Aotearoa at the 2024 Oceania U19 Men’s Championship
Another Oceania tournament and another trophy for NZ Football headquarters to proudly display. This one came with a hiccup though. The NZ U19s were a step above throughout the group stages, more than a couple steps in their third game, but then almost took a tumble against a rugged Fijian side in the semis. Nevertheless, they survived and advanced to beat New Caledonia in the final and raise the silverware. Five games played. Zero goals conceded. 23 goals scored. The Samoan humidity and the dodgy pitch made passing football difficult so they weren’t often scintillating. But not to worry. Chris Greenacre’s crew did what needed doing and will once again be representing the nation at the U20 World Cup.
The squad that was picked had the usual Wellington Phoenix dominance that we’ve come to expect at this age grade, with 11/23 players listed as Welly Nixers and that didn’t include Lachlan Candy who was on loan at Waterside Karori at the time but has since returned to the Nix Academy. Of those Nix players, Luke Supyk, Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, and Alby Kelly-Heald already have first team contracts – Supyk’s a senior deal, the other two on scholarships as it stands. There were also a couple of Auckland FC lads to offer hints of the impending new era. Finn McKenlay, Oliver Middleton, and Adama Coulibaly were all amongst the first wave of scholarship contracts handed out by AFC... although Middleton never ended up playing in Samoa despite being named. Must have gotten injured.
Only three players were picked from overseas. That’s pretty standard for these Oceania events and we can expect a few more dual-nationals/foreign pros to come back into the mix ahead of the World Cup. Luka Coveny is one of those overseas fellas, having recently signed his first professional deal with Western United. He’s the son of All Whites second-all-time goal-scorer Vaughan Coveny (although is a central defender himself) but did have trials with the Aussie U17s two years ago so happy to see him involved. Keegan Kelly has been playing for Flatirons Rush in the lower tiers of the American set-up (USL2) having moved over there after coming through at Western Springs. He was one of several in this squad who were part of Olympic qualifying a year ago, the others being: Alby Kelly-Heald and Adama Coulibaly.
Coveny and Kelly were already on the scene, however James Bulkeley is a funky new addition. He’s based in Dubai with Fleetwood United, which is relation of English club Fleetwood Town and has a very multi-national playing squad. Seems to operate sort of like a foreign academy. Bulkeley is a dual-nat who grew up in Australia but had some frustrations about the opportunities he was (or rather: wasn’t) getting in the NPL prior to linking up with that lot. Now he’s in the NZ system, right on.
The Aotearoa U19 lads met New Caledonia in their first match, winning 3-0 off the back of some excellent work from Auckland City winger Stipe Ukich – who had also impressed at the OFC Champions League not long prior. There was some chat about Ukich possibly joining Auckland FC, though there’s also been chat about him waiting until he turns 18 so that he can go pro in Croatia or one of the other Balkan nations. It was Ukich who won the penalty that he scored to make it 1-0 with a cross that drew a handball. He also had a header from a corner very harshly ruled out for a gentle nudge on the keeper before eventually setting up an actual second goal when his pace and touch allowed him to get onto a ball in behind which he pulled back for Ryan Watson to convert right before half-time.
Keegan Kelly would add the third soon after the resumption by finishing off a Daniel Makowem cross. Bit of a choppy game at times. Tze Xuan Loke had to go off injured late in the first half after getting hacked in a challenge. The ref had the red card out of his pocket then never actually used it, weirdly. Lenient refereeing would be a theme of this event. Loke was alright, he’d play two more games at the tournament.
Next up it was hosts Samoa. They had beaten Papua New Guinea in their opening game and for stretches against the kiwis looked genuinely impressive. Just not for long enough at a time. Luke Supyk came into the starting eleven and hit the crossbar after 32 seconds. That was the start of a frustrating fortnight for Supyk, who then failed to get a foot on a low cross. Worked hard but the chances weren’t quite dropping for him. Not like they did for left-back Codey Phoenix who put two away inside of twenty minute here, the second coming direct from a corner. Olimpico, baby.
It took longer for a third goal to happen. Lachlan Candy was denied a decent penalty shout, Ukich had a shot deflected past the post, and Fergus Gillion had one disallowed for offside. But on 36’ the bro Supyk dropped deep to win possession and Gillion then fed Watson before carrying on his run. Watson picked out Candy in the box. Candy beat one man then squared to Gillion who slipped it inside the near post. Lovely goal. 3-0 was how it stayed until the subs came on, with Lewis Partridge following up on a save off Sloane-Rodrigues (72’) and then an own goal right at the end when a defender failed to clear a Bulkeley header. Sweet as. Could have been more but 5-0 is fine, no need to get greedy.
The third and last group stage game was against an over-matched Papua New Guinea side and Greenacre therefore made several changes to his established core, including Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, Rico Pradhan, and Joe Wallis all making their only starts of the competition. This game was kinda silly as a high defensive line from PNG left them open to almost anything played in behind. It got ugly real quick with GSR slotting calmly 1v1 in the fifth minute after NZ had already had two good penalty appeals declined. Makowen would grab a couple more in similar fashion, both assisted by Nathan Walker, then Kelly finished smartly from close range after Partridge got forward on the overlap. 4-0 after 18 minutes.
Sloane-Rodrigues added another before half-time but it was a different game by then, with a few injuries and the usual cooling break having slowed things down. The NZers wasted some good chances and were unlucky with several more (GSR hit the post from a free kick). But they sharpened up again to score another five in the second half. Kelly ended up with a hat-trick. Walker and Partridge each had three assists. Ukich, Watson, and Walker got the other goals. 10-0 was the final score.
Then came the semi-final which was where it got frisky. Fiji had a good team and they frustrated the New Zealanders throughout a first half that only provided limited chances in either direction. It was a surprisingly balanced game, with NZ appearing pretty tired after their group stage exploits, and it could be argued that the most significant chance of the first half fell to Ibraheem Afazel of Fiji when that bloke dashed into the penalty area and smashed one towards Alby Kelly-Heald who made a very good, very important save. Huge contrast to that PNG game a few days earlier.
Thankfully, Ryan Watson popped up with that crucial opening goal within a couple mins of the second half getting underway. Great work from Ukich out wide before Gillion squared to Watson for the sweeping finish. That was hardly floodgates though. Instead, Fiji went up the other end and won a penalty after Seth Karunaratne left a hand dangling out whilst turning his back to a shot. Fortunately this was Alby Kelly-Heald’s day in the sunshine. He saved the spot kick and then made at least one more huge stop, as well as a couple of useful aerial interventions along the way. Fiji were quite honestly the stronger side from the moment that they conceded. Very physical and direct, especially from set pieces. Super aggressive. That led to a few more frustrating leniencies from the officiating crew although the kiwi lads weren’t always innocent in the feistiness. It wasn’t until the last twenty that Greenacre finally went to his bench with Walker and Makowem refreshing their counter-attacking and then Bulkeley stocking up the size in the backline. It wasn’t pretty but the NZ U20s held on for a 1-0 victory. Big sighs of relief.
The final was a comfortable affair in comparison to that. New Caledonia were the opponents, same as in the opening game. It was a 3-0 win that time and a 4-0 win this time. Might have been a few nerves when Lachlan Candy missed a clear chance, however he made amends on 36’ when he dispatched a very similar attempt into the bottom corner after Supyk had picked him out in the box. It still proved to be a stuffy game for the first hour, with NCL defending deep and compressed. But superior fitness shone through in the last half hour and Supyk finally got on the scoresheet with a powerful header from a Walker cross. Sure enough he then scored again mere moments later from the penalty spot. The two quick goals would have iced this one regardless, but Wadria Hanye was also sent off for conceding the pen (his second yellow) which really allowed NZ to coast towards the finish line. James Bulkeley scored near the end, finishing off a centre-back to centre-back goal after Coveny had lifted the ball back across the six-yard box in his direction. That’ll do it. Celebrations ensued.
Luka Coveny was awarded the Player of the Tournament honours. Keegan Kelly got Golden Boot with his four goals. Alby Kelly-Heald played four out of five games and never conceded a goal so the Golden Gloves were his. NZ also won the Fair Play title so that’s nice. Both New Zealand and New Caledonia qualify for the U20 World Cup.
| MIN | GOAL | ASSIST | G+A/90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fergus GILLION | 393 | 1 | 1 | 0.458 |
| Alby KELLY-HEALD | 360 | 0.000 | ||
| Luka COVENY | 355 | 1 | 0.254 | |
| Stipe UKICH | 317 | 2 | 2 | 1.136 |
| Ryan WATSON | 298 | 3 | 0.906 | |
| James BULKELEY | 268 | 1 | 1 | 0.672 |
| Keegan KELLY | 250 | 4 | 1.440 | |
| Finn MCKENLAY | 250 | 0.000 | ||
| Adama COULIBALY | 242 | 0.000 | ||
| Codey PHOENIX | 239 | 2 | 0.753 | |
| Luke SUPYK | 237 | 2 | 2 | 1.519 |
| Tze-Xuan LOKE | 219 | 1 | 0.411 | |
| Daniel MAKOWEM | 213 | 2 | 1 | 1.268 |
| Bruce IZUMI | 212 | 0.000 | ||
| Lewis PARTRIDGE | 211 | 1 | 3 | 1.706 |
| Lachlan CANDY | 191 | 1 | 1 | 0.942 |
| Nathan WALKER | 190 | 1 | 3 | 1.895 |
| Seth KARUNARATNE | 150 | 0.000 | ||
| Gabriel SLOANE-RODRIGUES | 149 | 2 | 2 | 2.416 |
| Rico PRADHAN | 116 | 0.000 | ||
| Joe WALLIS | 90 | 0.000 | ||
| Eamonn MCCARRON | 0 | N/A | ||
| Oliver MIDDLETON | 0 | N/A |
Fergus Gillion and Finn McKenlay made for a sharp duo in midfield. McKenlay did some very tidy things dropping deep and getting the ball moving, as well as flexing some decent strength defensively. Gillion led the entire squad in minutes and was able to contribute to a few goals. Tireless from the Welly Nix man, who made two appearances off the bench in the A-League last season. Bruce Izumi, the lone Western Suburbs fella in the group, covered most of the rest of the midfield minutes. He didn’t have much to do until logging a full game in the final, delivering the sort of technically sound performance you’d expect from a Wests lad.
Luka Coveny got the big honours. He and Loke seemed to share the captaincy. Coveny is tall and balanced at the back, a classy central defender who paired particularly well with James Bulkeley. Coveny is 6’2 and Bulkeley seems like he’s at least the same. No nonsense there... plus Bulkeley showed off a pretty tasty long passing game too. We also saw Seth Karunaratne and Rico Pradhan chipping in along the way at CB. Codey Phoenix and Lewis Partridge alternated at left-back while Adama Coulibaly and Tze Xuan Loke alternated at right-back. All four of them showed good speed and attacking instincts, with Coulibaly particularly tidy on the ball (as you’d expect from a guy who also plays midfield – although he didn’t get that opportunity here).
In goal it was Lukas Kelly-Heald’s heroics that dragged them through that semi-final challenge. That was the only game in which he really had to dip into the bag but he had what it took when it mattered and he’ll hope to carry that form onwards into Wellington Phoenix preseason as he auditions for the vacant number one jersey. At the very least he’s a good shot at hanging around as back-up – which would likely mean an upgraded contract, seeing as he’s currently on scholarship terms. The one game that AKH was rested for (the PNG victory) saw Auckland City youngster Joe Wallis given the gloves. Eamonn McCarron, a WeeNix lad, was the third choice keeper and didn’t get any action.
Greenacre set his dudes up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and that attacking midfield three saw the most rotation. Stipe Ukich was the first to catch the eye. Quick and skilled and bigger than he looks. One of three chaps in the squad with multiple goals and multiple assists. Ryan Watson played heaps as the number ten and scored in three separate games, including that all-important winner in the semis. Lachlan Candy operated wide and through the middle, another well-rounded attacking prospect with an eye for goal. Daniel Makowem and Nathan Walker were all about the pace out wide and on flatter surfaces they’d have been even more potent.
Gotta say, it was a surprise to see Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues limited to 149 minutes. The Wellington Phoenix’s youngest ever A-League player, locked in on a long-term contract already, so obviously highly-rated by Giancarlo Italiano... but for the second tournament in a row he’s only gotten cameos. GSR came off the bench in all three U17 World Cup games last year under Martin Bullock now it’s been scarce minutes under Chris Greenacre at the Oceania U19s. Fitness could be a factor there as he left the PNG game slightly early with cramp after NZ had already used their allotted subs (so his minutes are actually lower than that number), however with two goals and two assists there was nobody in the squad with a better rate of goal contributions per ninety minutes. Strange not to see him more involved but that’s how it goes sometimes. It’s not always public knowledge who might be managing an injury at these things (for example, nobody said anything about Will Middleton’s absence). Plus a lot of these age grade opportunities are about auditioning for professional clubs and GSR is already in a situation that’d be the envy of most of his teammates.
Finally, it was Keegan Kelly and Luke Supyk up top. Kelly led the way with four goals, three of them in that PNG win, but Supyk started the final. Supyk has scored plenty on his way up the WeeNix ranks – including the only goal that NZ scored at the U17 World Cup last year (a penalty) – yet he seemed to be snatching at his chances in Samoa. The workrate around that was excellent. The finishing returned eventually. He was able to set goals up for others as well. LS is already on a senior deal with the Welly Nix but he only made four substitute appearances last season so there’s some give-and-take here between his hot prospect status and his relative inexperience. Same as with GSR, to be honest. As for Keegan Kelly, he’s just a natural number nine who knows how to sniff out a goal-scoring chance which nicely complemented the creators that were playing around him. Two good strikers there to build towards the U20 World Cup with.
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