PNG held

 By HENRY MORABANG
PAPUA New Guinea played out a dramatic draw 1-1 against New Caledonia in their opening Group A clash of the Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup at the Sir John Guise Stadium yesterday. Coming from the break with 1-0 lead, the hosts had every opportunity to clinch a well-deserved victory until 79th minute goal scorer Tommy Semmy was red-carded by New Zealand referee Matt Conger.
Semmy’s send-off left PNG stretched on defence and New Caledonia lifted, sensing a chance to score the equaliser did so through striker Joseph Athale, who finished off a good cross from his flanker Jefferson Dahite in the 81st minute.
The game started well for both sides applying pressure early on, but a combination of committed defence and rushed kicks ensured a goal-less start.
New Caledonia had an opportunity in the 7th minute when Jean-Phillipe Saiko headed home the cross from Cesar Zeoula but was ruled off-side.
The game seesawed until the 41st minute when Semmy scored from a deft pass by Emmanuel Simon to take the lead.
New Caledonia’s danger duo Saiko and Roy Kayara pushed hard whenever they were in range or on the counter-attack but could not find the target for the home side to take their lead into halftime.
At the resumption of the second-half, both teams came back stronger, which saw some physical clashes but referee Conger maintained control of the exchanges.
Semmy received his first yellow in the 65th minute, and 14 minutes later, copped his second yellow and was sent-off.
His absence up front forced a 10-man PNG side into defensive mode until the 83rd minute when New Caledonia levelled.  Both sides tried hard for the match-winner in the dying minutes but ran out of time.
PNG play Tahiti in their next game on Wednesday.
Fixtures: Wed, 4pm – PNG v Tahiti; 7pm New Caledonia v Samoa.