A dominant performance from Australia has seen them defeat Finland 3-0 in Larnaca, Cyprus and finish second in Group B of the Cyprus Cup.

A first half goal from Australia's all time leading goalscorer Kate Gill and late second half goals from Ashleigh Sykes and Emily van Egmond saw the Matildas secure their second win of the tournament.

"This match was a lot better," said Alen Stajcic of the performance.

"We played against a similar team [to England] with similar patterns and shapes and our execution and build up play was so much better today."

[More: Cyprus Cup Coverage | Matildas squad]

Looking to respond to the loss to England on Friday, Australia started the game positively and were soon on the front foot.

Starting her first match of the tournament, Caitlin Foord proved a handful on the wings and in the 10th minute the pacy forward burst into space.

With the goalkeeper rushing out, Foord attempted an audacious lob only to see it cleared off the line.

Minutes later a lovely sweeping move ended in a Kyah Simon effort on goal but the striker was unable to keep the ball down.

Foord and Simon then combined for Australia's next attack at the Finnish goal with a surging run from Foord seeing her evade three defenders.

The cutback found Gill who played in Simon but the effort was blocked by the defence.

After surviving the onslaught, Finland then enjoyed a spell of possession but were unable to force the issue with Australia's back four and the industrious Teresa Polias cutting out any potential danger.

[More: Australia v Finland Preview]

Down the other side Australia finally broke the deadline with another smart move. Collecting the ball around 25 yards out, Simon spotted the run of Servet Uzunlar on the right.

Uzunlar gathered and sent a ball across the face of goal with a sliding Gill tucking it home in the 29th minute.

Ahead in play and the scoreboard, Australia went searching for further goals with the Matildas playing some of their best football of the tournament.

First a rapid counter attack saw Polias find Van Egmond centrally. The midfielder's cross pitch switch picked out Uzunlar, her deep cross was met by Simon but the striker was unable to connect cleanly.

Not long after Van Egmond again produced an excellent switch ball this time hitting Kellond-Knight at full pace. The full back cut to Gill then Simon but again the strike sailed over the crossbar.

Despite Australia's best efforts, Finland held out to keep the scoreline at 1-0 heading into the break.

The second half saw a more compact Finland come out with the opening 15 minutes descending into a scrappy midfield battle for dominance.

On the hour mark Gill almost headed home a second only to be denied by the far post.

Substitutions and fresh legs eventually saw Australia re-gain the ascendancy and the chances once again began to flow.

The 64th minute saw Australia's first second half look at the Finnish goal as De Vanna won the midfield ball, sprinted forward and laid a ball into the path of Heyman's run.

The Canberra United striker's deft touch was blocked just in time be the rushing Finnish goalkeeper.

Finland had their first opportunities of the second half as earned a back to back corners which the Australian defence eventually cleared.

The 77th minute saw the Matildas gain further reward for their efforts when Van Egmond picked out De Vanna.

The striker's low cross was met by the newly introduced Sykes who tapped home with her first touch of the game.

Lively from her substitution into the match, De Vanna produced another searching run into the penalty area where she was clipped from behind to earn a penalty.

Captain for the match Van Egmond duly stepped up and dispatched the penalty to put Australia 3-0 ahead.

With a fourth goal required to see them in the Third Place Playoff, the Matildas continued to pour on the pressure searching for that goal but despite going close off two corners, Finland held out.

"Definitely our execution in the final third was better. We created 10 - 12 chances in the final third which we didn't against England."

"It was good to start at a higher tempo today and we could see with our pressure on the ball Finland turned it over on plenty of occasions and we punished them for it."

"But still, we have a fair bit more to work on."

Australia will now play the Czech Republic in the 5th Place Playoff on Wednesday, 11 March with kick off at 2pm local time (11.30pm AEDT).

Australia     3 (Gill 29', Sykes 77', Van Egmond 89'(p))

Finland        0

9 March 2015

GSZ Larnaca

Kick off: 17:30 local (2.30am AEDT)

Australia line up: Mackenzie Arnold, Servet Uzunlar (Hayley Raso 52'), Laura Alleway, Stephanie Catley, Elise Kellond-Knight (Gema Simon 52'), Teresa Polias, Nicola Bolger (Collette McCallum 79'), Emily van Egmond (c), Kyah Simon (Ashleigh Sykes 77'), Kate Gill (Michelle Heyman 63'), Caitlin Foord (Lisa De Vanna 63')

Results

Netherlands      0

Australia             1 (Crummer 73')

4 March 2015, GSZ Larnaca

Australia             0

England               3 (Taylor 8'/ 17' / 83')

6 March 2015, GSP Nicosia

Matildas Squad

Laura ALLEWAY, Mackenzie ARNOLD (gk), Nicola BOLGER, Stephanie CATLEY, Larissa CRUMMER, Brianna DAVEY (gk), Lisa DE VANNA, Caitlin FOORD, Kate GILL, Katrina GORRY, Michelle HEYMAN, Elise KELLOND-KNIGHT, Alanna KENNEDY, Collette McCALLUM, Teresa POLIAS, Clare POLKINGHORNE, Hayley RASO, Gema SIMON, Kyah SIMON, Ashleigh SYKES, Servet UZUNLAR, Emily VAN EGMOND