A cracking shot from 25-metres by substitute Jay Herdman gave the New Zealand U-22 men’s side a deserved 2-1 win against China U-24 at Wellington’s Sky Stadium.
Herdman (18) fired his shot low and just inside the post with only four minutes of the game left to ensure the New Zealanders completed the double against China, having beaten them 2-0 in Auckland three days earlier.
Main photo: Jay Herdman in action against China during the first game between the sides. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
Herdman, who plays for MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps, had been on the pitch for only two minutes when he struck the winner.
In their second game against China, New Zealand dominated possession and territory, particularly in the second half, but could not convert this into goals.
While they never looked in danger of losing, the New Zealanders did not look likely to swamp their opponents either.
Ben Old gave New Zealand the lead in the 10th minute when Nathan Lobo crossed into the box and Jesse Randall’s shot was blocked.
The ball spun clear to Old who back-heeled the ball into the net.
In the 17th minute, Old had the chance to double New Zealand’s lead when Randall created space for him to shoot but his effort rattled the crossbar.
China levelled in the 26th minute through captain Jiabao Wen who smashed a low cross from Hao Fang past a diving Lukas Kelly-Heald in the New Zealand goal.
Half-time: New Zealand 1, China 1.
Old hit the framework again three minutes into the second half when his deft chip rebounded off the far post; striker Riley Bidois got a head to the ball but couldn’t get enough power on it to score.
Randall went close in the 56th minute when substitute Noah Karunaratne set him up for a snap shot from just outside the area and the ball flashed past the China post. Three minutes later, Randall did well again to get in a shot but it flew across the face of the goal.
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New Zealand scored the winner with four minutes remaining when Fin Conchie crossed, Lobo turned the ball back and substitute Herdman smashed the ball home from 25 metres.
China had the chance to level in stoppage time when Guokang Chen’s shot deflected off Oskar Van Hattum’s arm, and off the post for a corner.
Watch the game
You can watch the stream of the match via the following link:
Result
Game played on Sunday March 26, 2023
New Zealand U-22 2 (Ben Old 10′, Jay Herdman 86′)
China U-24 1 (Jiabao Wen 26′)
Line-ups
New Zealand
4 Lukas Kelly-Heald
5 Finn Surman
6 Campbell Strong
7 Jesse Randall
8 Ben Old
9 Riley Bidois
12 Kees Sims
13 Finn Linder
16 Fin Conchie
18 Ronan Wynne
21 Nathan Lobo
Substitutes
2 Zac Zorocich
3 Adam Supyk
10 Jay Herdman
11 Joe Lee
14 Oskar Van Hattum
15 Isaac Hughes
17 Noah Karunaratne
19 Sam Sutton
20 Oscar Browne
22 Scott Morris
23 Dan McKay
1 Alex Paulsen
China
1 Jiaqi Han
3 Shiner Yelijiang
6 Shenglong Jiang
7 Qianglong Tao
9 Wei Zhang
10 Weijun Dai
16 Jiabao Wen
20 Hao Fang
21 A. Abudvlamu
25 Xianjun Wang
30 Abulahan Hliq
Substitutes
8 Mingmin Cai
11 Qinhan Sun
12 Peng Peng
13 Yue Xu
14 Guokang Chen
15 Haijian Wang
18 Yupeng He
19 Jiahui Huang
23 Zihou Huang
24 Xuchen Yao
27 Shaowen Liang
Previous game
Game played on Thursday March 23, 2023
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
READ MORE: New Zealand U-22s impress as they beat China 2-0 at Mt Smart Stadium >>>>
New Zealand U-22 2 (Sam Sutton 44′ pen, Riley Bidois 69′)
China U-24 0
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