Junior All Whites overcome Fiji to reach OFC U-19 semi-finals

New Zealand’s substitutes broke Fiji’s resistance and sent the Junior All Whites into the semi-finals of the OFC U-19 Men’s Championship.

The defending champions won 2-0 at Samoa Football HQ in Apia, but Fiji held them scoreless through the first half despite New Zealand controlling most of the possession and territory. Fiji had entered the match after a 7-2 win over Vanuatu in its opening Group B game.

New Zealand finally found a breakthrough nine minutes after halftime. Harley Hill’s corner effort was blocked, but substitute Bailey Ferguson reacted quickest to the rebound and scored from close range in the 54th minute.

Fiji continued to threaten after falling behind. Captain Delon Shankar sent a direct free kick narrowly over the bar in the first half, while Abdullah Khairati later missed the bottom-left corner.

New Zealand’s bench settled the match in the 79th minute. Player of the Match Aaron Cartwright ran down the right and set up substitute Oliver Grosso, who finished from close range. New Zealand joined Solomon Islands as the first two teams to secure semi-final places, with one match still to play.