Courtesy:
www.nzfootball.co.nzFutsal Whites take Trans-Pacific CupThe Futsal Whites overcame an improved Fiji at ASB Stadium in Auckland on Wednesday, winning 7-2 to secure the Trans-Pacific Cup.After a comprehensive 8-0 victory on Tuesday, a confident New Zealand were looking to again dominate Intiaz Khan’s Fijian side, but an early turnover saw Dhiraj Kumar pounce and slip the ball past Elias Billeh to give the visitors a shock lead.
Central-Manawatu’s Jono Steele entered the fray and made an immediate impact, equalising after brilliantly turning his marker and firing home. One minute later, Dylan Manickum’s perfectly weighted ball picked out his Auckland team mate Kareem Osman, who finished at the back post to give New Zealand the lead.
Stephen Ashby Peckham made it 3-1 midway through the first half, seizing his opportunity to shoot from wide after a quickly taken free kick.
The rest of the half was played at a frenetic pace, with both sides creating and squandering good chances. Kumar had a great opportunity to pull one back for Fiji on the counter attack late in the half but Billeh was equal to the task, deflecting the ball away for a corner.
Meanwhile, the foul count started to rise for both sides, and after New Zealand conceded a sixth foul in the final moments of the half, veteran Mira Sahib put his ten-metre penalty over the bar.
As on the previous evening, New Zealand appeared to go up a gear after the break, and two early goals in quick succession, one from the outstanding Stephen Ashby-Peckham and one from Daniel Burns – both from well-worked back post finishes – put the Futsal Whites 5-1 up and in control of the match.
Then Jono Steele grabbed his second after 32 minutes, following some excellent work down the left hand side from Luc Saker.
Fiji however, were not to be denied, their second goal arriving when Kumar latched on to an immaculate diagonal ball from Vishal Nadan to steer the ball past BIlleh’s replacement Clayton Chappell, in goal for New Zealand for the first time since 2010.
With 90 seconds left on the clock, Stephen Ashby Peckham sealed his hat trick and fourth of the series, with a pile-driver from the ten metre penalty mark following a sixth foul from Fiji.
The third and final match of the Trans-Pacific Cup takes place on Friday 19 December at ASB Stadium, Kohimarama at 8pm. Tickets at the door: Adults $10, U-18s/students $5 (or free with an adult).
The Futsal Whites play FC Ferrrand on Thursday at 4.30pm at ASB Stadium. The curtainraiser sees WaiBOP take on Fiji at 2.30pm.
New Zealand 7-2 Fiji (half: 3-1)
NZL: Jono Steele 2, Kareem Osman, Stephen Ashby-Peckham 3, Daniel Burns
FIJ: Dhiraj Kumar 2
Futsal Whites down FijiThe Futsal Whites overcame a slow start to beat Fiji 8-0 in the first match of the inaugural Trans-Pacific Cup at ASB Stadium in Auckland on Wednesday.New Zealand enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening stanza but the Fijian side scrambled well to frustrate the Futsal Whites until just before halftime, when Kareem Osman scored from the penalty spot following a foul on Daniel Burns.
Earlier, Josh Margetts had squandered the Futsal Whites best chance of the half, side-foot volleying over the bar after Lucas da Silva and Tai Barham combined to set up the Manawatu pivot with an open goal at the back post.
Fiji meanwhile, struggled in possession to create clear cut scoring opportunities, their best chance of the half falling after a long ball picked out Kelvin Singh in the NZ ‘D’, but he was unable to finish on the turn.
A slicker New Zealand emerged at halftime, and within two minutes Brayden Lissington set up skipper Marvin Eakins to steer home. Moments later Luc Saker crossed for Margetts to finish at the back post. Five minutes into the second period the impressive Stephen Ashby-Peckham made it 4-0, picking his spot nicely from out wide. One minute later Miroslav Malivuk scored his first international goal since 2011 with a turn and finish inside the penalty area.
Dylan Manickum’s deflected strike in the 30th minute made is six for New Zealand, then Jakub Sinkora finished a brisk counter attack instigated by Tai Barham to make it 7-0.
Malivuk’s scrambled goal with eight minutes left on the clock rounded out the scoring action.
Futsal Whites coach Scott Gilligan was pleased with his side’s second half effort following a hesitant opening twenty minutes.
“The main problem in the first half was our distribution was very poor, and we were moving the ball a little bit slow,” Gilligan said.
“What I said to them (at half-time) was be patient, be confident in what we do. Fiji have had one shot in the half.”
Gilligan was also pleased at being able to try out different groups of four throughout the match.
“We’ve got a few players who I know can cut back inside and look for the opportunities to shoot, we’ve got a few players who can hold the ball up a little bit deeper, some players who can distribute well. I was able to give some instructions to each quartet before they came on, this is what they (Fiji) are doing, and this is how we break it up.”
Fijian coach Intiaz Khan was upbeat despite the defeat and was particularly happy with young side’s first half performance and how they finished the game.
“We are not disappointed, because we knew goals would be coming. When they did start to come we needed to be composed but we just lost concentration. That is the difference between being experienced and a lack of experience, and there was a period of four or five minutes where they scored five goals.
“But this is why we are here, learning every day. It was great and tonight is certainly something we can build on.”
New Zealand and Fiji meet again on Wednesday night in the second Trans-Pacific match at ASB Stadium, Kohimarama, Auckland. Kick off 8.00pm
Tickets at the door: Adults $10, U-18s/students $5 (or free with an adult).
Trans-Pacific Cup 2015
Wednesday 15 December
New Zealand 8-0 Fiji (half: 1-0)
NZL: Kareem Osman (pen), Marvin Eakins, Josh Margetts, Stephen Ashby-Peckham, Miroslav Malivuk 2, Dylan Manickum, Jakub Sinkora
FIJ: –
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