alain Moizan was delighted with his charges’ efforts and sees no reason why their form – which has seen them notch 15 goals in just three matches – cannot continue against New Zealand.
“We are very pleased with the performance,” he said.
“The difficulty was always going to be making sure we kept our concentration at a high level and I think we did that. It was important to put away a lot of goals today because the number of goals will perhaps be important at the end of the tournament,” he added.
“It will be difficult to win in New Zealand but why not? We must believe it.”
Moizan’s men charged out of the blocks in front of their home fans and found the pristine Numa Daly pitch very much to their liking as the Solomon Islands struggled to cope with their crisp passing and intelligent movement.
The majority of the damage was done in a first-half blitz that put Les Cagous into an unassailable 4-0 lead by the break. Georges Gope-Fenepej began the rout in just the fourth minute – his sixth goal in three games – before Roy Kayara, Iamel Kabeu and Cesar Lolohea all also found the net to the delight of the locals.
The pick of the bunch was Kabeu’s 30th-minute strike, a spectacular hit into the top corner from just outside the area after good work from Gope-Fenepej set up the chance.
Stunned into action, the Bonitos regrouped in the second period and managed to keep the hosts scoreless for most of the half but Les Cagous finally had another with a minute to go when Lolohea volleyed home a lofted pass from substitute Noel Kaudre for his second of the evening.
“The first half let us down, we were just in second gear and they were first to everything,” Solomon skipper Henry Fa’arodo said. “Our game plan, our composure and our passing wasn’t there. The second half was a much better performance but we needed to do it from the start.”
New Zealand also began strongly in their win and likewise took an early lead through an edge-of-the-box Michael McGlinchey drive in the third minute. But Tahiti had clearly set out to impose themselves physically on the All Whites and the table toppers struggled to find their rhythm for much of the remainder of the contest.
The action became increasingly scrappy as the clock ticked down and it took a quick-fire pair of goals in the dying stages for New Zealand to eventually seal the win. Both strikes arrived in injury time, Killen doubling the advantage when Tahiti goalkeeper Mikael Roche spilled a Kosta Barbarouses effort to his feet before McGlinchey sent a curling shot into the top corner to complete his brace.
“New Zealand were more dominant than us and, even though the late goals made the score seem more severe, we recognise that they deserved the victory,” Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta admitted.
“The fact that New Zealand scored so early made it difficult because we had come here to try and perform.”
The night is likely to not go down as one of All Whites coach Ricki Herbert’s most memorable but he was pleased to have posted another three points nonetheless.
“We ground it out well tonight and finished strongly,” he said. “We got there, kept a clean sheet and can look forward to New Caledonia now, which should be a good game.”
Match Summary New Zealand – Tahiti, click here
Match Summary New Caledonia – Solomon Islands, click here
Match day 4 Competition Summary click here

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