Geilnik hat-trick seals Westfield Young Matildas win

The Westfield Young Matildas are on track with their 2012 World Cup qualification with a nail biting victory over host nation Vietnam at the Thong Nhat stadium.

The Westfield Young Matildas are on track with their 2012 World Cup qualification with a nail biting victory over host nation Vietnam at the Thong Nhat stadium.

The match was sealed following a hat-trick by debutant Emily Gielnik in the 75th minute and places Australia top of the group on goals scored.

It appeared to be a bright start for the Westfield Young Matildas who scored their opening goal of the tournament in the third minute.

Some neat combination play through the midfield allowed Linda O-Neill to slot one past the Vietnam keeper Tran Thi Kim in the opening minutes.

However the Vietnamese were quick to strike back with two goals before halftime to rattle the young Aussies.

Despite chances for both teams, the score remained unchanged leading into the second half.

The Never Say Die attitude of the Westfield Young Matildas shone through and having made several changes at half time the Aussies were soon to capitalise.

Emily Van Egmond began to control the middle of the park, feeding balls through for aggressive forward runs of Emily Gielnik and substitute Ashley Brown.

Due to pressure and the tighter lines of the Australian team the defense of the Vietnamese became unstuck and Gielnik tied it up slotting the ball into the corner of the net.

Two minutes later Brown whipped in a cross from the left hand side to find the head of Gielnik and the back of the net in the 62nd minute.

Two goals wasn-t quite enough for the debutant Brisbane Roar striker however and Gielnik-s third goal sealed the victory for the Westfield Young Matildas in delightful fashion.

“To be honest with you I cannot remember scoring all three, I-m totally exhausted,” said Gielnik.

“I am so glad we got up in the end, now we can rest and prepare for the next game.

Speaking at the press conference after the match, Westfield Young Matildas head coach Jeff Hopkins said the most pleasing thing about the game was the come-back.

“It was the Never Say Die attitude of the girls that really shone today, it wasn-t necessarily the performance,” said Hopkins.

“Today was a real test, an eye opener, to understand what we are really up against - Vietnam were a good side and we were very impressed.”

The qualification path through Asia is a difficult one and the Westfield Young Matildas must now remain focused to progress to next year-s FIFA U20 Women-s World Cup.

“We will need to perform better and more consistently in our upcoming matches,” continued Hopkins.

“Our players have finished today-s game unscathed, providing us with good preparation leading in to our next game against DPR Korea.”

The Westfield Young Matildas will play DPR Korea in the second of five FIFA U20 Women-s World Cup qualification matches.