Heartbreak, high pressure, heated scenes, and police describe the match between Samoa U19 and New Caledonia where the hosts lost 2-1 and missed out on the semi-final in their last pool match of the OFC U19 Men's Championship on Friday afternoon at Tuanaimato.

The match was a pulsating back-and-forth encounter which led to heated scenes after the final whistle was blown.

Samoa head coach Valerio Raccuglia said two silly mistakes cost them their spot in the semi-final and their shot at one of the two spots for the World Cup.

"We prepared the way we were supposed to be prepared and we've done what we're supposed to do," he said.

"Nothing went wrong. Just two silly mistakes at the end of the first half which cost us two goals and in the second half we just couldn't get an equaliser. Proud of the work, our plays work, and the tactics worked but it was two silly mistakes," added Raccuglia. 

It was an intense game which ended in a scuffle between the players. Police and security had to step into the field to help the officials maintain the peace between players. It allegedly started with New Caledonia celebrating in the face of dejected Samoan players in a very teasing manner.

"It was a tense game. When you win you deserve to win. There was no need to come and celebrate it the way they did in front of us. We were disappointed. You can't change the results once the final whistle goes so we have to be a little bit more clever," Raccuglia said.

Player of the Match New Caledonia's Louis Brunet said the sportsmanship shown on the field was not what he believes is a good example of great sportsmanship.

"I think one of the keepers did not like that we won but that is not the spirit of the game. I must say, it was a difficult game for us, the Samoa team were very strong and very physical," he said.

Brunet said that they were a bit intimidated by the crowd as they were cheering loudly for Samoa, it had a great impact not only on him but his team as well.

"The crowd today had a big impact on us, we felt the pressure not only from team Samoa but also from the crowd. The public was all Samoan," Brunet added smiling.

Brunet said if they win their semi-finals against Solomon Islands, it will be a dream come true for him to go and play in the World Cup. They have their work cut out for them next week.

The home crowd was given something to cheer early on, when Kingston Vaitusi finished from close range to break the deadlock, just past the quarter hour mark.

Samoa pushed hard for a second and came within inches of getting that two-goal cushion. Pharrell Trainor spun well at halfway and his through ball found Juan Gobbi. The midfielder executed a delicate first-time lob over goalkeeper Gabin Rachel, only to see the ball thud off the bar.

Pierre Wajoka’s side began to turn the match in their favour as the half wore on, with Louis Brunet in particular to the fore.

The match turned over the course of seven, first-half-minutes, as New Caledonia completed a remarkable opening period comeback.

A long ball over the top of the backline caused panic in the Samoa defence, with goalkeeper Joel Bartley failing to clear when rushing out. The ball subsequently fell to Jythrim Upa, who made no mistake in tucking the ball into an empty net from the edge of the area.

Minutes later and New Caledonia grabbed a crucial lead with virtually the last kick of the half.

Samoa will now  Tahiti next Tuesday for fifth and sixth place.