New Zealand’s Young Ferns completed a successful two-match tour of Argentina on 27 February by downing their U-17 counterparts 2-0 at the Argentine Football Association’s headquarters in Buenos Aires. The victory built on their 1-0 triumph over the same opponents three days prior, and sets up Paul Temple’s charges for their OFC U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament at Mangere’s Centre Park in the week after Easter. Having been beaten in the opening encounter, Argentina were keen to make amends as they continue their preparations for next month’s CONMEBOL U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament in Bolivia, and found themselves up against a New Zealand team which had changed its strategy - and a few members of their starting line-up - to deal with their hosts’ deep defensive line. Temple takes up the story. “Argentina came out with a lot more about them today, and we needed to take the sting out of their intensity then stamp our authority on proceedings. “We dominated possession and territory, and never looked at risk at any stage, but lacked a killer punch to begin with. Around the half-hour, and again for the second half, we brought on a few players with more bite and intensity in their play - the substitutes were different class, and made a massive difference”. Two of them, Briar Palmer and Martine Puketapu, combined to open the scoring within four minutes of taking the field at the start of the second half, the fleet-footed left flank flyer picking out the centre forward with a peach of a cross which was met by a bullet header. That was the catalyst for a half of football which produced “the team’s best overall performance to date”, according to Temple. “We played some brilliant football during the second spell, and had chances to score more than the two goals we did manage”. The second of them came thirteen minutes from time when Emma Rolston followed in to turn home the rebound after Emma Fletcher’s shot had been tipped

Catherine "CJ" Bott Martine Puketapu Emma Rolston

onto the post by Argentina’s goalkeeper. “Emma had a good game”, says Temple, “and contributed well, given she was used in a variety of positions throughout the match. Another to shine was Catherine Bott. She was captain today, and thrived on the responsibility - she was phenomenal, winning just about every header and tackle which she contested. Among the others to shine was fourteen-year-old Daisy Cleverley. “She was tremendous”, said Temple, “and swung the game for us. She has done well on this tour, while Puketapu and Palmer both enjoyed bright second half performances. Indeed, there were far more seven or eight-out-of-ten displays in this match than was the case three days ago”. A great note on which to finish the tour then. “It was an excellent tour in all aspects”, reflects Temple. “When you go on these experiences, you’re obviously looking for results, but you’re also looking for growth as a team. “We ended up with the best of both worlds - two wins and good performances. The girls had a number of challenges to overcome on this tour, one of which was an internal one - finding our best form during games. The second half display today was our best yet in this campaign”. The Young Ferns now head for home. “It’s been good to get some games under the belt”, says Temple, “as these were our first matches since the Australia series in October. The focus now is to get some game-time in at club level, and some good training sessions in. “We’ll have a training camp prior to the qualifiers, and after that, on the basis that we qualify for Azerbaijan, we’ll try to arrange some more international experiences around July, prior to the finals in September”. Young Ferns: Lipi (Alfeld, 30); Moore (Knott, 70), Bott, Jensen, Merrin (Wilson, 70); Carlsen, Fletcher (Pereira, 70), Dabner (Palmer, 46); Rolston, McNamara (Puketapu, 46), Leong (Cleverley, 30)