Solomon Islands U-19 Women’s national team defeated hosts Cook Islands on the final match day of the OFC U-19 Women’s Championship at Rarotonga’s CIFA Academy.
Vanuatu’s win over Fiji has opened the door to the Cook Islanders who needed to beat the already eliminated Solomon Islands by at least four goals in order to clinch top spot in the standings on goal difference.
On the back of some vocal local support the hosts looked dangerous inside the opening 15 minutes with opportunities falling for captain Tehinnah Tatuava, Tarita Mamanu and Piri Murare.
Solomon Islands best chance came at the end of a counter-attacking move, halted by Piri Murare’s great tackle inside the box to deny a clear goalscoring chance to Jojo Ledi, who found herself one-on-one with the keeper.
Cook Islands have kept pressing high with Ngametua Taringa on target thanks to a well-hit strike from distance before Solomons defender Madeline Arukau was forced to clear from the line from a curling corner on target sent in by Piri Murare.
Following a scoreless first half, the hosts became increasingly desperate to open their account with a number of long-distance attempts to test Vanuatu keeper Serah Alpefolocia
However, by pushing forward the Cook Islanders have left themselves exposed and vulnerable at the back and Solomon Islands took full advantage against the run of play, with Jojo Ledi tapping in from close range in the 58th minute.
The goal had virtually ended the hosts’ qualifications hopes, and their frustration continued when Kura Mose smashed her shot against the post before Ngamata Moekaa failed to put the rebound over the line from close range as a result of some desperate Solomon Islands defending.
That was Cook Islands’ best chance to get something out of the game before the referee’s final whistle sparked joyous celebrations amongst the exhausted and proud Solomon Island players.
Disappointed coach Tuka Tisam admitted his side wasn’t clinical enough in front of goal.
“Finishing is an issue, again with a defensive team like Solomon Islands, it’s really hard to get through them so they did really well they did a good job on their defensive side of things so it was really hard to crack through the Solomon Islands,” Tisam explained
“We set up to go for that four goals unfortunately we didn’t come out with the result we wanted. We had a lot of chances in the game and we couldn’t get the ball in the net, it was just one of those games.
“But I thought the girls battled and battled to try and get a goal at least to get us started but you know, it is what it is,” the Cook Islands coach added.
Meanwhile, his Solomon Islands counterpart Patrick Miniti remained humble after his side’s win.
“We have a lot of respect for the Cook Islands, they have a very good team, they developed so much and it showed in the two games, they fought very hard and they’ve got very good teams and we had to dig extra hard and maybe add something a little bit different to play them and it paid off,” he said.
“Our Group is the toughest and it was very tight in our group so congratulations to Vanuatu.
