Strikers Ben Waine and Kosta Barbarouses have scored a brace of goals each to send New Zealand into the Oceania Nations Cup final, with a 5-0 win over Tahiti in the semi-finals.
Defender Finn Surman had the All Whites ahead early, when Liberato Cacace's free-kick deflected off a post, but into the path of fast-following Surman for his first international goal.
Cacace found the same woodwork with a rightfoot rocket moments later, but as halftime approached, that advantage escalated, with Waine capitalising on a sweet delivery into the goalmouth by Barbarouses and rifling into the top right corner.
From the restart, Cacace created for Barbarouses, playing a ball from the byline to the front of goal for a leftfoot finish.
Ahead 3-0 at the break, Cacace again had his fingerprints all over the next goal, when his found Waine's head at the right post to nod home.
Barbarouses complete the scoring, when substitute Alex Grieve saw his shot blocked, but the rebound found his teammate to easily prod home. Max Mata drew an acrobatic save from Tahiti keeper Teave Teamotuatitau and Grieve found the post with a late leftfooted effort.
"I thought we played some really good football today," said coach Darren Bazeley. "We score five goals, but created a lot of good opportunities.
"Potentially, we weren't as clinical or ruthless as we wanted, but we're getting into really good areas and we've progressed through the tournament really well. The boys are used to being here now and some of the challenges posed, we've gotten over them.
"The goals just before halftime killed the game a bit and we managed to control the game. There were some tricky moments in the first half, but overall we controlled possession and it was just a matter of time."
Missing several frontline players, Bazeley is fielding a side made up of senior internationals, as well as U23 performers vying for Paris Olympics selection.
New Zealand will now face hosts Vanuatu, who defeated Fiji 2-1 in the other semi-final.
New Zealand 5 (Waine 2, Barbarouses 2, Surman) Tahiti 0
