New Zealand's All Whites recorded an uninspiring 3-1 victory over Fiji at Port Moresby's Sir John Guise Stadium on May 28 to open their OFC Nations Cup campaign on a winning note. In a game largely bereft of quality football, the first opening fell the way of the generally well contained Fijian captain Roy Krishna in the eleventh minute. Sam Brotherton's timely challenge thwarted the striker on this occasion. Three minutes later, All Whites captain Chris Wood spurned a glorious chance to open the scoring, losing control at the vital moment upon being played through by Rory Fallon. It sparked a Fijian counter-attack which Krishna led, racing clear of all-comers bar one, the tracking run of Kip Colvey ultimately proving to be one hurdle too many for the Wellington Phoenix striker to overcome this time round. The All Whites opened the scoring in the sixteenth minute. Bill Tuiloma's long throw-in was flicked on by Themistoklis Tzimopoulos to Wood, whose volley was parried by Simione Tamanisau. The 'keeper then attempted to paw the ball to safety, but directed it straight to the lurking Tzimopoulos, who rammed the ball home from close range to secure the start Anthony Hudson's side sought. Set pieces were the order of the day in a very stop-start affair, and had the All Whites had someone on the near post - Monty Patterson's corner to the far post had been headed back across goal by Wood - they would surely have doubled their advantage four minutes after taking the lead. Patterson was to cop a twisted ankle soon after, but was able to persevere, and in the 34th minute flighted a free-kick to the edge of the penalty area. Wood headed the ball down to Luka Prelevic, one of four debutants for the All Whites in this fixture. He volleyed wide on this occasion, to which Fiji responded via a well-struck thirty-five yard free-kick from Avinesh Suwamy seconds later. His effort was bound for the top left-hand corner of Stefan Marinovic's goal until the 'keeper palmed the ball to safety. After Wood had had very strong claims for a penalty turned away by Tahitian referee Norbert Hauata, who deemed that Amani Makoe's challenge from the side in the area was acceptable, the All Whites doubled their lead four minutes before half-time. A Patterson cross wasn't dealt with by Suwamy, and Alvin Singh's attempt to clear the danger only succeeded in striking Fallon, off whom the ball ricocheted into the net to put the New Zealanders well on course for their 150th win in "A" internationals. Prelevic looked to confirm it two minutes later, firing over on the volley after Wood had headed down a Louis Fenton cross, but the Fijians weren't going to take this second setback lying down, and pulled a goal back before the interval. Ilimotama Jese got the better of Fallon near the touchline in the shadows of the half-time whistle, and picked out Iosefo Verevou with a pass which invited the striker to thread the needle, his through ball between two All Whites defenders finding Krishna darting in behind them. On this occasion, he fired narrowly wide, but there was still time for Fiji to mount another attack before the interval, and this one proved far more fruitful. Setareki Hughes took on and got the better of Brotherton, who clumsily felled the striker inside the penalty area. Referee Hauata had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, from where Krishna sent Marinovic the wrong way to leave the game nicely poised at the break, with the All Whites ahead by the odd goal in three. Krishna was always going to be Fiji's main hope of getting something out of this match, and seconds after Tzimopoulos had trod a fine line when checking the striker's run after a through ball, the Fijian captain's neat control on the left allowed him to engineer the space from which he threaded an inviting pass through the All Whites' rearguard into the penalty area.

Hughes read it perfectly, only to go to ground as Tzimopoulos once again obstructed an opponent's progress, this time inside the eighteen yard box. For the second time in the match, referee Hauata deemed that play should continue when a penalty could just as easily have been awarded. To add insult to injury for the Fijians, the referee was pointing to the penalty spot at the other end of the ground sixty seconds later, a result of Krishna blocking a Fallon drive with his arm after one of New Zealand's dozen corners had been partially cleared. To Wood went the honour of restoring the All Whites' two-goal advantage, a feat he only just achieved, squeezing his penalty under the dive of Tamanisau to make it 3-1 to the competition favourites. An ambitious Nickel Chand effort gave Marinovic scant cause for concern soon after, unlike the problem with which Tamanisau was presented when Patterson charged through the middle to latch onto a floated ball in from Tzimopoulos - the Fijian 'keeper had to dash off his line to block the debutant's attempt to score at close quarters in the 64th minute. New Zealand should have extended their advantage still further twenty minutes from time. Tuiloma's shot was blocked for a corner, while from substitute Michael McGlinchey's resulting delivery, Fallon directed an unchallenged header from six yards straight at Tamanisau, who would have been beaten all ends up had the ball been directed to either side of him. Brotherton was then thwarted by the goalkeeper eight minutes later after yet another All Whites corner hadn't been dealt with well by the Fijian defence, three of whose ranks were completely outfoxed by substitute Logan Rogerson nine minutes from time. The newcomer, whose eighteenth birthday it was, produced the most memorable bit of football on the night as he weaved his way in from the left before seeing his deflected shot fly just past the near post. Fiji responded with their best move of the match two minutes later, one in which Krishna was heavily involved. While the All Whites' rearguard held firm on this occasion, they twice came close to conceding a second goal inside the next five minutes. On the first occasion, Suwamy delivered a corner to the far post which substitute Malakai Tiwa only just failed to get on the end of, while seconds later, more hesitant defending by Brotherton was almost punished by Krishna, who swooped to shoot, only to find Marinovic had anticipated the danger and was well positioned to deny his opponent's effort. In the final seconds, Fiji were presented with a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area following a crazy decision by referee's assistant Noah Kusunan, who deemed that Marinovic had handled the ball outside his penalty area when he had released it from his hands to clear downfield while still inside his eighteen yard box. The All Whites were rightly aggrieved by this call, but referee Hauata managed to calm fraying tempers to enable Suwamy to take the set-piece. Thankfully, justice was served, with Marinovic smothering the attempt to confirm a far from aesthetically pleasing 3-1 win for the All Whites. They were joined in the winners' circle on opening day by the Solomon Islands, for whom Jerry Donga scored in the 21st minute to down Vanuatu 1-0. Should the All Whites beat the Vanuatuans on Tuesday, it will confirm their participation in the Oceania World Cup qualifying competition, a ten-match home-and-away series which commences in September. All Whites:     Marinovic; Tzimopoulos, Adams, Brotherton; Fenton (Doyle, 85), Patterson (McGlinchey, 66), Prelevic (booked, 75), Tuiloma, Colvey; Wood, Fallon (Rogerson, 77) Fiji:          Tamanisau; Jese, Singh (booked, 34), Tekiate (booked, 48), Makoe; Suwamy, Chand, Kautoga, Hughes (Raura, 90); Krishna, Verevou (Tiwa, 71) Referee:     Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)