Midfielder Sharon Black's first half hattrick spurred the Matildas to a fantastic 4-0 win against old rivals New Zealand today in Newcastle in their Round Four match of the Pacific Cup, the team bouncing back from their disappointing loss to Canada.
A solid performance against the Kiwis was a necessity to get the Matildas back on track leading into Sunday's big clash against world champions USA, and the side did not disappoint. The four-goal win is the all-time equal best scoreline for an Australia versus New Zealand encounter.
Black's triple, scored within a 23 minute period, is her fourth hattrick for Australia, and stretches her lead as the country's hattrick hero. The South Australian's previous triples were all scored during the Oceania World Cup Qualifiers in October 1998.
The Matildas took the lead inside the opening seven minutes, despite a fairly strong start by the All Whites on the narrow pitch. Striker Alicia Ferguson set up the opportunity, opening up the square Kiwi defence, Black coming in off the left flank with only the keeper to beat. The midfielder made the conversion look easy from just inside the 18-yard box.
Australia soon took control, and continued to pressure the New Zealand defence, opting to play the long ball forward on the spongy but very dry surface, combined with good movement off the ball in attack.
Black snatched her second in the 21st minute with strikers Ferguson and Sunni Hughes causing mayhem in the Kiwi backline. The ball was fed into the oncoming Black who found the back of the net from the left edge of the 18-yard.
New Zealand's Rachel Oliver put her side's first real opportunity over the bar, before Australia stretched the lead to 3-0 on the counterattack in the 25th minute. Newcastle's own Sunni Hughes gave the occasion a true hometown flavour, turning defender Terry McCahill and unleashing without hesitation a long range strike to lob goalkeeper Yvonne Vale. The goal makes Hughes Australia's all-time equal top scorer with teammate Cheryl Salisbury on 23 goals.
Black claimed her hattrick on the half-hour mark, on the end of a scything long ball up the middle of the park from defender Dianne Alagich. With only the keeper to beat, Black slotted home from 12 metres inside the right post.
In the second half, New Zealand shut down the ball more effectively and put up a better organised defence. Meanwhile, the Australians eased off the pace and cruised through the remainder of the contest.
The visitors almost pulled a goal back midway through the half, Amanda Crawford released with a great ball from deep. Matildas keeper Tracey Wheeler narrowed the angle and stood her ground against Crawford, making a brilliant low save to her left to deny the Kiwis.
Fewer opportunities on goal were then created by Australia, and the score remained at the 4-0 victory.
"We've shown we can bounce back," said Coach Ian Murray. "The first half, we were superb; the second half, we took the foot off the pedal. Plus I made a lot of changes to see how we would cope with that. I was pleased we went out today from the word go. Then in the second half, I suppose it was on everyone's minds with the big match on Sunday. When you're four goals up, it can be hard to go on and say score ten."