The two players were standouts for the All Whites and were in the thick of the best chances to fall New Zealand’s way on a night where there were many.

Smeltz’s brace extended his goal-scoring run to six goals in four games while Mulligan backed up his late winner off the bench in Vanuatu with a double of his own at home, justifying his selection in the starting XI with an impudent performance on attack.

“It’s always disappointing to be dropped but the coach showed plenty of faith in me tonight and I wanted to repay that,” said Mulligan.

Smeltz was denied a hat-trick by a goal line clearance while Mulligan nearly scored direct from a corner on two separate occasions, drew one top class save from David Chila and one save that almost gifted the Scunthorpe utility a third minute opener.

Fresh from being named New Zealand’s Player of the Year, Smeltz is riding a wave of form for both club and country and he showed little sign of it easing up in Wellington.

“When you score you get a lot of confidence and if you keep scoring that confidence just grows,” said the Phoenix striker.

Smeltz was denied a hat-trick when this shot was cleared off the linePartnered up front by Leo Bertos, it was Smeltz’s run that freed Bertos for the shot that eventually fell to Mulligan to open the scoring, while in heading the All Whites to a three-goal half time lead with his second goal, Smeltz’s drifing run showed plenty of trust in his partner’s ability to pick him out – which Bertos duly did.

“The partnership with Leo worked really well. He’s a good mate of mine and we’ve played a lot together. We know each other’s game pretty well,” Smeltz said.

Mulligan, Smeltz and the rest of the All Whites go on international hiatus for a while with the next confirmed international on Spetember 7 against New Caledonia.

The ‘home’ fixture against Fiji is yet to be rescheduled and may well be before then, while Ricki Herbert hinted at further internationals in 2008 being announced in the new year in his post match press conference.