Battling Ireland pay penalty in World Cup opener against Matildas
AUSTRALIA…1 (Steph Catley 52 pen) IRELAND 0
Australia had pinpointed Ireland’s vulnerability at the end of halves to profit from but it was a mishap at the start of the second that settled this opening day World Cup fixture.
Marissa Sheva’s unfortunate tangle with the onrushing Hayley Raso led Edina Alves to award a penalty six minutes after the restart, leaving Arsenal’s Steph Catley to send Courtney Brosnan the wrong way from the spot.
Ireland skipper Katie McCabe refused to look across at her Gunners teammate in the tunnel beforehand, underlining the significance of this game for both nations. Next up for Ireland are Olympic champions Canada in Perth on Wednesday.
Behind early in the second half, Ireland did finally earn four corners in succession and Megan Connolly’s last minute free-kick that clipped the wall and went over had the Matildas rattled.
So too were on the rack when McCabe fizzed a shot at Arnold in stoppage time, soon followed by Louise Quinn nodding marginally wide.
Ireland succeeded in frustrating an Australian side missing their star act Sam Kerr, keeping the co-hosts scoreless by half-time in front of 75,000 in Sydney.
Twelve places separate the countries in FIFA’s standings but the tenth-placed Matildas failed to seriously test Courtney Brosnan in the first half that was extended by six minutes While an unpublicised calf injury sustained yesterday kept record scorer Kerr sidelined, Ireland had one of their maestros, Denise O’Sullivan, overcome her injury to take her place, producing a typically energetic display but incurring a bizarre booking from the Brazilian referee.
It took until first half stoppage time for the Aussies to muster their first attempt on target, a tame shot from distance by
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