The All Whites edged closer towards earning a FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off spot as representatives of the Oceania Football Confederation on 16 October thanks to a turgid 3-0 victory over a temperamental Tahitian team in front of 10,751 fans at Christchurch’s AMI Stadium. In what was just the thirteenth “A” international the All Whites have played in the Garden City in history, the match marked the first occasion team captain Ryan Nelsen had ever played an international in front of his home-town crowd in his 49-cap career. And it was certainly memorable, but sadly, not in terms of the quality of the football on show. Both teams lacked precision in their play, with the final pass too often lacking accuracy on a rather sticky playing surface. There was a lack of crispness and sharpness about the play of both teams as well, no doubt partly due to the fact that they had played each other just 72 hours earlier, in Papeete, some 4,838 kms away. Then there was the partial floodlight failure, on the stroke of half-time, and the ongoing inconsistencies of referee Gerald Oiaka, whose display contributed to the game descending into a degree of farce at its climax, about which more later. For New Zealand’s fans were celebrating just 156 seconds into the contest as Ricki Herbert’s charges opened the scoring. Some frankly awful defending by Tauraa Marmouyet was compounded by his under-hit back-pass towards Teheivarii Ludivion, who never had a hope of getting the ball, particularly with Jeremy Brockie closing fast. The striker duly swooped on the ball and swept past the stranded centre-back before looking to set up Chris Killen. Pierre Kugogne blocked this pass, but could only divert the ball straight into the stride of Michael McGlinchey, who was surging forward in support of the strikers. Without breaking stride, the midfield general lashed a twenty yarder hard and low beyond the diving figure of Mikael Roche and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net - 1-0 All Whites, and a sense that the floodgates were about to open. If only! Within ninety seconds, they had the ball in the net again, only for the offside flag to deny Killen, but from that point until stoppage time at the end of the second half … oh dear! It wasn’t for the want of trying, mind. But it just wasn’t happening for the All Whites. Roche had to race out of his penalty area to clear off the toes of the chasing figure of Brockie in the tenth minute as Nicholas Vallar, despite being on the half-way line, opted to pass the ball back towards his goalkeeper and badly under-hit it. Six minutes later, Ben Sigmund, who also counts on Christchurch as home, set off on a buccaneering run into Tahiti’s half which culminated in his linking with Brockie, whose cross beyond the far post found Marco Rojas in the penalty area. His untimely stumble was, to some intents and purposes, a fair summation of what was to follow. McGlinchey went close with a gorgeous curling effort soon after - the ball all but took the paint off the far post after the over-worked Kugogne had headed an Ivan Vicelich cross away from goal. Half-way through the first half, the All Whites’ central defensive trio were all rueing their misfortune, following a short corner from McGlinchey. Tommy Smith’s low drive, so, too, that of Sigmund. It was left for Nelsen to unleash a shot on the turn, only for Roche to parry this effort. The rebound fell invitingly into the stride of Smith, who, much to his chagrin, was unable to bound the ball home despite being in the shadow of the crossbar. Seconds later, a delightful interchange of passes featuring Smith, McGlinchey and Rojas saw the last-mentioned thread an angled pass through into the stride of Killen, who found himself one-on-one with Roche inside the penalty area. The ‘keeper’s momentum and lunging block tackle combined to send Killen crashing to earth - a stonewall penalty, surely! Referee Oiaka, who had given the All Whites next to nothing decisions-wise to this point, again neglected to fulfil his duties, meaning Roche could breathe a touch easer at having avoided the minimum booking such a wayward tackle merits. Frustrations grew. Nelsen picked out Tony Lochhead with a gem of a pass which allowed the flank player to whip in a cross to the far post. Killen, soaring, met it with a downward header, only for Roche to pull off a top-class save to keep Tahiti in the contest. Tahiti were hanging on for dear life as the chances continued to come, but the misses more than matched them. Ludivion, who put in a great shift in defence for the visitors, cut out a McGlinchey cross after the scorer had evaded three challenges eleven minutes before half-time, while Brockie volleyed wildly over soon after following the combined efforts of Sigmund and Smith to engineer the opening. Roche even tried to gift the All Whites a goal, clearing terribly, straight to Rojas, who instantly set up McGlinchey. But the ‘keeper had recovered his ground, and was well placed to keep out the midfielder’s curling effort. Five minutes before half-time, Lorenzo Tehau lost the plot, the Tahitian midfielder jumping into Smith before clattering into Lochhead within thirty seconds of each other, and with no intention of winning the ball evident in either challenge. Referee Oiaka’s response? “Keep calm and carry on, son, keep calm and carry on”. Not even a yellow card for the offender! Little wonder the All Whites were getting frustrated - inferior opponents and a gluepot pitch are challenging enough to overcome at the best of

times, without adding to the equation a referee who, frankly, was completely out of his depth! Costa Barbarouses, Sigmund - with a close-range header after Killen had headed the ball skywards following Lochhead’s far post corner - and Vicelich all went close to doubling the All Whites’ advantage in the shadows of the half-time whistle, which was blown early as a result of a partial floodlight failure. The problem was resolved during the interval, so when the teams emerged into the fully operational lights, an expectant crowd were eager to see the All Whites make amends for their first half profligacy and pile on the goals. Within three minutes, they had been denied another penalty, Rojas having been felled, in the referee’s eyes, just outside the area. Brockie wasted the free-kick, while Barbarouses sliced a shot wide of the mark seconds later. Smith and Rojas both saw shots blocked following fine work down the left flank by McGlinchey in the 52nd minute, while from the same wing, Rojas picked out Killen with a cross sixty seconds later, inviting the striker to volley home. The tireless figure of Ludivion once again put his body on the line for his country to keep them in the contest, albeit at the expense of yet another All Whites corner - they had so many in this match they could have cornered the market! McGlinchey’s delivery sparked a right royal scramble in Tahiti’s goalmouth. A vital punch clear by Roche briefly relieved the pressure in the middle of this assault on the visitors’ goal, which was eventually brought to an end by referee Oiaka signalling a foul by Killen on Kugogne, as the striker looked to get on the end of a Brockie cross. Having weathered a veritable avalanche of All Whites pressure since the opening goal, Tahiti were still well in the contest despite being 1-0 down, and with their hosts running out of ideas, the visitors took the chance to remind all present of the fact. Steevy Chong Hue’s deflected thirty yard free-kick in the 57th minute allowed Glen Moss to get his gloves dirty for virtually the first time in the match, while four minutes later Tahiti produced an enchanting six-man move which culminated in Lorenzo Tehau dragging his shot well wide of the target. The quality of that raid deserved better fate, even though it wasn’t in keeping with the quality of football which had generally been produced to this point in the match, which could most kindly be described as scrappy. Sadly, it deteriorated still further over the course of the next twenty-five-odd minutes, with a litany of errors from both teams rendering this match instantly forgettable. There were just three attacks of note in this period of play, with Killen the striker spurned on each occasion. Roche turned his shot round the post in the 64th minute, while three minutes later, Moss’ punch clear from a Tahitian corner sparked a super counter-attack which featured Rojas and McGlinchey, whose cross-field ball to the striker saw him beat an opponent and let fly. Roche was equal to this effort, and was grateful to his covering defenders in the 86th minute as Killen was denied, following the combined efforts of McGlinchey and substitute Shane Smeltz on the left flank. But the goalkeeper was found wanting in the 89th minute as New Zealand finally got the goal which made the game safe for them. The introduction of Leo Bertos five minutes from time - Nelsen’s departure was rewarded by a standing ovation at AMI Stadium - added some much-needed zip to the All Whites’ play, and it was from his cross that the goal came about. That delivery was headed out to Barbarouses, whose low drive was parried by Roche, straight to the feet of Killen, who couldn’t miss. Tahiti claimed, rather vehemently, that the scorer was offside, but the officials weren’t for budging - 2-0. And in the fourth minute of stoppage time, that became 3-0. Brilliant work by Barbarouses - he went past Yannik Vero as if he was invisible - culminated in a cross which Roche punched out to McGlinchey. The All Whites’ best-performed player on the night crowned his display with a sumptuous curling strike, a twenty-five yarder which had “top far corner” written all over it from the moment the ball left his boot - cracking goal! The Tahitians, who, lest we forget, will represent Oceania at the FIFA Confederations Cup Finals in Brazil next year, were not at all happy by this stage, and when Vallar scythed down Brockie straight from the kick-off, things got a wee bit ugly. A gathering of the clans ensued, with silly behaviour aplenty abounding. The worst culprit, however, was referee Oiaka, who committed the ultimate cop-out by blowing the final whistle in the midst of all the turmoil, thus reneging on his responsibilities, most notably failing to send off the already booked Vallar, Tahiti’s captain, for his tackle. It was a sour note on which to end the evening, with the All Whites, despite, by their standards, performing somewhat poorly, prevailing 3-0 to maintain their hopes of reaching successive FIFA World Cup Finals. Their clash with New Caledonia at a yet-to-be-determined venue on March 22 will be pivotal in that quest. All Whites: Moss; Sigmund (booked, 84), Nelsen (Bertos, 85), Smith; Barbarouses, Vicelich (Keat, 65), McGlinchey, Lochhead; Brockie, Killen (booked, 55), Rojas (Smeltz, 69) Tahiti: Roche; Vero, Kugogne, Ludivion, Marmouyet; L. Tehau (T. Tehau, 65), A. Tehau (Williams, 70), J. Tehau; Atani, Vallar (booked, 25), Chong Hue Referee: Gerald Oiaka (Solomon Islands)