Young Matildas claim a 3-0 win over Thailand

The Young Matildas have defeated Thailand 3-0 in their opening match of the 2015 AFF Women's Championships at Thong Nhat Stadium, Vietnam.

Second half goals from Amy Harrison, Beattie Goad and Emma Checker finished off a increasingly confident opening match performance from Ante Juric's side.

Up against a World Cup bound side, Australia started tentatively with Thailand controlling the midfield and the ball early.

Led by Alex Chidiac and Natalie Tobin in the midfield, the Young Matildas slowly worked their way into the encounter and on the half hour they started to take control.

The 36th minute saw Australia start to create clear cut chances and Amy Harrison almost found herself on the end of a through ball only for the Thai goalkeeper to come out and claim.

Thailand had a flurry of chances in the 40th minute but the lack of power on the efforts made for easy claims for Teagan Micah in goals.

Australia's best chance of the half came four minutes later when Chidiac played a defence splitting diagonal ball into Sunny Franco's path.

On a slight angle on the right, Franco struck but the Thai goalkeeper got enough purchase on the ball to keep the scores locked heading into half time.

[More: Full Coverage of 2015 AFF Women's Championships]

The second half saw a more confident Young Matildas outfit emerge although it was almost undone in the 47th minute when an errant back pass was picked up by Thailand. To Australia's relief, the resulting strike finished just wide.

Six minutes later Australia took the lead when Chidiac weaved her way into the penalty area only to be bundled over from behind by defender Pikul Khueanpet.

Harrison took the resultant penalty and calmed converted low and hard to the right.

Harrison was almost involved in another goal close to the hour mark when she found Sydney FC teammate Olivia Price in 8 yards out. Price tried to curl an effort towards the far post but it sailed just wide.

Down on the scoreboard, Thailand went searching for an equaliser with Micah called on several occasions.

The Brisbane Roar goalkeeper had a strong game making the right decisions to come out and clean in her ball handling.

https://twitter.com/TeaganMicah/status/594108727629881344

Australia looked to have a second in the 67th minute when Franco played in Goad. Goad finished clinically only for the goal to be pulled back on a close offside call.

Goad was to have her goal 10 minutes later when substitute Princess Ibini produced a surging run down the right wing before cutting back to the supporting Goad.

The Melbourne Victory forward finished cleanly to give the Young Matildas a handy 2-0 buffer.

Six minutes late Goad turned provider as her in swinging corner drop to Victory teammate Emma Checker at the far post.

Although in traffic, Checker turned home the corner to put the icing on a convincing second half performance.

https://twitter.com/sunny_franco/status/594105564965179393

Holding a comfortable lead, the Young Matildas continued to put on the pressure and the Ibini-Goad combination almost worked a treat again. This time Goad couldn't keep her volley down after another good run from Ibini.

Thailand had one last late surge at Australia but again Micah stood firm, first to turn away a strike then to save a point blank effort.

“The performance is much more important than the results,” said Ante Juric afterwards. “I thought that Thailand had a good game.”

The win sees Australia on top of Group A with Laos and Indonesia still to play.

Match Details

Thailand 0

Australia 3 (Harrison 53’(p), Goad 77’, Checker 83’)

1 May 2015

Kick off: 4.00pm (local time), 7.00pm (AEST)

Thong Nhat Stadium

Australia line up: 1. Teagan Micah; 2. Monquie Ianella, 3. Emma Checker, 4. Ellie Carpenter; 5. Angela Beard, 6. Natalie Tobin, 7. Sunny Franco(23. Emily Condon 79'), 8. Amy Harrison, 10. Alex Chidiac (Kobie Ferguson 73’), 11. Beattie Goad, 17. Olivia Price (20. Princess Ibini 59’)

Young Matildas’ Squad

Jordan BAKER (Western Sydney Wanderers), Angela BEARD (Brisbane Roar), Ellie CARPENTER (FNSW), Emma CHECKER (Melbourne Victory), Alex CHIDIAC (Adelaide United), Emily CONDON (Adelaide United), Gabrielle DAL BUSCO (Perth Glory), Julia DE ANGELIS (Canberra United), Kobie FERGUSON (NNSW), Sunny FRANCO (Brisbane Roar), Beattie GOAD (Melbourne Victory), Brooke GOODRICH (Brisbane Roar), Amy HARRISON (Sydney FC), Monique IANELLA (Adelaide United), Princess IBINI (FNSW), Kally LEWIS (FNSW), Annabel MARTIN (VIC), Teagan MICAH (Brisbane Roar), Chloe O’BRIEN (Western Sydney Wanderers), Panagiota PETRATOS (FNSW), Olivia PRICE (Sydney FC), Natalie TOBIN (Sydney FC)