Hannah Wilkinson sets Football Ferns on way

Crowd favourite Hannah Wilkinson gave her fans at Toll Stadium plenty to cheer about when she scored the Football Ferns opening goal, against Papua New Guinea.

The 19-year-old from Whangarei made a fairytale start to the Ferns first leg of their OFC Women's Olympic Qualifier final on Saturday, when she and fellow Northlander Abby Erceg combined to score the goal in the sixth minute.

New Zealand skipper Rebecca Smith, Sarah Gregorius and Amber Hearn added another three goals in the first half, and were never threatened by PNG who set out to keep the Ferns at bay and take the tie back to Port Moresby on Wednesday still in the hunt. But the home side never let up in front of the 2243-strong crowd, and relentlessly pressed forward, pressuring PNG who remained scoreless in the Ferns' 8-0 resounding win.

Up 4-0 at halftime, the Ferns returned to the pitch with more intensity, taking their opportunities against their tiring opponents, while coach Tony Readings rolled his substitutes off the bench.

Just minutes after coming on to the pitch, sub Rosie White's second touch of the ball was a diving header in the 64th minute and the 18-year-old added a second goal in the 89th minute, a deft lob after a pass from Smith.

Either side of her latter effort, White had a heavy role in the host's sixth and eight goals with saved shots leading to Ria Percival's well-taken 70th minute effort and a second from Amber Hearn in injury time.

Playing in her 29th international for the Football Ferns in front of her home crowd was an absolute privilege, Wilkinson said on Saturday.

"It was fantastic, there was so much support here today and it was a privilege to play in front of my friends and family."

There was a sense of relief, despite the team heading into the game confident they could win it.

"It feels like we are halfway to London now. It's good to have that one out of the way," the striker said.

While the team returned to Auckland immediately after the match, Wilkinson visited her family on Saturday night, before rejoining her team mates for yesterday's recovery session and flying out to Port Moresby tomorrow . It is the start of a massive year for Wilkinson. The Ferns look likely to qualify for the London Olympics followed by the Under-20 Women's World Cup in Japan. Wilkinson is also part of the Under-20 Football Ferns.

Adding to her schedule, she has been awarded a four-year scholarship at the University of Tennessee, where she will study psychology and play football.

"I will head over there after the World Cup at the end of August. It's a huge year, but I'm not daunted by it - maybe slightly nervous but more excited than anything. The football over there is definitely a higher standard over there, so that will be good."

New Zealand coach Readings was impressed with his team's performance.

"There's definitely things we need to work on from the game but it's pretty hard to fault them."

With a comfortable lead at the halfway stage of the two-legged final Readings said the focus for the return leg was to finish the job of claiming the 12th and final place at the finals in London, while getting closer to the standards an Olympic Games demands.

"Going in at 8-0 it would be easier for us to take our foot off the pedal but we can't afford that. While we're playing these qualifiers, other teams are playing the top nations week in week out."

The Northland Community Cup finals were played as curtain raisers. Kamo women won their final against Whangarei FC 2-1, while the men's final between Kamo and Tikipunga was drawn 2-2 at full time. Kamo claimed the win after a penalty shootout, 6-4.