New Zealand's Junior Ferns qualified for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals on April 14, doing so even prior to thumping Samoa 12-0 due to the outcome in the other group match at the OFC U-20 Women's Championship at Mangere Centre Park. But while this was an improved performance compared to their showing against New Caledonia, the Junior Ferns know they should have won this match by the proverbial hatful, even though the twelve goals they amassed is the most scored in a Women's World Cup qualifying fixture by a New Zealand team at this level since the U-20 format was introduced by FIFA in time for the 2006 competition. As they have done in each match this week, the Junior Ferns - despite a much-changed line-up for this clash - tore into their task with a vengeance, Ashleigh Ward's second minute free-kick from the right flank giving overworked Samoan goalkeeper Vaelua Fautua all manner of concerns as it headed narrowly past the top far corner of the net. But two minutes later an awful Caitlin Smallfield back-pass had 'keeper Corina Brown chasing after the ball in a vain attempt to prevent a corner. Thankfully for the Junior Ferns, it presented them a platform upon which to launch a counter-attack, and once the threat had been cleared, Olivia Chance took centre stage. The winger raced downfield before working a double one-two with Steph Skilton prior to planting the opening goal beyond Fautua from the edge of the penalty area just five minutes into the match. That was the trigger for the Junior Ferns to produce some really impressive interchanges which were deserving of greater reward. In the ninth minute, Georgia Brown and Evie Millynn linked with Holly Patterson, whose cross picked out Rosie White, whose movement off the ball in this match was outstanding. The captain met the ball flush on the volley from eight yards, and on any other day, she would have wheeled away celebrating another outstanding goal. But Fautua produced a remarkable save to prevent Samoa falling further behind, and repeated the dose two minutes later, tipping Chance's close-range header onto the crossbar after the game's lone scorer, to this point, had been picked out by Brown's cross. Seconds later, Chance turned provider, but only after weaving through three opponents. Skilton was the beneficiary of her team-mate's toil, and tapped in number two in the twelfth minute, before repeating the dose four minutes later, Chance having combined with White and the overlapping Ward - a super near post cross - to engineer the opening with a move straight off the training ground. Twice inside the next three minutes, White again came close to adding her name to the scoresheet. On the first occasion, she looked on in disbelief as Fautua kept out another piledriver, while from the resulting Lucy Carter corner, the talented teenager sent a bullet header flashing narrowly over the crossbar. Soon after, the Junior Ferns' fourth goal of the afternoon materialised, Chance careering through the inside left channel before producing a "postage stamp" finish - a low shot across the diving Fautua and in by the foot of the far post. Even the very best 'keepers don't stop those. After Skilton had been denied at the near post following a rampaging run down the left by White, Carter fired in another corner which Fautua found too hot to handle. Tessa Berger gleefully headed home into the roof of the net from close range - 5-0 after 25 minutes. Make that 6-0 six minutes later. Millynn, Patterson and Skilton worked a move which also featured White's off-the-ball running, and this rewarded when Skilton slipped a pass into the stride of the goal-hungry youngster, who confidently opened her account for the afternoon. Chance's thumping twenty-five yarder was somehow kept out by Fautua seconds later, while White's 33rd minute lob invited Chance to take on the Samoan defence, something she did with relish.

Three defenders later, a driven cross found Patterson steaming in off the right flank to meet the ball, but she opted to control it rather than execute a first-time volley on the run - the chance went begging. After Millynn had received treatment after landing awkwardly, White sent Patterson powering down the right eight minutes before half-time. The overlapping fullback surged past a defender before whipping in a cross which found White and Chance arriving six yards out with just the 'keeper for company. Amazingly, the latter shot straight at Fautua - that maiden international hat-trick would have to wait! Samoa's defending was at times enthusiastic, at others desperate, but the number of times parts of blue-clad anatomy got in the way of shots, crosses and passes by the Junior Ferns defied belief. The whole-hearted approach of the beaten team was commendable, even though they did occasionally indulge in a couple of naughty challenges. Such as that which led to the last chance of the half, a 44th minute free-kick from Ward to the far post which saw Skilton edge out Smallfield in the air, only to head narrowly past the upright. Patterson and Millynn made way for Kate Carlton and Nadia Pearl respectively at the interval, but it was White who reignited New Zealand's scoring habit in the 49th minute. Latching onto a loose ball in midfield, she swept the ball out to Ward and raced forward in anticipation of a cross which duly arrived at the near post. White's header bulleted home - 7-0. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, the Junior Ferns spurned chance after chance to increase their advantage - it was bordering on the unfathomable! White sent a twenty yarder flashing narrowly past the post, following an interchange between Chance and Skilton, before Pearl's twenty-five yarder fizzed narrowly over the bar following Brown's cleared free-kick. Pearl then floated in a gem of a free-kick which was a virtual invitation to score, but Berger declined the gift, directing her point-blank range header across the face of goal when it seemed easier to score than miss in the 56th minute. Brown rattled the bar a minute later, before a barrage of attempts on goal from a variety of players failed to hit the target. Chance, White, Skilton, Pearl ... allcomers were guilty of troubling the spectators either side of the goal, rather than Fautua in it. Hannah Wilkinson entered the fray just after the hour mark, and very quickly caught the disease which was spreading through the Junior Ferns like wildfire! But a neat 69th minute move offered hope, with White, Chance, Wilkinson and White again exchanging passes before Skilton clipped the outside of the post with a drive. Salvation came in the 72nd minute. Smallfield's first attempt had been blocked for a corner, but when Chance fired over a low cross from the resulting set-piece, the defender was the one who kept her calm in the melee unfolding around her to prod home New Zealand's eighth goal of the game. The relief was palpable, but the disease lingered, Wilkinson firing wildly wide on receipt of a White pass a minute later. But the latter was to complete her hat-trick from the penalty spot, placing her shot in the corner of the net after Wilkinson had been felled in the area. The woodwork soon became an alternative target for Chance and White, with each striking a post with separate attempts from outside the box in the 78th minute, before Chance struck the bar with a 79th minute drive, the rebound of which Wilkinson sent soaring skywards. Ten minutes from time, Ward and Chance linked on the left to set up White, who smashed home the game's best goal, a thunderous drive which rocketed into the top far corner of the net to ensure the Junior Ferns hit double figures in style. White, for whom this goal marked a fifth hat-trick in international women's football, was swiftly onto the ball again, and picked out Chance with a raking

fifty yard pass before storming forward to support her team-mate, who, meantime, was twisting and turning her way in and out of challenges. Chance slipped the ball back to White, who promptly played in Skilton. Fautua blocked this effort, but had no answers when Wilkinson and White combined to present Chance with an 82nd minute opportunity to complete her maiden international treble, a feat she accomplished with glee. Cue another session in the shooting gallery, Wilkinson twice denied before White walloped a twenty yarder narrowly past the post, while the substitute and Chance both squandered chances prior to a delightful 87th move which deserved better fate. White won the ball in the centre circle, surged forward then picked out Skilton with an inch-perfect pass which allowed the striker to deliver a pinpoint first-time cross right onto Wilkinson's head. From four yards, she couldn't miss, surely ... Fautua and friends were relieved that she did. The ninety minute mark rolled round, with Carlton setting off on an adventurous run which saw her scurry through four challenges before Lanuola Mulipola brought her crashing to earth in unceremonious fashion in the penalty area. White gave the nod to Wilkinson to take the spot-kick, and there was a fair bit of frustration unleashed in the shot which finally ensured the Football Fern would get on the scoresheet, and wrapped up a 12-0 win for the Junior Ferns which confirmed their reign as champions of Oceania at U-20 level would continue. New Zealand now join Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Korea Republic, Mexico, North Korea, Norway, Switzerland, the USA and host nation Japan in having qualified for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals in August, with the two African qualifiers to be determined in May. Junior Ferns:     C. Brown; Patterson (Carlton, 46), Berger, Smallfield, Ward; White, Carter, Millynn (Pearl, 46); G. Brown (Wilkinson, 64), Skilton, Chance Samoa:     Fautua; O'Kceffe, Bryce, Alauni, F. Ropeti; A. Ropeti (Lokeni, 67), Malo, Faapusi, Sikoti-Piula (Mene, 74); Mulipola (booked, 90), Moataa (Faimasasa, 38) Referee:     Averii Jacques (Tahiti) In the day's earlier encounter, Papua New Guinea came from behind to down New Caledonia 3-2 at Centre Park, claiming the runners-up spot at the OFC U-20 Women's Championship in the process. Two goals in a minute ignited this contest, with Sandra Birum's ninth minute opener for PNG matched by Marie Hautro's equaliser, which she built on in the 21st minute, heading home a splendid goal superbly conceived by Kim-E Maguire and Alesie Marielle Haocas to give New Caledonia the lead. Eight minutes before half-time, Birum drew PNG level after superb work by Meagan Gunemba on the right, and the latter's corner was the source of Lydia Kose's 54th minute goal, which restored the Papuan's lead in this see-saw affair. Kose then hit the bar with a cross-shot, while numerous chances materialised at both ends of the park before Gunemba sprinted through in stoppage time to clinch victory for the Papuans, and confirm New Zealand's passage to Japan prior to the tournament's final game. Matchday Three details: New Zealand 12 (O. Chance (5, 20, 82), S. Skilton (12, 16), T. Berger (25), R. White (31, 49, 76 pen, 80), C. Smallfield (72), H. Wilkinson (90 pen)), Samoa 0  HT 6-0 Papua New Guinea 3 (S. Birum (9, 37), L. Kose (54)), New Caledonia 2 (M. Heutro (10, 21))  HT 2-2 Tournament Honours: Golden Ball:          Kate Loye (New Zealand) Golden Boot:          Rosie White (New Zealand, 8 goals) Golden Gloves:     Erin Nayler (New Zealand) Fair Play Award:     New Caledonia