By Francis Gabriel and Elijah Elijah, Games News Service
PORT MORESBY, July 13 – Defending champions Fiji looked invincible as they beat Vanuatu 17-3 in men’s hockey at the Port Moresby 2015 Pacific Games on Monday. The star of the game was Adrian Smith (FIJ), who scored eight goals and added two assists. It was Fiji’s second resounding win of the day after they hammered Solomon Islands 22-1 in their opening match. Fiji coach Shaun Corrie (FIJ) said although the scoreline against Vanuatu was not as high, his side played much better. “They played very well compared to this morning. Though it was a high score against Solomon Islands, who are a very new team, structurally they didn’t play well at all,” he said. “Vanuatu is a good team, they play a lot of good hockey. We have a lot of skills in our team and we started utilizing that skill to beat the running and energetic Vanuatu.” Vanuatu, who beat Tonga 21-1 in their previous match, struggled in possession as the Fijians ran circles around them. However, Vanuatu coach Richard Wilkins was satisfied with his team’s performance. “The boys didn’t have much possession of the ball in the first quarter but worked on the mistakes to hold off the Fijians in the later part of the game. So far, the performance is good,” Wilkins said. Fiji will be strong favourites in their next match against Tonga on Tuesday, but coach Corrie is expecting a tougher test when they face hosts Papua New Guinea the following day. “The objective PNG has coming into the game is to win, especially in front of their home crowd,” Corrie said. “We have a lot of family at home that have put a lot into getting us here, so we don’t want to disappoint them. So if PNG wants to take it then they have to work very hard for it.” GNS fg/ee/
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