A lovely sunny afternoon at the Hunter Athletics Centre on June 7 turned into a black day for the SWANZ in their Pacific Cup encounter with Australia, the Matildas recording a 4-0 win over their trans-tasman rivals, three of the goals courtesy midfielder Sharon Black. The SWANZ had the better of the early exchanges, Wendi Henderson, Melissa Ruscoe and Maia Jackman all going close in the first seventeen minutes, by which time the Matildas had hit the front, albeit a little against the general run of play to this point. An Alicia Ferguson-led attack wasn't cleared by the SWANZ in the seventh minute, and Black came in off the left wing to scamper through the middle unchallenged, from where she picked her spot beyond Yvonne Vale. What rocked the SWANZ most of all was Australia's second goal, in the 21st minute. The alarm bells had rung seconds before, when Sunni Hughes headed wide following a Ferguson cross. Alison Forman pounced on the resulting clearance, and sparked another Australian raid which proved more successful, Black firing across Vale into the far corner, after the attacking duo of Hughes and Ferguson had again asked questions of the SWANZ defence which they failed to answer. Worse was to come for the visitors. After an enterprising left-flank raid, featuring Henderson and Rachel Oliver, had come to nought, the Matildas stormed straight back up the other end and netted number three. Forman was again the inspiration, Hughes this time the executioner, turning past Terry McCahill on the edge of the penalty area before curling home a gem into the top far corner beyond Vale's flailing arms. After the goalkeeper had pawed a Cheryl Salisbury attempt to safety, she was forced to fish the ball out of the net once more on the half-hour, Anissa Tann-Darby having sent Black careering clear once more with a raking diagonal ball which turned defence into attack. The advancing Vale was given no chance - 4-0, and the end of a nightmarish ten minutes for the SWANZ, who were totally shell-shocked at the way events had turned against them. Salisbury and Ferguson both had chances to give Australia a nap-hand by half-time - Vale parried the latter's effort to safety - while a Simone Ferrara drive from twenty yards brought Tracey Wheeler back into the game seven minutes before the interval. The SWANZ put up more of a contest in the second spell, a tactical reshuffle and the introduction of the tough-tackling Tarah Cox adding some much-needed bite to the midfield. That said, the Matildas introduced a number of changes of their own, which tended to disrupt their rhythm as, with the result in the bag, thoughts turned towards their next match, against the USA. Before these changes took effect, however, Australia could well have had a fifth goal in the ten minutes following the resumption. Salisbury headed over the top seconds after Hughes had been thwarted by Ruscoe, while Vale made a superb double-save to deny the former Japanese-based professional, after New Zealand's shaky rearguard had again been pierced by Ferguson. The SWANZ best chance of the match came in the 66th minute, Jackman releasing Amanda Crawford through the Matildas defence with a measured crossfield ball. The striker was prevented from adding to her two tournament goals by Wheeler's adroitness, and Tann-Darby's subsequent clearance. Vale ensured there would be no further Australian goals in the match when saving from Forman - a superb eightieth minute volley, Kelly Golebiowski and Hughes in the final ten minutes, with Oliver, Henderson and Jill Corner all playing their part in ensuring the SWANZ suffered no further embarrassment - from their point of view, 4-0 was bad enough as things stood. The after-match comments of the respective coaches were equally contrasting. While the Matildas' Ian Murray was dutifully circumspect - "We bounced back well after Canada. We were superb in the first half, but took our foot off the pedal in the second spell", the SWANZ mentor, Doug Moore, paid no heed to the too-oft-practiced protocols of political correctness in his typically forthright assessment of proceedings. "We took Canada to the 92nd minute in a real ding-dong go, and Canada won convincingly on Sunday. Now we turn round and lose 4-0 to these clowns!! "In principle, I started with my best eleven players on the park, but in the first half - and it was exactly the same against the USA - they showed no old-fashioned bottle. They froze. "It's not their football that's the problem. It's a mental thing. It's as if I've got a team of headcases on my hands!! We knew what the game plan was - it's still on the whiteboard at the hotel - but due to our lack on international experience, we don't have the necessary mental toughness, which we're only going to get through playing more games. "We've played eight halves of football in this tournament, and in six of them, we've done well. The second half today was all about trying to come off the park with a bit of credibility, so I'm not unhappy with the score for the last hour of the match being 0-0. "But our lack of international experience is what has cost us at this tournament, and it's something which New Zealand Soccer needs to address". Australia:   Wheeler; Tann-Darby (Hepperlin, 81), Salisbury, Alagich (Wainwright, 65), Starr; Duus (Wilson, 77), Forman, McShea, Black (Garriock, 73); Ferguson (Golebiowski, 62), Hughes (booked, 90). SWANZ:   Vale; Simpson, Jackman, McCahill (Corner, 80), Ruscoe (booked, 61), Oliver (Cogle, 80); Ferrara (Cox, 55), Smith, Henderson (booked, 33), Oostdam (Ormond, 55); Crawford. Referee:     Krystina Szokolai