15 Jan 2016

Thumping win for NZ in tournament opener

9:28 am on 15 January 2016

The New Zealand under-17 women's footballers have opened their Oceania Championship campaign with an 11-nil thumping of Samoa in Rarotonga.

The winner of the tournament qualifies for the under 17 World Cup in Jordan later this year.

New Zealand side led 5-0 at halftime as Hannah Blake opened the scoring inside the first minute of play.

Jacqui Hand finished the match with a hatrick.

Coach Gareth Turnbull said the group is pleased with their start to the tournament which features eight Oceania nations.

"We were very pleased to not only get the tournament started but to start in such a positive way," Turnbull said.

"The girls have prepared really well over the past five days and we started really brightly. It's always nice to score a really early goal as we did.

The New Zealand U-17 women's team kicked off the tournament with an easy 11 nil win over Samoa.

The New Zealand U-17 women's team kicked off the tournament with an easy 11 nil win over Samoa. Photo: OFC

"We got the ball down and started playing and we started to find some spaces and got into a rhythm fairly early.

"A big message was being patient and to move the ball quicker than the opposition can move. When we did that we looked really good."

New Zealand's second match is on Saturday against New Caledonia, who had a 5-nil win over Tonga.

The winner of the tournament qualifies for the under-17 Women's World Cup in Jordan later this year.