The Qantas Matildas have bounced back from Saturday' defeat at the hands of Japan, to record a morale-boosting 2-1 victory this afternoon at Seymour Shaw Park.
Australia went into the match with just four players, captain Cheryl Salisbury, Heather Garriock, Jo Peters (Pictured right) and Sally Shipard from Saturday's line-up, surviving to meet the Japanese for the second international match. Goalkeeper Emma Wirkus and Jessica Mitchell were handed their senior international debuts, although the game was not a full international, due to the number of substitutes the teams had agreed to use during the match was above FIFA regulations.
Unlike Saturday's game, the Australian team was able to settle quickly and dominated the first half and went to the break with a handy 2-0 lead.
Peters opened the scoring after 20 minutes, when Garriock rolled a short free kick to her and she blasted the ball low into the corner.
Keeping up the pressure, Australia made it 2-0 in the 31st minute, when Selin Kurulay was able to glance a header inside the far post after a cross from Shipard.
Japan on the back of numerous changes in the second half threw everything they had at the Australian defence, which was able to absorb the pressure until nine minutes from time. Miyama pulled a goal back for Japan with a perfectly executed free kick from just outside the box, to set up a nervous finish for the home side.
A pleased Qantas Matildas coach Tom Sermanni said after the match: "Both games have been a very valuable exercise for us. Japan are a very polished and professional team and we can only learn from playing more games against them.
"What pleased me most, was the way we bounced back from Saturday's defeat and win the game.
"In the first half, we played very well and deserved our lead. In the second half, Japan put us under a lot of pressure, but the girls were able to handle it and battled very hard. They showed great determination to hang in there and win."