Samoa and Tonga made winning starts to the OFC Under 19 Championship Qualifier with matching 3-0 victories over American Samoa and the Cook Islands.
Samoa were held scoreless in the first half but the injection of Henry Smith proved an inspired substitution just after the hour mark.
Smith broke the scoring deadlock in the 77th minute, added a second four minutes later before completing a 30 minute hat-trick in stoppage time.
Samoa left it late against American Samoa. Photo: OFC Media
Meanwhile Tonga did all the hard work in the first half.
Tevita Kau put the Kingdom in front in the 17th minute, after finishing off a counter-attacking move, before Mohammad Rajani slotted two penalty goals, with a second half red card to Grafton Potoru sealing the home side's fate in Rarotonga.
Tonga scored three first half goals against the hosts. Photo: OFC Media
The second round of group matches is on Tuesday local time, with Tonga taking on American Samoa and the Cook Islands up against Samoa.
The top-ranked team after three rounds will advance to the OFC Under 19 Championship in August.
