The Football Ferns produced their most disappointing performance "since the Olympics" in going down 2-1 to Mexico in their final game at the Yongchuan Cup in Chongqing, China, on February 15, to finish last in the four-nation tournament. Coach Tony Readings didn't mince his words after the match. "This is the first time we've not played well since the Olympics. In the first two games, we were frustrated we didn't get the results which our performances merited. "Today, we were below our usual standards, and while we should have had the game out of sight by half-time, given the chances we created, we struggled to deal with Mexico raising their game in the second half, and in the end, didn't play well enough to deserve to win". The Mexicans suffered a setback inside the first half-hour when goalkeeper Cecelia Santiago came off second-best in a clash with Hannah Wilkinson, forcing reserve custodian Anjuli Ladron to don the gloves. One of her first tasks was to fish the ball out of her net, the sphere having been fired home by Amber Hearn, who latched onto an Abby Erceg ball over the defence before an unerring finish into the far corner of the net gave the Football Ferns the lead nine minutes before half-time. It was a rare chance from open play for the Kiwi team, with most of their chances having arisen from set-plays during the first spell. But while the accuracy of delivery was good, that re finishing was not, the ball all too often ending up flying past the woodwork - Rosie White, in particular, spurned a couple of chances which she would usually put away with the minimum of fuss. The Football Ferns paid the price for their profligacy three minutes before half-time. Conceding possession inside their own half, they were prised open by Teresa Noyola's through ball to Renae Cuellar, who benefited immensely from Rebekah Stott's untimely stumble to send the ball beyond Rebecca Rolls and level the scores. "We ended the half with our heads down", said Readings, "while that goal gave the Mexicans a real lift, to the extent that they were the better team in the second half". That momentum switch bore fruit sixteen minutes from time, when Noyola fired home a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area. Rolls got her fingertips to it, but couldn't prevent the Mexicans from taking the lead at a crucial stage in

proceedings. To their credit, the Football Ferns came back at their rivals, and were denied an equaliser five minutes from time. Substitutes Sarah Gregorius and Betsy Hassett combined, the latter heading home a cross from the former, who was adjudged to have delivered it from an offside position. "We're disappointed to lose", Readings confessed afterwards. "We're not used to losing, and particularly not three games in a row - it's nearly three years since that last happened! "At the same time, it presents the team with a huge learning curve. And the good thing is we've got the Cyprus Cup coming up in three weeks' time, so that gives us an opportunity to quickly put right the things that have gone wrong this week". The Cyprus Cup squad will be named in the coming week, and is bound to feature a couple of players from the Junior Ferns squad, who will be playing their OFC U-20 Women's Championship matches at Mangere's Centre Park, starting on Tuesday. "Megan Lee has played well this week, while Meikayla Moore, when she came on today, made a difference to our game when in possession", said Readings, who also had praise for the efforts of the Football Ferns' goalscorer in this match. "You couldn't fault Amber Hearn's work-rate and commitment today. She was trying to rally things and get things going, and took her goal well. But overall, we were disappointing today". Host nation China won the Yongchuan Cup, downing North Korea 1-0 in the final, which also took place at the Chongqing Yongchuan Sports Centre. It's only the third time China have won the tournament in its thirteen-year history, the other occasions being in 2005 and 2009. The latter occasion was the only other time the Football Ferns have been invited to this annual event. As was the case this year, they lost all three games, suffering a 6-0 defeat by China, a narrow 4-3 loss to Korea Republic, and a 2-0 reversal to Finland. Mexico:     Santiago (Ladron, 25); Guajardo, Sierra, Garciamendez, Solis; Mercado, Nieto, Alevedo (Aguas, 76 (Ibarra, 90)), Noyola (Perez, 89); Mayor, Cuellar F'ball Ferns:     Rolls; Bowen, Stott (Moore, 65), Erceg, Percival; Yallop (Hassett, 65), Hearn, Hoyle, Longo; Wilkinson (Collins, 73), White (Gregorius, 55)