The Solomon Islands boosted their campaign at the OFC Men’s U-16 Championship in Tahiti by scoring two goals within a minute in the second half. Meanwhile, Tahiti’s inspirational captain, Tiahiti Colombani, secured Tahiti’s 2-1 victory over New Caledonia with a remarkable header, earning a spot in the semi-finals of the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in Papeete.
The Solomon Islands started the match with a 1-0 lead and took advantage of goalkeeping errors to score the first goal. Substitute Allen Makana scored after Samoan goalkeeper Filo Pilimasse Tyrell couldn’t gather a long-range effort.
The second goal came from Solomon Islands captain Kennedy Sihiu, who fired past Tyrell. The match turned as Dante Leota managed the Samoans at the back.
Ashley Kwaimasia scored a brilliant individual goal for the Solomon Islands. In the first half, Samoan captain Kingston Hansell took the lead in the 37th minute, curling a right-footed shot past Alick Hale. The result leaves both sides with three points in the group.
In the second match, New Caledonia made a strong comeback after falling behind early in the first half. Leo Lopez’s team had to step up their game to compete with the technically strong home side.
New Caledonia dominated the opening 10 minutes and came close to scoring twice, with a corner kick tipped over the bar by Keahi Tenania and a header by Baptiste Kutran resulting in a diving save from the Tahitian goalkeeper.
Tahiti, with their first real attack, almost scored, with captain Tiahiti Colombani’s left-footed shot testing Nicholas Kutran in the New Caledonia goal. A clumsy tackle brought down Ezekiel Wamowe in the box, resulting in a penalty that Baptiste Kutran successfully converted.
Tahiti equalized five minutes before halftime with another penalty, after Herehei Teaha was fouled inside the box by Michel Trohmae. Tiahiti Colombani confidently scored the penalty to level the scores.
With 11 minutes remaining, the skipper scored the winning goal with a header wide of Nicolas Kutran, securing the victory that sent the vocal home crowd into raptures.
For New Caledonia to advance to the semi-finals, they must defeat the Solomon Islands by at least two goals and rely on Tahiti to win against Samoa in the final Group B match.
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