Haiti set up a clash with Chile for a place in the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals on Wednesday evening by outclassing an indisciplined Senegal side 4-0 in a play-off encounter played before 925 fans at North Harbour Stadium on 18 February. The Haitians started the better of the sides, with Roselord Borgella and the eye-catchingly-performed Melchie Dumornay front and centre of their initial raids. But it was the much taller Senegalese team which fired the first shot in anger, a tenth minute effort from Korka Fall which was directed straight at Kerly Theus, after Mareme Babou, Jeannette Sagna and Haby Balde had combined to good effect. It was very quickly becoming apparent that referee Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul would have her hands full with the African side, some of whose challenges can most kindly be described as agricultural. The yellow card was brandished twice inside the first twenty minutes, and in the end, seven Senegalese were booked - they clearly didn't come here to win the FIFA Fair Play Trophy! Indeed, for Senegal, this entire trip was an adventure - this tournament marks the first time in the country's history that the nation's women's team has played anywhere other than the African continent! In Auckland, however, their Women's World Cup dreams were dashed by a Haitian side which was highly impressive. A well-structured and well-balanced combination, it quickly became clear around whom the team's play revolved. The FIFA Player of the Match Award may have gone to Borgella, but presenting such honours to a goalscorer is a tad lazy on the part of those charged with such selections. If you're looking at the overall picture, however, rather than isolated incidents, Dumornay was different gravy compared to anyone else on the park. In the 21st minute, she received a free-kick taken by Fall and threaded a slide-rule pass into the stride of Sherly Jeudy. She played in Borgella, who thrashed her shot past the post but did so having strayed offside prior to pulling the trigger. Three minutes later, a superb tackle by Dumornay on the edge of her penalty area thwarted a Senegalese raid which featured Hapsatou Diallo and Ndeye Diakhatye, one of few threats the African side posed - surprising, given their clear height advantage over their opponents, some of whom were a full thirty-five centimetres shorter than the likes of the towering Mama Diop, at six foot two the tallest player competing in these play-offs. Ten minutes before half-time, Dumornay waved her magic wand once more, this time via a steepling cross which Tenning Sene spilled - her handling was poor throughout proceedings, something Haiti failed to punish in merciless fashion. She got away with it on this occasion, and her team-mates responded with a rambunctious counter-attack, Diallo at its heart with a storming run to the edge of the area. 'Twas there she met her match in the form of Kethna Louis, who had been booked minutes earlier, but didn't think twice about foiling the free-running forward on this occasion. This, too, saw a counter-counter-attack launched, Louis striding out of defence before playing a one-two with Dumornay prior to threading a pass through to Nerilia Mondesir. She rounded Sene but was forced wide in the process, thus played the ball back to Jeudy, who had made a run in support. Her shot was turned round the post by Sene to round off a stunning sixty seconds of attacking action

from these stars of African and Caribbean women's football. Dumornay continued to offer menace aplenty, and in the 43rd minute parted Mondesir's hair with a tantalising cross from the right. Two minutes later, Haiti were rewarded for their attacking enterprise with the opening goal, Louis' thumping six yard header from a pinpoint Jeudy corner slamming into the top far corner of the net - 1-0. Senegal sought a swift riposte before the interval, with Diop heading narrowly over from a Fall corner before Diallo fired a shot under pressure which lacked the power to unduly trouble Theus, who had been little troubled throughout the first half. She had even less to concern herself with in the second spell, as Haiti took the game away from Senegal with three goals in eleven minutes, all of them set up by the masterly Dumornay. Ten minutes into the second half, she was the recipient of a cleared free-kick, with Senegal surging out of defence on cue. Heading in the opposite direction were a quartet of Haitian attackers, all four of whom timed their runs to perfection in response to Dumornay's beautifully flighted delivery into the danger zone. Mondesir won the race for the ball and duly did the honours, the goal being confirmed after a Video Assistant Referee check to confirm the lack of an offside call. Two goals to the good, Haiti moved in for the kill, and after Borgella turned Anta Dembele and chipped Sene, only to see her effort hit the bar, they increased their lead still further in the 64th minute. Dumornay picked out Borgella with a peach of a pass which allowed the striker to ride a challenge and lure Sene out of goal before confidently slotting home past her. 3-0 became 4-0 just two minutes later. Another probing Dumornay pass allowed Borgella to exploit Senegal's defensive shortcomings, the striker shrugging off the presence of Wolimata Ndiaye before calmly picking her spot beyond the stranded Sene. And that was pretty much that, save for the covering figure of Betina Petit-Frere foiling Diallo's bid to score a consolation goal sixteen minutes from time, and a late bid from Haiti for a fifth goal, prior to eleven minutes of stoppage time being played! Referee Monzul's lone blemish of the match saw her miss Haitian substitute Roseline Eloissaint being taken out by Meta Camara. Play continued, and within seconds Batcheba Louis was in on goal, only to be thwarted by Coumba Mbodji's challenge. The ball broke for Milan Pierre-Jerome, whose shot was parried by Sene, Mbayang Sow first to react to the rebound and hook the ball clear. Haiti's reward for this emphatic win sees them take on Chile on Wednesday for a place in the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals in five months' time. Senegal, meanwhile, take on Thailand in Hamilton twenty-four hours earlier, with pride and FIFA world ranking points at stake as the African team take on Asian opposition for the first time ever. Senegal:     Sene; Dembele (booked, 18), W. Ndiaye (booked, 66), Sow (booked, 47), Babou; Balde (booked, 45) (Mbodji, 51), Sagna (Seck, 51), Diakhate, Diop (booked, 12) (N. Ndiaye, 69 (booked, 82)); Fall (booked, 28) (Camara, 69), Diallo Haiti:          Theus; Joseph, Constant, K. Louis (booked, 32) (Mathurin, 69), Petit-Frere; Jeudy (Pierre Louis, 90), Dumornay (Moryl, 75), Limage, B. Louis; Mondesir (Pierre-Jerome, 75), Borgella (Eloissaint, 69) Referee:     Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine)