A Jodie Taylor hattrick saw England defeat Australia 3-0 in their second match of the Cyprus Cup in Nicosia, Cyrus.

Taylor, a former W-League Golden Boot winner, scored twice in the opening 20 minutes to give England a commanding buffer before the striker finished off the game in the 83rd minute.

The win leaves England on top of Group B and on course to make their 4 consecutive Cyprus Cup final.

“There were some good patches but there were a lot of lessons to be learnt, we got caught on the hop in the first 15 minutes and it was a naive performance both with and without the ball,” said a disappointed Alen Stajcic post match.

“We probably had about 70 per cent of the possession and 70 per cent of the chances but our execution wasn’t as good as theirs and it was a big learning experience against a style of play that we need to do better against.”

Australia had three new players added to the starting line up with centre back Laura Alleway coming in to partner Clare Polkinghorne, moving Stephanie Catley out to the left and Elise Kellond-Knight replacing Teresa Polias as a holding midfielder.  Alanna Kennedy started as an attacking midfielder with Gorry while Crummer's form saw her earn a start in place of Kyah Simon.

In a quick start both sides traded corners early but it was England who had the first real sight at goal in the 4th minute when Jill Scott's cross found Karen Carney at the far post. Carney connected but Brianna Davey made an easy claim.

Four minutes later they had the lead.  Jill Scott again with the lead up work as she dispossessed the Australian defence on the left, played in Taylor who rifled home a stunning strike.

Less than 10 minutes late Taylor and England had a second when the Lionesses counter attacked through Fran Kirby. Kirby combined with Jordan Nobbs who found Taylor with the striker forcing powerful lob over Davey.

After the early ambush, Australia looked to settle and work into the game with Gorry trying a number of long range efforts from the edge of the area.

Australia halved the key midfield battle in the dying stages of the first half but England went into the break comfortably up 2-0.

http://youtu.be/SCnh-hO0gZU

The second half saw more switched on Australia emerge with the Matildas controlling the early proceedings.

The 52nd minute saw the best Australian attacking move of the game as Catley played into Heyman, whose backheel found Crummer but she skied the effort.

Minutes later Heyman's pace saw her outstep Steph Hougton and attempt a lob over England No.1 Karen Bardsley.

Against the run of play, Taylor almost netted her hattrick with a lovely piece of skill.  Her neat turn and first time travelling strike from distance was met with an equally fine flying save from Brianna Davey.

The 70th minute saw the England captain Houghton unleash on a free kick right on the edge of the area only to see it go inches wide of Davey's goal.

A raft of changes were made in the final 20 minutes including the substitute of Davey with Polkinghorne almost taking advantage of a goalmouth scramble to pull one back for Australia.

In the end, it was England who closed out the match when Taylor took advantage of  defensive miscommunication to seal her hattrick with an open goal beckoning.

In the earlier Group B match, the Netherlands and Finland played out a 0-0 draw.

Australia takes on Finland in their final group match with a second place in the group still up for grabs.

Australia     0

England       3 (Taylor 8’/17’/84’)

6 March 2015

GSP Nicosia

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

Australia line up: Brianna Davey (gk) (Mackenzie Arnold (gk) 74’), Servet Uzunlar (Hayley Raso 71’), Clare Polkinghorne, Laura Alleway, Steph Catley, Elise Kellond-Knight, Alanna Kennedy (Nicola Bolger 61’), Katrina Gorry (Emily van-Egmond 61’), Larissa Crummer (Caitlin Foord 71’), Michelle Heyman (Kyah Simon 85’), Lisa De Vanna

Substitutes not used: Collette McCallum, Gema Simon, Ashleigh Sykes, Kate Gill, Teresa Polias

Upcoming Matches

Australia v Finland

9 March 2015

GSZ Larnaca

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

Results

Netherlands      0

Australia             1 (Crummer 73?)

4 March 2015

GSZ Larnaca

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

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