The Fiji Mini Kulas have suffered a narrow defeat to New Zealand scoring 1-0 in their second OFC U-17 Women’s Championship pool match, but produced a performance that impressed both coaches.

Despite the loss, Fiji showed strong tactical discipline and came close to earning a result against the tournament favourites.

Demaine says the Mini Kulas followed their game plan well, defending in numbers and looking to attack on the counter.

“We thought we had a good idea of how we could beat New Zealand and they went out there believing that that’s what they could do and it went to plan. Obviously people are going to score goals in football and New Zealand were lucky there at the end to get one in.”

New Zealand head coach Alana Gunn praised Fiji’s performance, admitting she was disappointed the Mini Kulas did not get something from the match after pushing her side until the final whistle.

” They came out and they did an exceptional job. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say it, but I’m a little bit gutted for them. I think they deserve something out of that match.”

“But for us to come away and win it late, just, I guess, goes to show the depth we have in the squad with our fighting spirit.”

Fiji conceded the decisive goal late in the match, but Demaine says the experience will give her players confidence and valuable lessons ahead of their remaining campaign.

“So you know we had to set up to defend a lot and then try to score on the counter-attack. So it’s not something that we’ve had a lot of time to work on but it was effective I felt and the players were really disciplined in that.”

“You can’t ask for more and then it came down to them just being able to fight till the end. A few cramps and stuff you know it’s the first time playing at this level in this way so little things we can fix for the next game.”

The Mini Kulas will now turn their attention to their final pool match against hosts, the Solomon Islands, as they continue their push for a place in the semi-finals.