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v. Australia
Dominant Kiwis Downed By Matildas
by Jeremy Ruane
A lapse in concentration and some finishing frailties were all that stood between the Football Ferns and a first win over the Matildas since October 1994 at North Sydney Oval on July 12, as the host nation bid adieu to the retiring Dianne Alagich by recording a nerve-wracked 1-0 win over the trans-tasman rivals.
The Olympics-bound Kiwi combination are getting closer and closer to their Australian rivals, and within the next encounter or two, you can be assured that they will begin redressing the balance which has seen the Matildas record eighteen consecutive wins in women's football's longest-running international rivalry.
Including this match, the 38th in the battle for trans-tasman supremacy. The Australians were coming off a 5-0 mauling at the hands of China in Tianjin three days prior, and despite sporting numerous fresh faces compared to those fielded in that encounter, they were matched stride for stride by a Kiwi combination whose first match in a five-game pre-Olympics programme this was.
John Herdman's charges gave as good as they got during the opening exchanges, with the only chance of the game in the first twenty minutes seeing Rebecca Smith block a Kyah Simon shot for a corner. Heather Garriock's delivery found the head of Alagich, who was unable to direct her effort on target.
The Football Ferns retorted with a dangerous raid in the twentieth minute, which had “Made at Ken Maunder Park” stamped all over it. Hayley Moorwood, Amber Hearn and Kirsty Yallop combined cleverly, and it was only Alagich's despairing lunge which denied the last-mentioned what would have been a deserved opening goal.
Hearn, whose first touches and lay-offs were rarely inaccurate, was forming a dangerous liaison with Renee Leota far too often for the Matildas' liking, but tellingly, the pair failed to trouble Melissa Barbieri throughout the first half.
It wasn't for the want of trying, however, particularly with the penetration Ali Riley provided down the right. She had an outstanding game, regularly roasting the Australian rearguard with her searing pace and tantalising crosses.
Behind her, in central defence, Abby Erceg was generally class personified, although there was the odd occasion when she was found wanting, such as in the 24th minute, when a clipped ball over the top from Clare Polkinghorne deceived the defender.
Lurking in behind was Leena Khamis, who had just entered the fray in place of the injured Kyah Simon. The striker was still finding her feet, however, and stumbled as this opportunity presented itself, taking out the covering figure of Katie Hoyle in the process.
Jenny Bindon greedily pounced on the loose ball, then dealt with a Khamis effort in similar fashion seconds later, as the Football Ferns cheaply lost possession to Danielle Small, who instantly sought out the new front-runner.
On the half-hour, Jo Burgess bulldozed down the right, the chasing figure of Anna Green bouncing off the midfielder as she surged into the penalty area. Her cross, targeting the head of Caitlin Munoz, was too high for the striker, however, and Erceg volleyed clear in emphatic fashion.
Two minutes later, the offside flag denied the Matildas a goal as Garriock's free-kick found Khamis - the Matildas' best-performed player - arriving unmarked on the far post. It was a defensive lapse which the Kiwis didn't heed on this occasion, and it was to come back to haunt them a matter of minutes later.
Not before Green had fired in a free-kick, however, one which had the heads of Hearn and Leota as its prime targets. That of Cheryl Salisbury rose highest, however, although her clearance only found Yallop lurking around the edge of the penalty area. Her 33rd minute shot was blocked to safety.
If only the same fate had befallen Khamis' effort two minutes later. Garriock took a free-kick from just inside her own half, and angled it through the inside left channel. Khamis chased after it, with Hoyle in hot pursuit, but the defender allowed the ball to bounce.
On a dry pitch, and with Bindon advancing off her line in an effort to thwart the danger, this proved critical, as it allowed Khamis to get in behind the retreating midfielder and head the ball over the approaching `keeper into the roof of the net.
The Football Ferns grimaced, regrouped, and set about redressing the balance. Within three minutes of the goal, they came desperately close to doing so, as a poor Barbieri clearance was pounced on by Riley.
Her low cross sought out the fast-arriving figure of Yallop, but Alagich, determined to sign off her 86-match career on a winning note, dived in to thwart her opponent and, not for the first time in her career, save Australia's bacon.
Dogged defending by Green denied Khamis three minutes before the interval, after the striker had initially galloped clear down the right. It was into that same area of the pitch which Riley strode just seconds after the whistle had sounded to start the second half, and she stung the gloves of Australia's replacement goalkeeper, Lydia Williams, with a curling twenty-five yarder.
It signalled the Football Ferns' intentions, and they proceeded to dominate the second half against rivals who, for this writer, are often found wanting when their opponents take the game to them and get right in their faces.
That's what happened in this game, and the Matildas didn't exactly appreciate being made to look second best in front of their own supporters - 1604 of them, to be exact, and that's not including the sizable contingent of youngsters who'd come anticipating a routine victory over these now regular visitors to West Island.
The Football Ferns weren't having a bar of that script, because they're made of far sterner stuff. Led by captain Moorwood's tenacious example in midfield, they set about the task of drawing level with a vengeance.
The skipper instigated a 51st minute move which was deserving of far better fate. At its heart was Riley, whose right flank rampage resulted in a cross for
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 Standing:
Renee Leota
Katie Hoyle
Amber Hearn
Abby Erceg
Anna Green
Rebecca Smith
Kneeling:
Kirsty Yallop
Ali Riley
Ria Percival
Hayley Moorwood (c)
Jenny Bindon
 On the bench:
Alysha Blackwell (Physio)
Merissa Smith
Emma Jete
Kristy Hill (obscured)
Rachel Howard
Marlies Oostdam
Rebecca Tegg
Emily McColl
John Herdman (Coach)
Julie Hogg (Manager)
 Standing:
Cheryl Salisbury (c)
Joanne Burgess
Claire Polkinghorne
Di Alagich
Caitlin Munoz
Kneeling:
Lauren Colthorpe
Kyah Simon
Danielle Small
Heather Garriock
Kate McShea
Melissa Barbieri
 Training ground action.
Amber Hearn heads goalwards, as (clockwise) Rebecca Smith, Kirsty Yallop and Hayley
Moorwood look on
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Hearn. Her lay-off invited Yallop to join in the fun of unhinging Australia's rearguard left, right and centre. She squared the ball into Leota's stride, but just as she pulled the trigger, Salisbury stepped into divert her effort for a corner.
Green's delivery to the near post wasn't dealt with by Australia, which allowed the lurking Moorwood to lash a volley into the side-netting.
And still they pressed. Yallop and Moorwood had shots blocked by Alagich and Lauren Colthorpe respectively in the 53rd minute, while Colthorpe denied Yallop in the act of shooting seconds later, as another tantalising cross from Riley fell invitingly into the midfielder's stride.
Soon after, strong Kiwi penalty claims fell on deaf ears as Hearn's attempt to flick the ball beyond two covering defenders saw the ball strike an Australian hand in the area. Referee Krystyna Szokolai was perfectly placed, but erred on the side of caution in playing on, much to the Football Ferns' bemusement.
It was a reflection of New Zealand's dominance that it took the Matildas a full fifteen minutes to engineer a chance of their own. Garriock, whose set-play deliveries had seasoned Australian media-men drooling about how they wished such quality was in evidence in the Socceroos' squad, picked out the head of Small with her corner, and the ball flashed past the far post.
Back came the Football Ferns, who the same seasoned Socceroos' scribes openly admitted were deserving of at least a share of the spoils in this match. To get an Australian to say anything positive about New Zealand is a challenge in itself at the best of times, so for this statement to be made voluntarily is a reflection of just how well New Zealand's female footballing Olympians performed.
Riley and Hearn combined on the right to send Leota careering through. She was far too clever for Salisbury, who instantly attempted to grab the scurrying striker's shirt as she raced through to take on Williams one-on-one.
Referee Szokolai pulled play back instantly, denying the Kiwis the goalscoring opportunity in the process. To compound her error, the official failed to at least book the offending defender, whose 150th international appearance this was, in New Zealand's 128th international all told.
Williams grabbed Green's attempt to level the scores with a twenty-five yard free-kick, then watched as a challenge by the Kiwis' set-piece taker saw her become the first of two Football Ferns booked by referee Szokolai, neither of which were merited in light of Salisbury's treatment.
Unperturbed, the Football Ferns soldiered on once more. Smith picked out Hearn, who controlled the ball on her chest before laying it off to Moorwood. Her angled pass to Hoyle saw the midfielder steer the sphere into Riley's raking stride, and with Ria Percival overlapping her team-mate, the Matildas looked ripe for the taking.
The fullback's delivery picked out Yallop racing in on the far post, but again the home team survived, as Kate McShea blocked the midfielder's effort to safety. It was that inability to finish off exceptional moves such as this one which was ultimately the Football Ferns' foremost failing in this fixture - they would have won with greater accuracy and precision in front of goal, make no mistake.
Emma Kete entered the fray soon afterwards, and wasted little time in making her presence felt among Australian defenders who would sooner not face her no-nonsense, in your face approach. In the 71st minute, she sent Riley racing past the sluggish figure of Salisbury, and the resulting cross was volleyed over by Yallop.
Three minutes later, it was Australia's turn to threaten, with Erceg dicing with danger as she denied Munoz in the penalty area. The Matildas weren't best pleased with referee Szokolai, who got this spot-kick call spot on this time round, unlike her earlier decision.
Munoz threatened again in the 76th minute, as she dashed in behind New Zealand's defence while substitute Yesim Servet Uzunlar pierced it with a through ball. The striker sent the ball blazing across the face of goal, and fired another shot towards the target with greater accuracy six minutes later.
Sadly for Munoz, it was hit too tamely to trouble Bindon, who dealt capably with a Garriock free-kick seconds earlier, but generally had a watching brief for much of the half.
That's because her outfield team-mates were doing everything in their power to get back on level terms. In the 78th minute, substitute Marlies Oostdam's corner put Williams under all sorts of pressure, but she did well to punch clear as Kete, Hearn and Smith all homed in on the delivery.
Two minutes from time, Yallop fired the Football Ferns' final shot in anger in the match. Williams grabbed her twenty-five yarder at the near post to leave the beaten side frustrated and disappointed not to have done justice on the scoreboard to a display which was deserving of victory.
It will come, and sooner than many think. Last month's triumph over Argentina has given Herdman's heroines a real belief that they can achieve that feat against even higher-ranked opponents sooner rather than later, and they served notice to the Matildas in this match that their scalp, one not claimed since October 1994, is very much back in New Zealand's sights again.
Now that one of the mainstays of Australia's rearguard in Alagich has concluded her international career, and with Father Time looming large on that of the stoic Salisbury, a long-awaited changing of the guard in the battle for trans-tasman women's footballing supremacy could well be nigh.
Australia: Barbieri (Williams, 46); Alagich (Carroll, 85 (booked, 87)), McShea, Salisbury (Spence, 87), Polkinghorne; Burgess (Perry, 59), Colthorpe, Small (Uzunlar, 59), Garriock; Simon (Khamis, 22), Munoz
Football Ferns: Bindon; Percival, Erceg, Smith (booked, 81), Green (booked, 64) (Oostdam, 75); Riley, Moorwood, Hoyle, Yallop; Hearn, Leota (Kete, 69)
Referee: Krystyna Szokolai
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