Ferns cruise into cup final after ‘crazy’ day

A ‘‘crazy’’ day of football has not stopped the Football Ferns from moving one step closer to World Cup qualification.

The Ferns easily accounted for New Caledonia in their OFC Nations Cup semifinal, winning 8-0 on the island of Lifou.

Such was the remoteness of their venue for the match, there was not enough accommodation for both teams, so they took the same 40-minute flight to and from Noumea on matchday, which New Zealand captain Ali Riley before the match said would be a unique experience.

‘‘We knew that being in this group, the first seed from our group would be playing on a different island, but it seemed like in the distant future before and now that it is here, it is pretty crazy and pretty exciting,’’ Riley said.

There were a few selection surprises from coach Tom Sermanni as he continued to rotate his squad, despite this being a knockout semifinal.

The 30 degrees Celsius heat and challenging matchday experience may have played a part in those decisions.

It became a case of how many the Ferns would win by. It was 7-0 by halftime with Emma Rolston already grabbing a hat-trick. New Zealand added just one more goal in the second half via Rosie White as the heat sapped their energy.

The winner qualifies for next June’s World Cup in France. New Zealand beat Fiji 10-0 earlier in the tournament.

New Zealand 8 (Betsy Hassett 1’, Emma Rolston 7’ 20’ 43’, Katie Bowen 26’, Paige Satchell 31’, Rosie White 38’ 60’) New Caledonia 0. HT: 7-0. Final: New Zealand v Fiji, Saturday 7pm (NZ time) at Stade Numa Daly in Noumea.