Tahiti

Hosts Tahiti take on current table leaders New Caledonia on the second day of Group A action in the OFC U-17 Championship in Papeete, Tahiti on 14 February.

Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu will open the day of action as they both fight for their first points in the competition at 4pm (local time).

Although their 3-2 loss to New Caledonia was heart-breaking for Papua New Guinea coach Harrison Kamake, he remains focussed on staying constructive and tweaking the side’s weaknesses.

“We are playing Vanuatu and they definitely are a good team,” he said.

PNG is pooled in Group A against hosts Tahiti, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

Their first clash will be against New Caledonia in the opening match of the competition on February 11.

Head coach Harrison Kamake wants the team to move into camp in Tahiti focused on the competition.

This follows their successful friendly lead up matches in New Zealand recently in preparation for the championship.

They played three friendly matches while in New Zealand against Fiji U17 national team, Auckland Central Academy and Onehunga Mangere 2nd division team.

They defeated Onehunga Mangere 2nd Division team 2-0 on Saturday, February 4, at Mt Smart, Auckland, following a 3-3 draw with Auckland Central Academy Football Club.

PNG’s two goals were scored 10 minutes to half time through Yagi Yasasa and Captain Ricky Wadunah.

It was a tough encounter early in the game but Yasasa broke the ice, scoring PNG's first goal 1-0 in the 32nd minute.

Just five minutes later, Wadunah scored PNG’s second goal (2-0) after a good build-up and combination play with Oberth Simon, who substituted Yasasa.

The PNG side drew 3-3 with Auckland Central Academy Football Club in the friendly match on Saturday, January 28, at Mt Smart in Auckland, New Zealand.

Auckland Central Academy was too good, scoring three quick goals in the first 30 minutes of the first half.

PNG came back very strong in the dying minutes of the first half to score through Jonathan Allen and Yagi Yasasa within five minutes to bring the score to 3-2 at half time.

In the second half, PNG dominated the game but all attempts ended up off target.

Raymond Gunemba's second goal straight after half time gavePNG a clear lead before Tahiti hit back with a  10 men team after captain Nicolas Vallar was sent off for a dangerous tackle to Raymond Gunemba.

Minutes later Tahiti slammed in two goals to level with PNG.

With just 15 minutes before fulltime Tahitian striker Teaonui Tehau slotted in the second goal from a corner from a nicely place kick  to see  the  find the net to force the draw.

Tahiti held off the attacking PNG side until the final whistle.

It was a tough match throughout the first half as Papua New Guineans gave the reigning champs a hard time driving through the back with the Komolong brothers Alvin and Felix partnering with sweeper  Danial Joe to maintain a strong backline.

Despite PNG Skipper David Muta and mid-fielder Jacob Sabua both given yellow cards, Sabua returned with a stunning comeback after the warning with a right wing cross that leaves Veteran Gunemba who swindled the ball with his left foot past the Tahitian goalkeeper.

PNG scored right on half time to  lead Tahiti 1-0.

Both teams have recorded one loss and one win so far.

Tahiti is in second place on the ladder with 5 points.

Newcomers, American Samoa are in third place also on 5 points.

Captain of American Samoa, Dave Collis says a lot has been learnt from the first two games and the team will lift their performance this weekend.

“Training has gone well. Our defence has been the problem and we’ve been training extra hard this week to fix this."

“We’ll take our set phases one at a time and enforce what we’ve been practising,” said Collins.

PNG were slow to find their form while Tahiti dominated possession early on.

Anthony Tesquet had a chance to score first points for Tahiti but his penalty kick fell short.

PNG got the ball rolling midway through the first half when a break out on the wing saw Jacky Marcus dive over to score.

An unsuccessful conversion from Nigel Genia left the score at 5-0.

Genia got it right the second time, kicking a penalty goal to extend PNG’s lead.

Cook Islands won the biennial event two years ago but will not defend their title, choosing to focus their limited resources on November's Olympic Sevens Qualifier.

Newcomers American Samoa open proceedings against Solomon Islands at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, followed by hosts Papua New Guinea against Tahiti, in the first round of matches.

The General Manager of Rugby PNG, Frank Genia, says pride and silverware aren't the only things on up for grabs.

The French territory, which currently has observer status at the Forum, is looking at increasing its involvement in the leading regional body.

A Forum mission has recently been in Tahiti to assess its membership bid.

The director of Massey University's Pasifika Centre, Malakai Koloamatangi, says while France is reluctant to entertain the idea of its territories becoming independent, it wants to engage more with the region and having Forum membership could help effect this.