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Guadalajara
Ferns Fight Back To Share Four Goals With Spain
by Jeremy Ruane
New Zealand's Football Ferns mounted a stirring second half comeback at the Estadio Pedro Escartin in Guadalajara on March 3, as they held fellow FIFA Women's World Cup finalists Spain to a 2-2 draw in the first of two internationals between the teams.
Silvia Mesegeur and Vicky Losada both spurned chances to open the scoring inside the first ten minutes of the match as Spain made the early play, and that dominance was confirmed twenty minutes into the match when they opened the scoring.
Sonia Bermudez's corner was headed out by Abby Erceg to Marta Corredera, lurking on the opposite flank. She drove a low cross into the near post area, where Vero Boquete swooped to stab home past Erin Nayler.
The Football Ferns, who themselves are used to dominating possession, and who were without injured fullback Ria Percival, struggled to find a way back into the contest during the first forty-five minutes, with Rosie White's touch deserting her when a potential opening materialised on the half-hour.
This prompted Spain to threaten once more, this time from a free-kick twenty-five yards out from goal. But Nayler dived to her left to keep out Bermudez's driven curler, which arced round the wall towards the target eleven minutes before half-time.
Bernudez wasn't to be denied, however, and seven minutes into the second half, she rifled home Spain's second goal from an acute angle after Nayler had parried a low cross-shot from Corredera across the face of goal.
Facing an unwelcome defeat, the Football Ferns looked to their bench to rectify the situation, and the introduction of their most prolific markswoman ten minutes into the second half proved the catalyst for the game to be turned on its head.
Amber Hearn was a surprise exclusion from the starting line-up - matches when she's not on the park from the outset are rare indeed. And within eight minutes of her entry to the fray, the touring side were back in the contest on the scoreboard.
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Her pressure engineered an opening which Sarah Gregorius' through ball exploited to the full, in tandem with the pace and power of Hannah Wilkinson, who hurtled through the Spanish rearguard before taking the ball round goalkeeper Dolores Gallardo and rifling it into an empty net.
2-1 to Spain, but now it was the host nation who were on the back foot, as the Football Ferns grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and set about securing an equaliser with gusto.
Hearn and fellow substitute Jasmine Pereira were instrumental to the cause, and it was fitting that both played a part in the Football Ferns' equaliser, eight minutes from time.
With Spain wilting in the face of the Kiwis' superior fitness and conditioning levels, Pereira was afforded space in midfield, and made the most of it with an angled ball through which sent Wilkinson scooting clear of the defence once more.
On this occasion, Gallardo blocked her shot, but looked on in despair as it rolled right into the stride of Hearn, who gleefully tucked home her fiftieth goal in all matches for her country - this will definitely rank as one of her easiest executions.
With their tails up, the Football Ferns went all out for a dramatic come-from-behind victory, and thought they had secured it in stoppage time when Pereira put the ball in the net. A raised offside flag deemed otherwise, however, although video footage suggested that the official had erred at the crucial moment.
The 2-2 stalemate sets up the series-deciding second match on Thursday (8am Friday, NZ time), when Spain and the Football Ferns do it all again, this time at the Campo Municipal de La Roda, on the occasion of Katie Hoyle's 100th "A" international.
Spain: Gallardo; Garcia (Landa, 60), Torrejon, Jimenez, Serrano; Mesegeur (Borja, 81), Losada, Boquete; Corredera (Sampedro, 80), Bermudez, Pablos (Putellas, 61)
F'ball Ferns: Nayler; Bowen, Stott, Erceg, Riley; Hassett (Yallop, 68), Hoyle, White (Hearn, 55), Longo; Wilkinson, Gregorius (Pereira, 66)
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande
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