Hudson gives a pass mark

Professional, perfect.

That was the reaction of coach Anthony Hudson after the All Whites collected a comfortable 2-0 win over Fiji in a largely one-sided World Cup qualifying encounter in Lautoka yesterday.

With the contest scoreless at halftime, a pair of big blunders from the hosts early in the second spell gifted New Zealand a 2-0 lead and the three points they had came for in hot and humid conditions at Churchill Park.

In-form striker and stand-in skipper Chris Wood was first to capitalise, coolly converting a penalty when the hosts handled inside the box.

Just minutes later Marco Rojas gleefully accepted the invitation to double that lead, an embarrassing gaffe from goalkeeper Beniamino Mateinaqara allowing the Melbourne Victory maestro to put the ball into a wide-open net.

Having mostly silenced a strong home crowd, the All Whites proficiently closed out victory in the final quarter, a result which meant a draw in the return fixture in Wellington on Tuesday would be enough to see them top group A and send them through to the twolegged Oceania final.

‘‘It was a professional Hudson said.

‘‘For long periods of the first half we controlled the game, but at times with the humidity we just lacked a bit of tempo and purpose in our play.

‘‘As the game wore on we got more comfortable holding the ball ... when we did that it was hard for them to get the ball. Coming here was about getting a clean sheet, winning the game and getting the job done.’’

Much of the noise out of the New Zealand camp in Wellington this week had been about imposing themselves on their lower-ranked and lesser-resourced opponents and, on the stats sheet at least, they achieved that.

While they didn’t get reward on the scoreboard, the All Whites largely dominated the first 45 but certainly not performance,’’ minutes, patiently controlling possession for long periods and pressing high to disrupt when Fiji had the ball.

All that was lacking were the final touches, and soon after the break Fiji gave them more than a helping hand in that department.

The go-ahead goal came just two minutes into the second half, Fiji handling when a long ball came into the box and in-form Leeds United marksman Wood calmly burying the spot kick. That error had nothing on what led to the second, though, gloveman Mateinaqara getting far too casual on the ball as Rojas pounced to steal possession