It wasn’t the regulation result the Matildas had probably expected it to be when play began. And it certainly wasn’t as comprehensive as most of the 26,795 supporters in attendance had anticipated. Going off pre-game remarks from coach Chan Hiu Ming, it likely wasn’t as close a scoreline as the Taiwanese had envisioned. As while Australia’s women did emerge victorious on Wednesday evening, they did so in a somewhat unconvincing fashion, running out 3-1 victors at AAMI Park.
Seizing the lead through Tash Prior in the 10th minute and then doubling it through Sharn Freier in the 12th, the early exchanges had suggested that despite being understrength, the Matildas would almost be able to pick their margin by the end of the 90. Things were looking good and, with the lead delivered by two players scoring their first international goals in their first international starts, the pre-game mantra of “opportunities” taken up by interim coach Tom Sermanni appeared to be manifesting itself in the best possible way.
