From the onset it seemed it would be smooth sailing for the New Zealand Maori Men with goals coming to Leo Mitai-Wells, David Kosoof, and a brace of goals to Owen Mitai-Wells.
But as soon as the half-time siren sounded a storm hit so hard that it had everyone scrambling for shelter. Everyone waited in anticipation hoping and praying that the rain would let up. It took half an hour for the fury of the storm to subside enough for play to resume.
In the second half PNG Men played with a new found vigour managing to score 2 goals, first scored by Raymond Popal in the 46th minute, 2 minutes later followed by another by Sapau Tapo, who had scored the only goal against Vanuatu yesterday. But their efforts weren’t enough to stop the rampaging NZ Maori who went on to win the match with a total of 7 goals (Sam Hewett-44th minute, Logan Candy-48th minute, Chesney Parore-51st minute) .
Despite the loss Thomas Kahai, the PNG Men's coach was a proud man. He said they let the NZ Maori get away in the first half but the second half performance of his boys was much better. "Scoring those goals really boosted the morale of the team and we are looking forward to our next match against Australia Country Women on thursday."
PNG look set to play for gold in the Men's OPC final playoffs.
Last Modified on 26/12/2012 10:19