The Football Ferns are set to represent New Zealand in two of the biggest sporting events on the planet after qualifying for both the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2020 Olympic Games with an 8-0 win over Fiji in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup final this evening in Noumea.

It was their fifth successive big win of the tournament and allowed recently-appointed coach Tom Sermanni to begin his reign with a piece of silverware, New Zealand claiming regional honours for the sixth time.

"I've been very happy with the way the players have done the job throughout the tournament," he said.

"The players are pleased and they've worked hard for this. They've been tremendous, both on and off the field, and I think what we've done well is score early goals to make things a bit easier for ourselves," he added.

"But, in saying that, Fiji put up a good display today. I've been impressed with the competition we've come up against, the teams that we've played in this tournament have shown a great deal of heart and character."

Having been comprehensively beaten by the Kiwis in the group stages, Fiji needed to start strongly and frustrate the favourites to have any chance of becoming the first Pacific Island nation to ever beat New Zealand. But the plans of coach Marika Rodu to keep things tight in the opening stages went out the window straight away as Sarah Gregorius broke down the right and sent a cross into a dangerous area for Rosie White to force home in the midst of a tackle.

And Gregorius was in the thick of the action again just five minutes later, the 88-cap veteran bursting onto a ball over the top and stretching the Fiji defence before being brought down for a penalty. Gregorius dusted herself off to take the spot kick and made no mistake by coolly slotting home.

With just six minutes on the clock, it already appeared as if an upset was no longer on the cards, especially as New Zealand had yet to concede a goal in this tournament. But, to the credit of Rodu and his charges, Fiji proved much harder to break down for the remainder of the half.

They wisely adopted a deep defensive block and made it difficult for the Football Ferns to play through them, even enjoying a good spell of pressure of their own around the 20-minute mark. They had their first sight of goal just before the half hour when Cema Nasau got in behind but Rebekah Stott came across to block and her second attempt was scuffed wide.

Fiji would be made to pay for not making the most of that opportunity, New Zealand scoring two more goals before the half was up. Firstly, a low drive from Stott was only partially cleared to Betsy Hassett on the edge of the box and she directed a volley into the bottom corner before Meikayla Moore took advantage of a goalkeeping error to prod home her third international goal.

Sandwiched between those strikes was another defining moment as Nasau received a second booking for a late challenge on Ria Percival and was dismissed. Taking on a side of New Zealand’s class with a full complement was going to be hard enough and now, four goals down and with only ten players, it was obvious that it was going to take something special for Fiji to get back into the game.

They weren’t able to produce it as the Football Ferns continued their dominance of this tournament with another accomplished display in the second period. Just as they had the first, Sermanni’s side began the half brightly and made swift use of their numerical advantage to score a pair of goals before the hour.

The first came from the right boot of Katie Rood, who was picked out by Rosie White and cut inside to fire in the fourth goal of her international career. Hassett had her second of the match soon after when substitute Sarah Morton went on a under-lapping run and cut the ball back for her team mate to take New Zealand’s lead to six.

Hassett was joined in notching a brace by Gregorius and White as the Ferns rounded out the scoring at eight. Gregorius showed good awareness to follow up and nod home when a White header came off the crossbar before the latter drove her second inside the far post in stoppage time to finish New Zealand’s campaign on a net-bulging note.

It was a memorable evening for Gregorius as she shared the competition’s Golden Boot with Papua New Guinea’s Meagen Gunemba, both players finishing on eight goals. But the big individual honour of Golden Ball for best player also went to a Football Fern, Hassett receiving the gong for her consistently impressive performances across the tournament.

The sportsmanship of the Football Ferns was also recognised with New Zealand earning the Fair Play Award.

Match Details

Fiji 0
New Zealand 8 (Rosie White 1’, 90+1’, Sarah Gregorius pen 6’, 74’, Betsy Hassett 38’, 56’, Meikayla Moore 45+2’, Katie Rood 48’)
HT: 0-4

New Zealand: 1. Erin Nayler (GK), 2. Ria Percival (15. Sarah Morton 46’), 5. Meikayla Moore (3. Anna Green 74’), 6. Rebekah Stott, 7. Ali Riley (c), 9. Katie Rood (19. Paige Satchell 69’), 10. Annalie Longo, 11. Sarah Gregorius, 12. Betsy Hassett, 13. Rosie White, 14. Katie Bowen
Substitutes not used: 4. CJ Bott, 8. Emma Rolston, 16. Liz Anton, 17. Stephanie Skilton, 18. Grace Jale, 20. Malia Steinmetz, 21. Victoria Esson (GK), 22. Nadia Olla (GK)
Coach: Tom Sermanni

Article added: Saturday 01 December 2018