The Westfield Young Matildas have kicked off their European Tour with an emphatic 4-1 victory over the Finland U-19 Women's Team in Varese, Italy, yesterday.
In hot conditions, the Westfield Young Matildas got off to the ideal start in the 4th minute when captain Tameka Butt played in Marianna Tabain on the left. Tabain, then beat her defender down the flank and shot from a wide position which saw the ball sail to the far post and into the goal to open the scoring.
Tameka Butt doubled her team's lead in the 7th minute with a long range shot which found the top left corner of the goal.
The Westfield Young Matildas continued to create chances throughout the first half, but the Finnish goalkeeper, Katja Kankaanpää, was up to the challenge and made a number of crucial saves to deny the Australians.
The second half saw the Westfield Young Matildas continue to apply the pressure to Finland and came close to extending their lead even further in the 49th minute when Elise Kellond Knight hit a low ball into the box from a short corner but unfortunately was just out of reach of her attacking support runners.
Westfield Young Matildas goalkeeper, Sian McLaren, made her first real save of the match just before the hour mark, easily covering a Finnish header from close range following a free kick wide on the right.
Jessica Seaman scored the Westfield Young Matildas third goal in the 78th minute after being played in at the edge of the box by Karina Roweth. Seaman took the ball into the penalty area at speed and then buried a solid shot to the keepers right.
Finland pegged a goal back immediately after the restart when Lila Räihälä hit a shot from distance catching the Australian defence out of position.
Substitute Nicola Bolger completed the scoring for the Westfield Young Matildas in the 80th minute after receiving a pass from Samantha Kerr. Bolger then made a weaving run into the box and placed her shot neatly past the Finnish goalkeeper.
In the closing minutes of the match, Seaman, Teresa Polias and Bolger all had opportunities, but their attempts narrowly missed the target, and the score line remained 4-1 in favour of the Australians at the final whistle.
After the match, Westfield Young Matildas Head Coach Alen Stajcic was pleased with his team's first match of the tour.
"We played pretty well considering the long travel a few days ago and the hot conditions in the middle of the day.
"Some of the younger players on debut did very well, in particular Teigan Allen and Courtney Beutel."