New Zealand’s Football Ferns suffered their heaviest defeat in two years during their opening Cyprus Cup fixture on 2 March, slumping 4-1 at the hands of Holland in the GPS Stadium in Nicosia. It was a decidedly disappointing outcome for Oceania’s champions, especially as three of the goals were gifted to the Dutch by New Zealand’s usually reliable central defensive duo, Rebecca Smith and Abby Erceg (background pic). The latter was making her fiftieth appearance for her country – the youngest player to realise the milestone – but it’s not a match from which she will have fond memories. Nor will Hannah Wall, who succumbed to an ankle injury inside the first twenty minutes which may well mark her only contribution to the tournament. While the Football Ferns were reorganising their ranks following Wall’s departure – Anna Green (above) replaced her injured team-mate – the Dutch opened the scoring in emphatic fashion. Sherida Spitse latched onto a pass from Dyanne Bito in the 22nd minute and fair battered a twenty-five yarder beyond the flailing arms of Aroon Clansey (below), who herself was called into action at short notice after Jenny Bindon withdrew at the eleventh hour, having tweaked in training the knee on which she recently underwent surgery. Three minutes later, Smith and Erceg got themselves in a spot of bother from which there was no escape – certainly not when the lethal Manon Melis is lurking with intent! Onto the ball she swooped, before sweeping it past the advancing Clansey – the glare the goalkeeper directed towards her offending defenders was of the "If looks could kill" variety! New Zealand, who opted for a 4-4-2 formation in preference to their usual diamond-shaped midfield as coach John Herdman took the opportunity to try out a few things ahead of June’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals in Germany, worked their way back into the match after this double blow, only for Erceg to err again on the stroke of half-time. A sloppy pass afforded Sylvia Smit possession, and she slipped Melis (above) through once more … 3-0, a half-time scoreline which meant the game was as good as over, regardless of the efforts the likes of well-performed debutant Olivia Chance mustered during the match. The Football Ferns forced seven corners in the second half, and the Dutch, despite Melis hitting the post during this spell, were quite content to hold their rivals from the other side of the world at arm’s length until the duo who most impressed Herdman during the match combined fifteen minutes from time. Ali Riley (above) and Green "didn’t drop their standards", said the coach afterwards, and it was fitting that the former should cross to the far post for the latter to guide the ball into the path of Sarah Gregorius (below) – her eighth goal in as many matches brought the Football Ferns their lone moment of joy in this encounter. Sadly, there was more sorrow to come, and once again, Smith and Erceg were in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Smit was the beneficiary of this blunder, and while Clansey was able to block her effort, Renee Slegers was following up and tucked home the final goal of the game seven minutes

from time. Herdman was an audibly disappointed man post-match. "We paid the price today for trying different things, but we’ve got to try them now ahead of the big one in June. We changed the shape of the team for this match, but what cost us was a number of mistakes I’ve not seen from our team for ages, particularly our centre-backs. "It’s something we thought we’d ironed out long ago, but we turned the clock back three years today. Hopefully that one’s out of our system, and normal service will resume on Friday, against Switzerland". That match is now a must-win encounter for the Football Ferns, as the Swiss were downed 2-0 by France in the earlier match at the GSP Stadium, goals in each half from Gaetane Thiney and Camille Abily (below) securing victory for the world’s eighth-ranked team. "We played some good stuff in the second half today", continued Herdman, "but it’s taken us all that time to get started. Olivia Chance played very well on debut – a very composed performance, while Ali Riley and Anna Green were the pick of the players. "They didn’t drop their standards, but as a team we dropped well below the benchmark we’ve set ourselves today". Dutch coach Roger Reijners, commenting on the Dutch women’s football website after the match, was satisfied with the first part of the game. "We played well until we led 2-0. After that, it was harder, with New Zealand putting us under more pressure, and it was thanks to the speed of Manon Melis that we were able to make it 3-0 just before half-time. "In the second half, our build-up play wasn’t so good, and we held back too much. This was partly due to our opponents’ play, but also because we don’t recognise the moments when we can play forward. So there is certainly room for improvement". New Zealand:     Clansey; Wall (Green, 20), Smith, Erceg, Percival; Riley, Moorwood (Hassett, 46), Hoyle (Longo, 65), Chance (Yallop, 65); Hearn (Wilkinson, 65), Kete (Gregorius, 46) Holland:      Geurts; Bito, Hogewoning, Hoogendijk (Van den Berg, 68), Meulen (Brummel, 59); Smit, Koster, Spitse, Van de Ven (Pieete, 71); Slegers, Melis (Oudejans, 87) In Group A action at the Cyprus Cup, a second half goal from Emily Zurrer earned Canada a 1-0 win over Scotland at the Ammochostos Stadium in Larnaca, while across town at the GSZ Stadium, England’s Kelly Smith (below) marked her 100th appearance for her country with a 38th minute penalty to crown a 2-0 win over Italy, Ellen White having pounced on an under-hit Roberta D’Adda back-pass to give her side a third minute lead. Meanwhile, in Group C action in Paralimni, Russia and Mexico battled out a scoreless draw while Korea Republic notched a 3-1 win over Northern Ireland, for whom Ashley Hutton was on target following a Julie Nelson free-kick after Lee Sea-Eun had scored a hat-trick for the Koreans, the third of which came from the penalty spot. At the Algarve Cup in Portugal, goals inside the first eighteen minutes from Amy Rodriguez and Megan Rapinoe allowed the USA to edge out Japan 2-1, with Aya Miyama pulling one back for Nadeshiko on the half-hour mark in this Group A clash. Norway came from behind to edge Finland by the same scoreline in the later match, Laura Kalmari having given the Finns a 28th minute lead. Straight from the kick-off, Elise Thorsnes restored parity, with Isabell Herlovsen notching what proved to be Norway’s winner six minutes before half-time. Theresa Neilsen proved the difference on the scoreboard as Denmark edged out China 1-0 in Group B, while Iceland stunned Sweden 2-1 in the day’s shock scoreline. Josefine Oqvist gave the Swedes the ideal start when scoring after two minutes, but Margret Lara Vidarsdottir levelled matters five minutes before half-time, and Katrin Jonsdottir netted what proved to be the winner for Iceland ten minutes into the second half. In Group C, Rumania trumped Chile 2-0 while two goals from Carla Couto helped host nation Portugal to record a 3-1 victory over Wales. Edite Fernandes also scored for the Portuguese, while Loren Dykes was on target for the Welsh just before half-time. Matchday Two action at the Algarve Cup sees the USA and Norway clashing in Group A, while Japan and Finland do battle in that section. Group B sees a Scandinavian derby between Denmark and Sweden, while China and Iceland lock horns, and in Group C, Portugal plays Chile and Wales take on Rumania. At the Cyprus Cup, England plays Scotland and Italy takes on Canada in Group A, while in Group B, the Football Ferns’ must-win clash with Switzerland at the GSZ Stadium in Larnaca follows a duel between France and Holland. And in Group C, the duel between Northern Ireland and Russia is followed by that between Korea Republic and Mexico.