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Despite the disruption to Samoa, the Solomon Islands were undeterred and led Vanuatu 1-0 within the opening 20 minutes.
The Solomon Islands opened their campaign at the 2024 OFC U-19 Men’s Championship in Apia with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Vanuatu.
Despite the disruption to Samoa, the Solomon Islands were undeterred and led one-nil within the first 20 minutes.
Solomon Islands captain Paul Francis’ through ball broke through the Vanuatu defence and James Lehner seized the opportunity and fired a powerful shot past goalkeeper Joseph Naku.
Laena was a constant threat down Vanuatu’s left flank and he almost created a second goal when he passed the ball to the back post, but the defender cleared the danger in time.
Sergio Waoute’s wild shot from long range summed up Vanuatu’s frustration in the first half as the Solomon Islands dominated possession and shots.
They almost scored another goal before the end of the first half, but Raena, who had a lot of space, tipped the ball over the crossbar, making the score 1-0.
The tempo of the game was affected in the second half due to the hot weather in Apia, injuries to several players and cramps.
Vanuatu gradually got into the game towards the end of the second period with substitute Jacky Numake showing great pace but never able to find the target.
The Solomon Islands pushed hard to extend their one-goal advantage and nearly made it two goals when Sergio Waoute’s curling shot went just wide of the top left corner.
As time was running out, Manuel Loren was shown a second yellow card and Vanuatu was reduced to 10 men for the remainder of the injury time. Loren will miss the next match on Monday.
The win gives the Solomon Islands a perfect start to their campaign, while Vanuatu will look to bounce back against Tahiti the following day.
Solomon Islands: 1 (James LAENA 17′)
Vanuatu: 0
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