Fiji lift World Cup goal tally to 20, Solomon Islands win

APIA, Samoa, Aug 27 (Reuters) Fiji lifted their goal tally to 20 in two matches while pre-tournament favourites the Solomon Islands also notched up a victory in yesterday's Oceania region World Cup qualifiers.

Fiji beat the Cook Islands 4-0 while the Solomon Islands won by the same score against Tonga on the second day of competition at the South Pacific Games, being used by the region as the first stage of qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

Osea Vakatalesau opened the scoring for Fiji with an early penalty to take his tally to seven in the competition. He netted a double hat-trick on Saturday when Fiji overwhelmed Tuvalu 16-0.

The Solomon Islands were also off to a quick start with two goals inside the opening 15 minutes but could only add two more against Tonga.

New Caledonia struggled to beat Tuvalu but also moved onto six points with a 1-0 win, courtesy of a fortuitous goal from Iamel Kabeu early in the second half.

Hosts Samoa won their derby against American Samoa 7-0 including two goals from Chris Cahill, brother of Everton's Australian international Tim Cahill.

The next round of matches will be played tomorrow.

The top three finishers at the Games will progress to a World Cup group competition with top seeds New Zealand, starting in October.

REUTERS BJR PM1555