Westfield Matildas win East Asian qualifiers opener

The Westfield Matildas began their EAFF Women’s East Asian Cup 2013 qualification quest in emphatic fashion by recording a 7-0 win over Chinese Taipei on Tuesday night.

The Westfield Matildas began their EAFF Women-s East Asian Cup 2013 qualification quest in emphatic fashion by recording a 7-0 win over Chinese Taipei on Tuesday night.

Doubles to Katie Gill, Lisa de Vanna and Kyah Simon alongside Servet Uzunlar-s strike ensured Australia-s first step en route to next year-s showpiece in the Korea Republic was a positive one.

The score line was reflective of a totally dominant display from the Westfield Matildas, whose debutant goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold was largely untroubled throughout.

From the opening whistle, the Australians delivered the patience and discipline that was needed to get the better of a potentially tricky opponent, who ultimately had no answer to a thorough Westfield Matildas showcase.

“I-m happy with the win and happy with the way the players went about the game plan that we set out for them,” said Westfield Matildas coach Tom Sermanni after the match.

“I-ll give credit to Chinese Taipei, we thought they may have come out and really set up an eight player defence, but they came out and actually tried to match us and tried to play.

“Getting two early goals really relieved the pressure and I was delighted the way the players saw out the ninety minutes.”

In the lead up to tonight-s clash, Sermanni underlined the importance of a quick start from his charges and Gill-s fifth minute opener provided just what he asked for.

The Perth Glory striker - whose match opener was her eleventh in internationals against Chinese Taipei - was on hand to head home a precise centre from Samantha Kerr.

de Vanna showed her quality in cutting in from the left wing to slot her first of two goals on 22 minutes, before Simon rounded out a solid first half show with a clinical tap in after Uzunlar-s long range effort was parried into her path.

de Vanna added her second only minutes into the second stanza before Uzunlar-s rare goal some fifteen minutes from full time.

Next, Simon netted the goal of the evening - a gorgeous right footed strike from outside the penalty area that curled delightfully into the top corner, albeit after taking a fortuitous bounce off the post and the Chinese Taipei goalkeeper.

Gill became the third player to net a brace when turning in substitute Katrina-Lee Gorry-s cut back in stoppage time.

Australia-s intensity until the final moments could prove crucial as the four-nation tournament unfolds, with goal difference a potential tiebreaker should the Westfield Matildas finish on equal points with any of their opponents.

“We-ve got the advantage now of actually seeing Hong Kong play against China PR,” said Sermanni.

“From there we-ll have a game plan in place and it really depends how strong we see Hong Kong and how they play tactically.

“What we will be doing is making a significant number of changes to the starting eleven and hopefully putting out a team and a game plan that-s going to be good enough to beat Hong Kong, at the same time, having a whole squad of players fresh for the Chinese game.”

The Westfield Matildas- quest to qualify for the EAFF Women-s East Asian Cup 2013 continues with a clash against Hong Kong at Shenzhen Stadium on Thursday, 22 November. Kick off is at 5pm local time (8pm AEDT).

Match Details Westfield Matildas 7 (Gill 5-, 90-+2, de Vanna 22-, 50-, Simon 45-+1, 83-, Uzunlar 77-) Chinese Taipei 0 Referee - Kajiyama Fusako (Japan)

Westfield Matildas line-up: 18. Mackenzie Arnold (gk), 5. Laura Alleway, 7.Stephanie Catley (29. Brooke Spence 61-), 9. Caitlin Foord, 10. Servet Uzunlar, 11. Lisa de Vanna (19. Katrina-Lee Gorry 61-), 12. Katie Gill, 14. Collette McCallum (c), 16. Emily van Egmond, 17. Kyah Simon, 20. Samantha Kerr (2. Teigen Allen 75-)

Unused Substitutes - 1. Brianna Davey (gk), 4. Clare Polkinghorne, 13. Tameka Butt, 23. Alanna Kennedy, 24. Emily Gielnik, 31. Emma Checker

Yellow Cards - None

Red Cards - None

Chinese Taipei line-up: 1. Tsai Ming-Jung (gk), 8. Wang Hsiang-Huei (5. Liu Chien-Yun 75-), 9. Lin Chiung Ying (c), 11. Lai Li-Chin (24. Lee Hsiu-Chin 44-), 14. Lin Ya Hui, 16. Yu Hsiu Chin (32. Wu Shih-Ping 80-), 17. Hsieh I-Ling, 19. Lin Man Ting, 21. Lin Kai-Ling, 22. Chen Chia-Hui, 23. Lin Ya-Han

Unused Substitutes - 20. Lin Yun, 25. Hou Fang Wei, 29. Chang Shu-Chin, 31. Chan Pi-Han, 36. Chen Yi-Ping, 37. Chu Fang-Yi (gk)

Yellow Cards - None

Red Cards - None