The Football Ferns produced a stirring late fightback to overcome Switzerland 2-1 at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca on 13 March, and clinch a third-placed finish at the Cyprus Cup. It was a result which looked unlikely throughout the first half, however, as the Kiwi team endured an attitude lapse and simply went through the motions, much to the ire of coach Tony Readings and his team. Worse still, they found themselves trailing to an Ana Crnogorcevic goal scored half-way through the first half, and that after Martina Moser had missed a seventh minute penalty, awarded after Rebecca Rolls had felled Laura Dickenmann in the incident, prompting Austrian referee Barbara Bollenberger to point to the spot. "Our first half display was really uncharacteristic of us", said Readings afterwards, "and it came down to the players' attitudes - they just didn't seem right. The players were as disappointed as the coaching staff at half-time, and make no mistake, we deserved to be losing at that point in the match". Words were said, and three changes made - cue a complete about-face in proceedings! There was only one team in it during the second half, as the Football Ferns came out all guns blazing and dominated possession, forcing Switzerland to defend deeper as the European team tried their best to frustrate their Kiwi rivals at every turn. With five minutes left, the pressure finally told, as Readings explains. "Betsy Hassett came on at half-time and changed the tempo of the game. And she got her reward when picking up a ball about thirty yards from goal, then beating an opponent before battering a twenty-five yarder into the bottom corner. "That levelled the scores, and two minutes later, patient play in their attacking third saw Amber Hearn thread a ball through to Rosie White, whose shot was parried by goalkeeper Jennifer Oehrli. "Hannah Wilkinson was following in and tucked home the winner, but somehow in the middle of it all, Oehrli ended up with a broken wrist. Nonetheless, they were two goals our second half performance thoroughly deserved". And a lesson for the players to learn, too - you can't pick and choose your matches in which to perform to your optimum. The intensity levels must be the same, whoever you're facing. Overall, Readings is pleased with the team's progress so far along the road to Canada 2015 and Rio 2016. "It's been a very successful tournament for us, and a good two-and-a-half weeks together. Our goal was to employ a new controlled possession game, and supplement that with some good results. "Along the way, we had some injury concerns, with Annalie Longo missing the entire tournament after picking up a knock in the final training session prior to the first game. We were also without Ria Percival for two games - she came on as a half-time substitute today". Bridgette Armstrong also endured a watching brief throughout the tournament, something which Readings feels she will benefit from long-term. "While she's disappointed she didn't get any game time, she now has a greater understanding of the 'big picture', and where we're heading as a team". And where the Football Ferns are heading as a team is to continue to develop their new style of play. "We have clear goals to work on technically, but we're keen to build on our performances and momentum from this tournament, something which the funding we've received from High Performance Sport NZ will enable us to do, and play more frequently. "To that end, we'll regroup at the end of May for a camp prior to a series of international fixtures in June, one of which will see us take on FIFA Women's World Cup holders Japan in Japan on June 20". Switzerland:     Oehrli (Thalmann, 90); Humm (Schwarz, 76), Abbe (booked, 47), Kiwic, Maritz; Burki, Walti (Kuster, 79), Moser, Keller (Stitz, 59); Dickenmann (Bangerter, 74), Crnogorcevic (booked, 55)

Football Ferns:     Rolls (booked, 7); Patterson (Percival, 46), Stott, Erceg, Riley; Bowden (White, 70), Hoyle, Hearn, Bowen (Hassett, 46); Gregorius, Collins (Wilkinson, 60) Referee:     Barbara Bollenberger (Austria) England took out the Cyprus Cup for 2013, repeating their 2009 triumph over Canada, this time by a 1-0 scoreline, which came about thanks to Rachel Yankey's match-winner twenty minutes from time in what was a tight tussle. Kim Little's goal in the 32nd minute earned Scotland fifth place with a 1-0 win over ten-man Holland, who had Mirte Roelvink sent off just twenty minutes into the contest. Finland and Italy both scored 1-0 wins to finish seventh and ninth respective. Sanni Talonen netted for the Finns against Ireland, while Barbara Bonansea struck nine minutes into the second half of "Le Azzure"'s clash with the Korea Republic. The battle for the wooden spoon saw South Africa prevail 5-4 on penalties over Northern Ireland, who led for much of the match and were only denied victory by a last-gasp equaliser, 1-1 the final score. At the Algarve Cup, two first half goals from Alex Morgan put Team USA in the driving seat against Germany. She struck the crossbar half-way through the second half, but had done enough to secure a 2-0 win for her team, who win the trophy for the ninth time. Norway edged Sweden 3-2 on penalties to claim third place, after the teams had fought out a 2-2 draw. Kosovare Asilani and Norway's Kristine Hegland exchanged first half goals, while a stoppage time equaliser from Ada Hergerberg cancelled out the Antonia Goransson strike which looked destined to win the match for the Swedes. A Yuki Ogimi goal half-way through the second half earned Japan a 1-0 win over China, and a fifth-placed finish, while Denmark sealed seventh place with a 3-0 win over Mexico which featured goals from Sine Honesen, Pernille Harder and Julie Rydahl Bukh. Iceland wrapped up ninth place with the most emphatic win of the day, a 4-1 thrashing of Hungary which stemmed from the goals scored by Sara Gunnarsdottir, Rakel Honnudottir, Katrin Omarsdottir and Sandra Mary Jessen. And the play-off for the wooden spoon saw a late Laura Luis leveller earn host nation Portugal parity with Wales, for whom Jessica Fishlock was on target twelve minutes from time in this 1-1 draw. Carys Hawkins had a goal ruled out just after half-time for the Welsh, who went down 3-1 to the Portuguese in the penalty shoot-out. Cyprus Cup details: Final: England 1 (R. Yankey (69)), Canada 0  HT 0-0 Third: Football Ferns 2 (B. Hassett (85), H. Wilkinson (87)), Switzerland 1 (A. Crnogorcevic (23))  HT 0-1 Fifth: Scotland 1 (K. Little (32)), Holland 0  HT 1-0 Seventh: Finland 1 (S. Talonen (21)), Eire 0  HT 1-0 Ninth: Italy 1 (B. Bonansea (54)), Korea Republic 0  HT 0-0 Eleventh: South Africa 1, Northern Ireland 1 - South Africa, 5-4 on penalties Algarve Cup details: Final: USA x (A. Morgan (13, 34), Germany x  HT 2-0 Third: Norway 2 (K. Hegland (39), A. Hegerberg (90)), Sweden 2 (K. Asilani (16), A. Goransson (47))  HT 1-1 - Norway won 3-2 on penalties Fifth: Japan 1 (Y. Ogimi (67)), China 0  HT 0-0 Seventh: Denmark 2 (S. Hovesen (45), P. Harder (66), J. Rydahl Bukh (90)), Mexico 0  HT 1-0 Ninth: Iceland 4 (S. Gunnarsdottir (12), R. Honnudottir (54), K. Omarsdottir (82), S. Jensen (90)), Hungary 1  HT 1-0 Eleventh: Wales 1 (J. Fishlock (78)), Portugal 1 (Laura Luis (90))  HT 0-0 - Portugal won 3-1 on penalties