Raven Samuel restored his side’s three goal advantage a minute later before Fiji closed the gap to two again, from a well struck free kick a minute before the end of the period.
As the rain continued to pour down, the clocked ticked down. Papua New Guinea extended their lead again through Joe Vere with six minutes remaining. But Fiji applied the pressure and struck twice in quick succession to close the gap to one.
With the Fijians pushing for an equalisier, Papua New Guinea were given a golden chance to kill off any resistance and duly did, with Ellygia Benard completing his hat-trick to add an eighth.
Fiji were missing captain Tevita Waranivalu and Madhwan Gounder, who are late arrivals into Honiara, but that won’t be used as an excuse and Babob Labong’s side fully deserved their victory.
Fiji: 6 (Adriu NABOSE 6′ Own Goal’ 12’, Steven DEAN 20’, 32′, Navu WILLIE 23’, Rajneel SINGH 32′)
Papua New Guinea: 8 (Demasol MANAMA 1’, Ellygia BENARD 3’, 16’, 33′, Goiravana KALA 4’, 9’, Raven SAMUEL 21’, Joe VERE 30′)
Source link : https://www.oceaniafootball.com/papua-new-guinea-stun-fiji-in-the-ofc-beach-soccer-mens-nations-cup-opener/
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Publish date : 2024-10-21 23:16:37
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