The All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen says he had no high expectations of the officiating in Oceania World Cup qualifying and in the end he was reasonably happy with the performance of the ref in Tuesday night's 3-0 win over Tahiti in Christchurch.
The result keeps the All Whites unbeaten at the top of the group and they can clinch a spot in the intercontinental play-off match if they beat second-placed New Caledonia in March.
Tahiti pushed and kicked out against the New Zealanders all night and the game threatened to boil over at times and eventually tempers flared late in the match with an all-in melee.
Nelsen says the ref did okay considering they have very little experience at this level.
Michael McGlinchey scored after three minutes and while they dominated the rest of the game, they were unable to add to that tally until late in the game when Chris Killen and McGlinchy scored again.
