Academy scholar Monty Patterson netted his second goal in two games as New Zealand’s U23s beat hosts Papua New Guinea 1-0 in Port Moresby earlier this morning to secure a place in the semi-finals of the Pacific Games.

Midfielder or striker Patterson, 18, struck on the hour mark, having previously scored his side’s first goal in their 2-0 victory over the Solomon Islands in their opening group game.

New Zealand face New Caledonia in their final group game on Tuesday with the tournament winners claiming a place at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Last month Patterson played for New Zealand at the FIFA U20 World Cup with his goal in the 5-1 victory over Myanmar named amongst those nominated for the Goal of the Tournament.

GOAL! 60 mins l @PattersonMonty gives the #MensU23s the lead on the end of a long throw! pic.twitter.com/ytc7yfZWdB– New Zealand Football (@NZ_Football) July 5, 2015

Elsewhere at the Pacific Games, Fiji recorded a new record victory in an international match by defeating Micronesia 38-0 in their group game, having been 21-0 up at half-time.

The scoreline surpassed the Australia senior side's 2001 31-0 win against American Samoa in a World Cup qualifier. Micronesia lost 30-0 to Tahiti in their opening game.

Photo: Action Images

jas0999 added 09:26 - Jul 5 Well done to him. May be worth a look in late pre season games?
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dalinghooblue added 09:48 - Jul 5 Hope MM is keeping an eye on the Micronesia keeper to keep Bart and Gerks on their toes
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PhilTWTD added 10:11 - Jul 5 I had a check to see whether Andy Marshall had discovered some Micronesian ancestry, but seems not and don't think their keeper is worth looking at judging by this report. "Fiji took a 21-0 lead into halftime, prompting Micronesia to replace the goalkeeper Walter Pengelbew with outfield player Dominic Gadad in an attempt to stem the tide. Though Gadad fared slightly better than his predecessor he still conceded another 17 goals after the break." http://www.portmoresby2015.com/fiji-make-history-with-38-0-win-against-federated

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CavendishBlue added 11:50 - Jul 5 Let's hope he follows cousin Tommy all the way to a senior international tournament. At least he'll stand a better chance of competing in Rio as currently the Northern Irish ,Scottish & Welsh FA's stand between England and the IOC.
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GiveusaWave added 06:59 - Jul 6 Tuivuni (fiji striker) has impressive stats for their u23's. Scored 10 goals against Micronesia so his stats only continue to get better. 34 goals in 9 caps: now that's impressive stats. Maybe he'll reach the 100 mark in his Fiji career. Feel sorry for Micronesia. A really good effort given the fact that 3 of their players were introduced to football 18 months ago. Shame they can't bring in players with Micronesian connections from our League 1 or 2.

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Paulblue62 added 16:05 - Jul 6 Great stuff Monty. I look forward to seeing you in the first team in the not so distant future. Good luck in the semi and hopefully final.
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