The name of Billy Jones hasn’t hit the headlines during New Zealand’s run to the final of the Olympic qualifiers, the likes of captain Logan Rogerson, golden boot leader Myer Bevan and wonder boy Ben Waine instead grabbing most of the attention with their attacking exploits.

But defender Jones has been just as important to the Kiwi cause, starting all four of the national U-23 team’s games in Fiji and forming a rock solid relationship with the equally-reliable Hunter Ashworth and Sean Liddicoat. 

Their form has been largely responsible for New Zealand conceding only four goals across the tournament, helping Des Buckingham’s side to within one win of Tokyo 2020.

“That’s been the goal from the start and there’s no bigger stage than the Olympics,” says Jones, who scored a dramatic late winner as New Zealand struck gold at the Pacific Games in July.

“So everybody is going to put in their all to make sure we do everything we can to qualify.”

Only the Solomon Islands now stand in the way on Saturday and it’s an opponent the New Zealand players are familiar with after already getting the better of the skilful Melanesians in the group stages.

“They gave us a good game in the last group match but I think it will be different now. There wasn’t as much pressure on that game as both teams had already qualified for the semis whereas this is a game for a chance to go to the Olympics,” Jones says.

“I think it’s good that we know a bit about them but obviously it works both ways and they’ll know a bit about us as well. But we know we have the players and ability to go past any team here so I think, regardless of who we were playing, we’d be confident going into this final.”
 

Billy Jones in action in the 4-2 win over the Solomon Islands in the group stages (OFC Media)

As well as a fired-up Solomons looking to make history by becoming the first team from their nation to make the Olympic Games, New Zealand will also have to contend with the unrelenting heat of Lautoka.

Coach Buckingham described the conditions in the 6-1 semi-final win over hosts Fiji as the hottest he had ever experienced and Jones concurs. He is used to playing under a blazing sun as he is based at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas but even the Mojave Desert couldn’t compare to the cauldron of Churchill Park.

“It’s a different kind of heat in Nevada, it’s a lot hotter temperature-wise and will hit the mid-40s but it’s not the same humidity. The humidity is just a different thing you have to deal with over here, even when the sun goes away you can still feel it,” he says.

“We were really happy with our performance in the semi-final because the conditions were so tough. It was really, really hot but we were still able to play the way we wanted to, especially in the first half. That gave us the opportunity to rest a few guys in the second half and come through.”

Buckingham has made full use of his squad depth throughout the campaign with all members of the squad enjoying game time but Jones has been a mainstay, playing all but the second half of a 12-0 win over American Samoa in the group stages.

“I’ve been really happy to start and be involved in every single game so far and I’ve been happy with my performances, although there’s always room to improve, both as a team and as an individual,” he says.

“I’m just hoping I can start this last one and help the team go for that Olympic qualification spot.”

Match Details

New Zealand vs Solomon Islands
OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier Final
Saturday 5 October, 3pm local time (4pm NZT)
Churchill Park, Lautoka
Live streaming via www.oceaniafootball.com

New Zealand (from): 1. Cameron Brown (GK), 2. Jordan Spain, 3. Dylan de Jong, 4. Hunter Ashworth, 5. Robert Tipelu, 6. Dane Schnell, 7. Myer Bevan, 8. Jake Porter, 9. Logan Rogerson (c), 10. Clayton Lewis, 11. Ollie Whyte, 12. Conor Tracey (GK), 13. Liberato Cacace, 14. Billy Jones, 15. Sean Liddicoat, 16. Gianni Stensness, 17. Callan Elliot, 18. Ben Waine, 19. Noah Billingsley, 20. Alex Paulsen (GK)
Coach: Des Buckingham

Article added: Friday 04 October 2019