PNG into last eight with win

By PATRICIA KEAMO
MEAGAN Gunemba’s 83rd-minute goal was enough to seal Papua New Guinea’s spot in the Oceania Football Confederation Women’s Nations Cup quarterfinals in their 2-1 win over Tahiti at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji, yesterday.
“I would have been happier with more goals,” head coach Nicola Demaine said.
“I felt like our performance deserved a bigger scoreline.”
Striker Ramona Padio’s 28th-minute penalty goal and Gunemba’s second-half effort were enough despite Tahiti’s Tahia Tamara converting a late penalty.
Tahiti’s advantage was their height, but PNG’s pace attack and solid defence under player-of-the-match Lucy Maino saw PNG come out as winners.
The game got physical towards end of regulation time which saw defender Lavina Hola receiving a yellow card for a foul in the 18-yard area resulting in a penalty to Tahiti.
“Whenever you play these kind of games it’s always going to be physical,” Demaine said after the game.
“We weren’t happy with our performance in the last game (against Vanuatu), but were content with the points.
“We wanted to come here and show that we could play, that we are well organised and a force to be reckoned with, and I’m sure we did that. Everyone is out there representing their country, there are going to be emotions out there, but the way that they carried themselves was great.”
Demaine commended Maino’s solid defence.
“Brilliant timing, anticipating the ball and then going forward nice and patient,” she said.
“We’ll see what we can work on for the next game.”
Meanwhile, Maino said she was honoured to be named as the player of the match.
“When we came out, we saw that they (Tahiti) were all tall players, so our game plan was to use our strengths and play our game,” she said.
“We played some good football and stuck to our game plan.
“We’re feeling really good about it (winning both group fixtures), but we’re taking each day and game as they come.
“Now that this game is done, we’re just going to focus on recovering and getting ready for the next game.”