Westfield Young Matildas downed by DPR Korea

The Westfield Young Matildas suffered a narrow defeat against DPR Korea on Saturday night, losing 1-nil in Vietnam.

The Westfield Young Matildas suffered a narrow defeat against DPR Korea on Saturday night, losing 1-nil in Vietnam.

Torrential downpour in the early afternoon proved to make it a difficult encounter for the Westfield Young Matildas who set out to collect their second consecutive victory at the AFC U/19 Women-s Championship.

It was a hard fought match against a formidable DPR Korea outfit. The Australian side did exceptionally well considering the circumstances.

Just as Australia began to gain some momentum DPR Korea capitalised with a powerful strike in the 22nd minute from just outside the 18-yard-box.

The Westfield Young Matildas continued to press which allowed for some promising interplay down the left hand side between Ashley Brown and Stephanie Catley.

Minutes before the half time whistle Tara Andrews was unlucky not to equalise as her strike hit the upright, following a kindly threaded ball from midfielder Nicola Bolger through DPR defense.

The girls returned from the sheds with resilience and determination required to battle it out in the second half with DPR Korea.

Emily van Egmond unleashed a low strike early on in the second half causing unease amongst DPR Korea-s ranks and unsettling the goalkeeper.

In the 60th minute some brilliant interplay between Tara Andrews and Caitlin Foord allowed Teigen Allen to make a surging run down the right hand side to then cut the ball back to Foord just inside the box, but the young footballer of the year-s shot hit the post yet again.

The young Australians continued to create chances for themselves. One last effort, a corner in the last minute of the game saw Andrews glance the ball off her head brushing past the near post.

Following a collective effort out on the pitch, some individual performances really shone through. Speaking after the match, Westfields Young Matildas head coach Jeff Hopkins, although frustrated, was rather pleased with how the team performed.

“They really adapted to circumstances and conditions of the game, which were not easy. There were some great individual performances out there too,” Hopkins said.

“Alanna Kennedy was under pressure in every instance, yet her composure on the ball was first class, that is what international football is about.”

The match gave a strong indication that the Westfield Young Matildas are a true contender for one of the three available FIFA U20 Women-s World Cup positions up for grabs.

Looking towards the Japan game in two days time, Hopkins is looking for the players to recover both physically and mentally.

“I know that we are disappointed. I feel we deserved to get something out of the game tonight,” continued Hopkins.

“It is really important for us to now recover this evening and regroup tomorrow as we prepare for Japan.”

Everyone from Australian delegation was very happy with how all the players conducted themselves out on the pitch.

The Westfield Young Matildas will play Japan in the third of five FIFA U20 Women-s World Cup qualification matches on Monday.

Live match updates and behind the scenes stills and footage will be available via Girls FC Facebook www.facebook.com/girlsfc and Twitter http://twitter.com/FFAGirlsFC

Westfield Young Matildas v DPR Korea 2012 FIFA Youth World Cup Qualifiers Australia 0 DPR KOREA 1 Saturday, 8 October 2011 Thanh Long Sports Centre , Vietnam

Westfield Young Matildas line-up: Casey DUMONT (gk), Stephanie CATLEY, Rebekah STOTT, Alanna KENNEDY (c), Hannah BREWER, Nicola BOLGER (Emily GIELNIK 80-), Emily VAN EGMOND, Teigen ALLEN, Caitlin FOORD (Marianna TABAIN 70-), Tara ANDREWS, Ashley BROWN (Vedrana POPOVIC 72-)

Yellow cards: Emily VAN EGMOND 87- Red cards: Nil