Cook Islands win over American Samoa has shattered the qualification hopes of hosts Tonga and Samoa, yet the two sides showed plenty of passion and pride to produce a six-goal thriller to end the OFC U 20 tournament on a high note.
Tonga captain Hemaloto Polovili marked his return from a one match suspension with a well taken low drive from the edge of the box to give his side the lead inside 10 minutes.
The skipper grabbed his second half 30 minutes later as the hosts raced two a 2-0 first half lead.
Samoa did manage to regroup to come out with intent after the break.
Their never-say-die attitude paid dividends in 66th minute when Pago Tunupopo pulled a goal back by netting from close range.
Four minutes later Samoa were back on level terms thanks again to Tunupopo, who grabbed his brace with a rifling left footed drive from inside the box.
Samoan celebrations could only last for three minutes before Polovili completed his hat-trick with a clinical low strike to give his side a 3-2 lead.
But there was still time for a twist in the 80th minute when Samuel Malo converted from the penalty spot.
Despite a tense and frantic finish to the match, which included eight minutes of injury time, the two sides were forced to settle for a share of the points.
Samoa coach Paul Ualesi says he was pleased with his team’s performance.
“It was a good comeback from the boys after being 2-0 down at half time so I’m proud of them.
“Once we found out what happened in the first game we knew we couldn’t qualify so the boys were a bit deflated at first,” he said.
“But they showed plenty of character to pick themselves up and they played with a lot of heart to end the tournament in second place.”
His Tongan counterpart Tevita Moala said the draw was a fair result and the match a fitting end of to a closely fought tournament.
“First I want to thank Samoa for a great game today.
“We started really well and we dominated the first half but Samoa came back at us and they deserved to get something out of the game.
“It’s disappointing that we failed to qualify but we haven’t been defeated throughout the tournament and I am proud of my boys,” Moala said.