Shane Smeltz and Chris Wood scored first-half goals in Noumea on Friday to ease the pain of a semi-final OFC Nations Cup loss to the same opposition in June.

The win by the All Whites sets up a top-of-the-table clash against the Solomon Islands in Auckland on Tuesday.

The Solomon Islands opened their own campaign with a 2-0 win over Oceania champions Tahiti in Honiara thanks to goals from Henry Fa'arodo and Himson Taleda.

After piling on the early pressure at Stade Numa-Daly, the All Whites finally took the lead through Shane Smeltz in the 12th minute when goalkeeper Rocky Nyikeine could only parry Chris Wood's initial shot into the path of his fellow striker.

It takes the prolific Perth Glory forward level third with Brian Turner on 21 'A' international goals for New Zealand, behind only Vaughan Coveny (28) and Steve Sumner (22).

Wood then doubled the lead when he headed home his sixth goal in his last five internationals, with the chance coming from a Michael McGlinchey cross.

With travel and a match against a dangerous Solomon Islands side to come in four days time, New Zealand then shut up shop to close out the match and take an important step towards Brazil 2014.