Tahiti Secure Semi-Final Berth With Win Over PNG by Jeremy Ruane Tahiti set up a semi-final clash with Australia at the Oceania Nations Cup tournament, after downing Papua New Guinea 3-1 at North Harbour Stadium on July 9. It’s as well for the Oceania Football Confederation that the carpet-like Ericsson Stadium surface is the main venue for the region’s equivalent of the European Championships, however, because after the conclusion of the evening’s action, the main ground at NHS is effectively unplayable. It was bad enough for both teams at the start of this encounter - it took both sides the best part of fifteen minutes simply to acclimatise themselves to playing conditions so far different to what they are used to in their own lands that they could quite easily be forgiven for their early errors. After both goalkeepers - Tahiti’s Xavier Samin and arguably the most outstanding goalkeeper in the entire tournament, PNG’s David Aua - had been called into action but Richard Daniel and Naea Bennett respectively, Tahiti opened the scoring on the half-hour. Samuel Garcia, who had already displayed the dark side of his game with a scything challenge on an opponent which, quite rightly, earned a yellow card, let fly from thirty-five yards to activate the scoreboard in spectacular fashion, the ball aqua-planing off the surface in front of Aua and careering past him into the net. Four minutes later, Garcia had a great chance to double Tahiti’s advantage from the penalty spot, after Yanding Tomda had felled Bennett as he raced into the PNG penalty area. But Aua proved equal to the task, kicking clear the midfielder’s spot-kick to keep his side in contention. The bounce of the ball favoured Aua five minutes before half-time. A tantalising cross from the left by Tahiti’s Steeve Fatupua-Lecaill lured the goalkeeper towards the edge of his penalty area, only for Felix Tagawa to flick the ball beyond Aua but wide of the target, as it dropped just outside the eighteen yard box. It was a let-off which PNG took full advantage of, as they scored one of the goals of the tournament with two minutes to go before the interval. A sweeping left-flank raid saw Selan Elizah send the ball forward to Paul Komboi, whose early first-time cross into thew middle found Reginald Davani arriving on the scene some twenty-five yards out from goal. With Samin advancing towards him, the striker’s elegant first-time lob rendered the goalkeeper helpless, and dropped delightfully into the goalmouth, where one bounce took the ball over the line and into the net to give PNG a lifeline - remember, victory in this match would have seen them make the semi-finals, not Tahiti. The Tahitians weren’t to be denied, however, and after Aua had denied efforts either side of the interval from Bennett and the outstanding Tony Senechal, they restored their advantage five minutes into the second spell, albeit with a huge slice of good fortune. For Senechal’s buccaneering run down the right culminated in a low cross which Aua appeared destined to save at the feet of the incoming Tagawa, until the ball stuck in the mud-heap which the North Harbour Stadium surface had become, that is. With the goalkeeper fully committed, Tagawa stepped in, said "Thankyou very much", and happily hacked the ball out of the mud and into the net from ten yards. Four minutes after regaining the lead, Tahiti squandered a gilt-edged chance to make the game safe, when Tagawa, substitute Teva Zaveroni and Senechal found themselves clean through on goal with just Aua between them and a 3-1 scoreline. How they contrived to squander such a glorious opportunity, only they can explain, but the relentless pursuit and subsequent intervention of defender John Aisa put paid to the threat of Tagawa, while the less said about Zaveroni’s attempt to crash the ball home with the goal at his mercy, the better!! Aua and Samin were both called into action in the next seven minutes, by Zaveroni and Davani respectively, before Tagawa was denied a second goal by the offside flag in the 63rd minute. The respite was temporary, however, for in the 64th minute, Senechal set his front-running colleague up perfectly for a one-on-one with Aua. Tagawa’s finish was exemplary, and Tahiti were all but in the semi-finals as a result. They had chances to extend their advantage still further in the remaining minutes, but found themselves encountering a one-man wall named Aua. The goalkeeper was nothing short of brilliant at times, as Tagawa (twice), Vehia Maurirere and Zaveroni can well testify - the latter pairing were denied by a superb double-save, despite the fact Aua was well outside his penalty area. Tagawa had other chances to wrap up the scoring, but after the ball stuck in the mud once more as Senechal homed in on his cross, the striker headed narrowly over after a scintillating break down the right by Zaveroni, moments before he was sent crashing to earth by a challenge from behind by the already booked Fred Hans. How Fijian referee Leonie Rakaroi failed to award anything more than a free-kick for this challenge is a fair indication of exactly how much he had lost the plot in the last ten minutes, as Papua New Guinea’s frustrations began to boil over. The official was waving his yellow card around like a wand in the closing minutes of the match, with players of both teams witnessing at first hand his dramatic flourishes of colour. Jonah Malus, of the beaten side, executed a tackle in stoppage time which, while not the worst tackle in the game, prompted referee Rakaroi to reach for the red card - the tournament’s first. It marked a sorry end to an exciting spectacle, from which Tahiti deservedly emerged triumphant, a clash with cup holders and tournament favourites Australia their reward. Tahiti:             Samin; Tchen, Booene, Maurirere (booked, 82); Guyon (Zaveroni, 53), Auraa, Garcia (booked, 19), Fatupua-Lecaill; Bennett, Tagawa (Terevarua, 74), Senechal (Wajoka, 83) Papua New Guinea:    Aua; Tomda (Malus, 68 (sent-off, 90)), Aisa, Hans (booked, 27), Kamake (booked, 84); Sow (Gule, 63), Komboi (booked, 81), Daniel, Elizah; Francis (booked, 82), Davani Referee:        Leonie Rakaroi (Fiji)