New Zealand's Junior Ferns survived a late scare as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Australia's Young Matildas at Jerry Collins Stadium on 11 July, the first match played by Leon Birnie's side in over a year since qualifying for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals in Colombia. Despite their lack of recent match-play, the Junior Ferns quickly got into their attacking groove, Ruby Nathan's deft flick through the Young Matildas' rearguard inviting captain Manaia Elliott to exploit the opening, but Chloe Lincoln dashed off her line to avert the danger. The alarm bells were ringing at the other end of the park soon afterwards, Sasha Grove and Jynaya Dos Santos combining to unleash Kahli Johnson down the left, from where she picked out Emilia Murray with a cross. She directed her header past the post, much to the relief of the watching Maddy Iro. Come the ninth minute, the scoreboard operator was called into action as the Junior Ferns opened the scoring. Elliott broke clear on the right before slipping a pass inside to Zoe McMeeken, whose frequent attacking forays were a feature of this trans-Tasman derby. On this occasion she stormed through three tackles into the penalty area before pulling the ball back to Nathan. Her shot took a deflection which beat Lincoln all ends up at her near post, and while the ball initially appeared to come off Australian captain Ella Buchanan en route to goal, the reaction of the well-performed Kiara Bercelli suggested hers was the telling touch which prompted the goal celebrations. Leah Blayney's charges were keen to get back on level terms, and enjoyed a decent spell of pressure in the immediate aftermath of the goal. But Ella Findlay was in imperious form at the heart of the Junior Ferns' defence, her timely seventeenth minute tackle to thwart the in-full-flight Johnson typical of her performance throughout proceedings - she had a terrific game. Back came the Ferns, Nathan robbing Grove on the by-line and instantly inviting Elliott to pounce again in the 25th minute. Naomi Thomas-Chinnima was having none of it, however, clearing her lines in desperate but determined fashion. There were chances at both ends of the pitch just after the half-hour mark, Johnson skipping past the lunging challenges of McMeeken and Findlay before seeing her cross headed over the bar by Murray. From the resulting goal-kick, Suya Haering's teasing cross-shot had Lincoln scrambling backwards in order to grab the dipping ball under her crossbar by the far post - the German-based fullback oozed class throughout this contest, and looks destined to be the Football Ferns' first choice left-back for years to come. After Ella McMillan stepped in to avert the danger posed by Alicia Woods' jinking run past three opponents, the Junior Ferns came within inches of doubling their lead when Helena Errington curled her twenty yard free-kick narrowly over the bar, after Elliott had been tripped by the retreating figure of Australian captain Alexia Apostolakis as another Nathan through ball sliced open the visitors' rearguard.

Two minutes before half-time, the natives went close again, Errington dashing through in hot pursuit of Elliott's pass, only for Lincoln to grab, spill then swiftly recapture the ball to bring to an end a half in which both defences had stood firm, New Zealand's more so than Australia's. The visitors made three substitutions at half-time, and they certainly made their presence felt, as Australia started the second spell with a hiss and a roar. Indiana Dos Santos' through ball in the fiftieth minute had Johnson's name written all over it until McMeeken's vital challenge deemed otherwise. Seconds later, Johnson was in again, this time played in by Apostolakis. Iro grabbed the ball off her head without hesitation, but her hesitancy in the 59th minute was punished by the Young Matildas, who equalised through substitute Tanaye Morris after Thomas-Chinnama, Johnson and Grove had combined to find a way in behind the Junior Ferns' rearguard. Soon afterwards, Australia were gifted a glorious chance to double their lead when Daisy Brazendale broke one of football's unwritten rules by playing a pass across her own penalty area. She directed the ball straight to substitute Peta Trimis, who clearly couldn't believe her luck because she fired it into the gloves of Iro when scoring seemed the easier option. That let-off ignited the Junior Ferns' response to having their lead cancelled out, and the introduction of some fresh legs aided their cause in this regard. One of the newcomers, Juliette Lucas, was denied a goal in the 74th minute when adjudged to have fouled Apostolakis as she latched onto McMeeken's ball forward from deep. Two minutes later, fellow newcomer Olivia Ingham dragged a twenty-yarder past the post after Brazendale and Lucas had combined to create the opening, while Zoe Benson and the solidly-performed Emma Pijnenburg teamed up with Lucas to present Elliott with an opening nine minutes from time, only for Lincoln to keep the Young Matildas on level terms. As the game moved into stoppage time, Brazendale showed she hadn't learnt from her earlier mistake, this time gifting possession to Zara Kruger, whose twenty-five yarder crashed against the crossbar. The rebound invited Trimis to let fly on the volley, an effort well saved to her right by Iro. After Elliott had failed to shoot after running at the Australian defence on receipt of an opening forced by Lucas - hers was an impressive cameo off the bench, the visitors had the chance to win the match deep in stoppage time when forcing a corner. But Georgia Cassidy's delivery was headed past the near post by Johnson, ensuring this latest trans-Tasman duel would conclude with honours even, 1-1. Junior Ferns:     Iro; McMeeken, Findlay, McMillan, Haering (Barney, 73); Brazendale, Pijnenburg (Mortlock, 84), Errington (Ingham, 73); Elliott, Nathan (Lucas, 67 (booked, 90)), Bercelli (Benson, 67) Australia:     Lincoln; Buchanan, Apostolakis (booked, 40), Thomas-Chinnama, Grove; Woods (Cassidy, 46 (booked, 47)), I. Dos Santos (Prakash, 64), Kruger; Murray (Trimis, 46), J. Dos Santos (Morris, 46), Johnson Referee:     James Berry