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Australia Advance To Women’s World Cup Finals
by Jeremy Ruane
Australia advanced to the 1999 Women’s World Cup Finals in the USA after beating New Zealand 3-1 in the final of the Oceania qualifying series at Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland, on October 17.
2000 people witnessed Australia sweep to a two-goal lead inside the first thirteen minutes of the match. Julie Murray, making her fiftieth appearance for the Matildas, opened the scoring in the second minute with a superbly struck curling effort which left SWANZ goalkeeper Rachel Howard beaten all ends up.
Howard was beaten again eleven minutes later, this time by a seemingly harmless Bridgette Starr grasscutter which left the SWANZ with a mountain to climb as they sought to get back into the match.
With the wind at their backs, and two goals to the good, Australia, led by Murray, looked to press home their advantage, as the SWANZ reeled from the early setback.
They regrouped, however, and, while left to feed on the scraps Australia allowed them, did their best to reduce the deficit, with a fine move featuring Wendi Henderson, Amanda Crawford and Michele Cox the closest the host nation’s representatives came to scoring before the first half concluded.
The early stages of the second spell saw the SWANZ pressing for a goal, with Pernille Andersen and Henderson seeing their driven free-kicks charged down by the defensive wall.
Andersen, meanwhile, had been denied in the act of shooting by a desperate Sarah Cooper tackle, after the tournament’s leading goalscorer had pounced on some defensive hesitancy shown by Australia’s most-capped international, Anissa Tann-Darby.
At the other end, Howard saved from Alison Forman, and was relieved to see Natalie Thomas blaze the ball wide of the mark when put through on goal by the impressive Sharon Black in the 56th minute.
Seven minutes later, Australia came closer still, Murray seeing her fifteen-yard shot cleared off the line by Sacha Haskell. But the Matildas didn’t have long to wait before they clinched the game, Lisa Casagrande’s twenty-yard drive crashing into the net off the underside of the crossbar in the 66th minute.
The SWANZ fought back, with the long throw-ins of Melissa Ruscoe causing any number of problems in the Australian rearguard. One, in the 77th minute, wasn’t cleared, allowing Nicky Smith to stride through and drill home from ten yards.
But it was too little, too late, for the host nation, who gained some compensation for their efforts throughout the tournament by way of the Fair Play Trophy. The prize they coveted most, though, was beyond them, Australia holding onto their 3-1 advantage to book their place at the 1999 Women’s World Cup Finals.
Scoring details:
Australia 3 (J. Murray, B. Starr, L. Casagrande), New Zealand 1 (N. Smith)
Australia: Kitching; Bartlett, Tann-Darby, Cooper (Taylor, 90), Starr; Casagrande (booked, 9) (Boyd, 71), Salisbury, Forman, Black; Murray (booked, 29), Thomas (Ianotta, 81)
SWANZ: Howard; Ruscoe (booked, 61), McCahill, Jarden; Crawford (Jackman, 76), Cox, Haskell, Smith, Oliver; Henderson, Andersen (booked, 60) (Evans, 70)
Referee: Massimo Raveino (Tahiti)
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