U17s thump Thailand

Australia celebrates one of five goals | Craig Stockdale/The Football Sack

A Tia Gavin brace and goals from Caitlin Cantrill and Sunny Franco have seen the U17s defeat Thailand 5 - 1 in their first match of the AFC U16 Girls Championship qualifiers.

The game began slowly with both teams trying to adjust to the trying conditions. The pitch was very slow with a surface that was bordering on three inches high and as a result all passes were going nowhere in a hurry and boots were disappearing into the turf.

Early touches were difficult to control and the Australians struggled early to grasp the pace of the game. At the five minute mark, Emily Henderson made a great run up the wing and fired a bullet-like cross to the box where Caitlin Cantrill finished the good work by slamming the ball into the back of the net. Australia were on the board and off to a flyer early with the score 1-0 only minutes in.

Several surges forward by the Australian midfielders forced the Thais to defend solid corner kicks with the Thai keeper being kept very busy early in the match.

The Australian defence was acclimatising to the slowness of the pitch as the Thais surged forward on a number of occasions but they managed to repel all efforts early. Until the 19th minute mark when a wayward pass from the Australian keeper was intercepted by the captain of Thailand Chucheun Sudarat (9) and with a deft left foot pass she threaded it into the top right hand corner of the net to make Australia pay - one all and things looked a little shaky – or did they?

Several more wayward defensive passes missed the mark causing opportunities for the Thais to penetrate the net but all to no avail in the end. The Aussie midfielders led by Jessica Waterhouse (Captain Courageous), Sunny Franco and Isobel Dalton were taking control of the game and dominating possession of the ball. This settled the team and with every Thai push forward the Australians gained composure and cracks started to appear in the Thai defence.

Several shots on goal by the Australians failed to penetrate.

At the 37 minute mark, basked in sweat, Waterhouse danced through the midfield once again and cut the Thai midfielders to shreds finished with a pass to Franco who had drifted down and she finished with a great shot past the Thai keeper for the second major to Australia. Two goals to one and the momentum swung back to the Aussies.

All of a sudden, the Thais dug deep and started to pepper the goals. In the dying minutes of the first half, a rebound by Australia from the defensive line opened up the Thai midfield and through a decisive run by Tia Gavin, Australia scored their third major, going to the break with a comfortable 3-1 lead. Gavin was imposing up forward and really showed her class in finishing on this occasion and in conjunction with Cantrill, Potter and Henderson, had created massive headaches for the Thai defensive line to half time.

With no changes to the lineup and their tails up, the Australians came out punching in the start of the second half led once again by Waterhouse contesting strongly in midfield. Waterhouse and Franco were dominating proceedings virtually having the ball on a string and dictating play for Australia as a result.

Both were consistently slicing through the Thai defence like a hot knife to butter and from a free kick, Waterhouse bombed the ball deep into the box where Henderson descended on the ball but just failed to convert for the Aussies.

Moments later, Franco scooted up the left wing on the end of a rocket-like pass from Potter and landed a pinpoint precision kick at the feet of Tia Gavin. A certain goal thwarted only by a defiant Thai keeper deflecting the shot past the post for yet another Aussie corner. The Australians were now in total control and driving hard for goal number four.

After Thailand made the first substitute of the game at the 57th minute mark, Henderson streamed down the left wing and with a rocket propelled pass smashed the ball to the mouth of the box where several Thailand players deflected the ball into the Australian net for an own goal, 4-1.

Minutes later, Linton made the first change of the game substituting Sunny Franco with Alycia Macqueen to add some fresh legs in the guts and take the heat off Waterhouse. The Thais were fading fast under the relentless pressure and soon substituted again. Linton quickly followed suit and replaced Caitlin Cantrill for Kally Lewis who in conjunction with Alicia MacQueen were running rampant up forward with some great crosses that were not taken full advantage of.

Play was interrupted at the 80 minute mark in the second half when a Thai player was stretchered off the ground after what looked like a fair tackle from Lewis. The Australian girls took the time to replenish liquids on the sideline and take final instructions from a very contented Linton.

Once the pitch was cleared, the Australians once again moved quickly to dominate the game.  With some smart work by Alycia MacQueen, Tia Gavin once again was well positioned to take advantage of a precision pass and running onto the ball, she chipped the shot over the Thai keepers head and into the solace of an empty net. Australia out to a five goals to one lead with minutes to go and Tia Gavin with a nice pair of goals.

In the dying minutes Siena Senatore was yellow carded for a solid tackle. Isobel Dalton was replaced by Ayesha Kirby at the 88 minute mark from a bench that any W-League team would be overjoyed by.  With three minutes extra time, Australia was able to coast along to record an outstanding win against Thailand and cement themselves at the top of the table.

Australia now have Thursday to recover in time to face off against Myanmar on November the 9th who had a 2-1 win against the Philippines under lights at Rizal Memorial Stadium this evening.