The PNG men’s hockey team suffered its second loss in a row last night doing down to Fiji 10-1 in front of a home crowd who braved the cold evening wind at the BSP stadium.
The Fijians proved they are number one in the Oceania region hockey maintaining their dominance in the competition with their third straight win.
And they did a good job keeping the local team scoreless in the first two periods of match.
The Fijians registered their first score in the first minute of the game from Terrence Corrie.
The local boys missed a lot of opportunities to score in the first period with hits either too wide or high against the fierce Fijian team.
In the 10th minute of the game Fiji’s captain Hector Smith sent the ball past PNG keeper Yahee Kusunan and that was followed by another goal a minute after by Adrian Hector, ending the first period 3-0.
They continued their dominance of the ball in the second period just two minutes after the game resumed with Jerome Edwards’s goal bringing the score to 4 nil.
An open attempt at goal by PNG’s leading goal scorer Martin Kanamon from the half way line failed when Fijian keeper Ben Lutua blocked the ball.
Another combined effort at goal from PNG’s captain Milton Kisapai and Kanamon was again blocked by the Fijian keeper as the visitors kept the local boys on a fast match.
The visitors extended their lead with three more goals in the 22nd, 25th and 26th minutes of the match as the PNG boys struggled to register a point on the score board.
The third period saw the Fijians accelerate on their game pace with fast passes that used the whole pitch, keeping the PNG boys on their feet with a comfortable lead of 7 nil.
PNG finally managed to score in the 40th minute of the match when Martin Kanamon found the back of the box, bringing the crowd to life as they continued their enthusiastic support for the home boys.
Fiji managed to score three more goals, ending the match 10-1 and sending the local boys home with a very disappointing loss in the second straight night.
Meanwhile in the other men’s match earlier today, the Solomons registered their first win of the games beating Tonga 6-0.