The Football Ferns have got off to a flying start under new coach Tom Sermanni at the OFC Women’s Nations Cup in New Caledonia.

The World No 20 came into the tournament as strong favourites and underlined their title credentials with a dominant display, defeating Tonga 11-0 in the hot conditions at Stade Numa-Daly Magenta, Nouméa.

The defending champions were rampant in their first game under Sermanni with four players – Rosie White, Annalie Longo, Betsy Hassett and Sarah Gregorius – all scoring doubles to earn an 8-0 lead at the break.

"We got off to a really good start," said Gregorius. "To be honest it was done and dusted quite quickly. We raced out to 5-0 and improved to 8-0 at half-time which gave us the luxury of making some substitutes."  

After the blistering start, Sermanni made three changes at half-time captain Ali Riley came off for Sarah Morton, Longo made way Katie Rood and White was substituted for debutant Grace Jale.  

"The conditions play a role in that too. It was pretty warm out there and we did have a lot of the ball today as well so you are still working pretty hard. It is nice to be able to bring on some fresh legs and give people an opportunity. It was awesome for Grace to make her debut today."

The Ferns picked up where they left off soon after half-time when Gregorius completed her hat-trick in the 51^st minute with a composed finish.

With her hat-trick, the 31-year-old from Wellington moved into third on the all-time goal-scorers for the Football Ferns. Her 28 goals in A internationals sees her only behind injured team-mate Amber Hearn (54) and Wendy Sharpe (34).

Gregorius said it was an honour to be in that elite company.

"I am a forward and I was on the field for 90 minutes today so I should be scoring more, but it is always nice the way that the goals were spread out today. Everyone is putting in assists as well as finishing them off. It is satisfying to keep the tally ticking over, but that is not the most important thing for me it is getting the win for the team." 

Experienced defender Ria Percival, who missed the Japan international in June with an ankle injury, marked her return to the national side with a smart goal from a set-piece in the 67^th minute.

Tonga defended resolutely in the second half, but the Ferns added an 11^th goal when Tongan keeper Carollyne Fotu made a mistake at the back in the 88^th minute. Grace Jale, who came off the bench to make her Football Ferns debut, was the quickest to react and capped her first A international with a goal.

The final score of 11-0 was still some way off the biggest winning margin in Football Ferns history. The New Zealand Women’s team of 1998 defeated Samoa 21–0 in Auckland to claim that record.

It was also short of the biggest win over Tonga – the Football Ferns of 2014 defeated Tonga 16-0 in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on their way to qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

The Football Ferns take on the Cook Islands on Thursday and Fiji on Monday to complete their Group B games and after this performance will be favourites to top the group.

In Group A, Papua New Guinea defeated Samoa 5-0 and hosts New Caledonia beat Tahiti 4-2 to begin the tournament.  

The winner of the OFC Women’s Nations Cup will qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France and also the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

OFC Women’s Nations Cup
Group B
New Zealand 11 (Rosie White 8’, 14’, Annalie Longo 9’, 13’, Betsy Hassett 34’, 35’, Sarah Gregorius 37’, 39’, 51’, Ria Percival 67’, Grace Jale 88’)
Tonga 0
HT: 8-0

New Zealand: 1. Erin Nayler, 2. Ria Percival,  4. CJ Bott, 5. Meikayla Moore, 6. Rebekah Stott, 7. Ali Riley (c) (15. Sarah Morton 46’), 10. Annalie Longo (9. Katie Rood 46’), 11. Sarah Gregorius, 12. Betsy Hassett, 13. Rosie White (18. Grace Jale 46’) 14. Katie Bowen

Substitutes not used: 3. Anna Green, 8. Emma Rolston, 16. Liz Anton, 17. Stephanie Skilton, 19. Paige Satchell, 20. Malia Steinmetz, 21. Vic Esson (GK), 22. Nadia Olla (GK)  

Article added: Monday 19 November 2018