AUCKLAND – A late flurry of goals – including a brace from 17-year-old substitute Hannah Wall – was not enough to prevent the Football Ferns losing a 4-3 thriller to Korea Republic in the Four Nations tournament in Guangzhou, China on Monday night.
Korea scored directly from a corner in the fifth minute then took advantage of poor marking from a free kick 10 minutes later to lead 2-0 at halftime, but Amber Hearn’s powerful header from Betsy Hassett’s cross narrowed the gap on the hour.
Two goals in five minutes extended the lead to 4-1 with 15 minutes remaining, but Wall – playing just her second full international – struck in the 85th and 89th minutes as the Ferns chased hard for a share of the points.
While Wall’s second goal – a back-post header – set up a exciting few minutes of injury time for the Guangzhou crowd, she already had them out of their seats when she smashed a left footed shot into the top left corner from the edge of the area for her first.
“It was a strike with the sort of quality we’re not used to seeing,” said New Zealand coach John Herdman.
Between Wall’s goals, another impressive teenage substitute Annalie Longo was cut down in the box after beating three defenders, but Kirsty Yallop smashed the resulting penalty onto the crossbar.
To add to the drama, some New Zealand players appealed to the assistant referee, claiming the ball had landed over the line before bouncing out but the score remained 4-2.
Herdman praised the spirit of his side to fight back on the scoreboard but said it was a case of a victory that got away.
“All night we thought we would win and the players kept playing like it until the bitter end,” Herdman said.
“We’ve out-battled them and tactically out manoeuvred them so to come in two goals down from set pieces at halftime in a game where they otherwise haven’t troubled you leaves you scratching your head.
“We have to talk about these defensive errors we seem to be making because they’re uncharacteristic of this New Zealand team, although the flipside is that they’re probably the easiest thing to work on.”
“However, we scored three goals from open play tonight and that’s a new standard for a Football Ferns team.”
“I’m not comfortable [with the result] but we’re getting better. We’re still not as threatening as we’d like to be given all the possession and territory, and we have to ask ourselves why we’re not pushing ahead.”
Rosie White was handed her first start at senior level and Herdman said the 15-year old striker showed flashes of real promise.
Combative midfielder Katie Hoyle and fullback Anna Green both returned to the Ferns’ starting line-up and had strong games, while striker Amber Hearn was singled out by her coach for an “Alan Shearer-like job” in leading the front-line.
New Zealand finish their Four Nations campaign on Wednesday night against Finland, who lost to tournament leaders China 0-1 in Monday’s other game.
Four Nations Tournament
Guangzhou, China
January 12, 2009
Football Ferns 3 (Amber HEARN 60, Hannah WALL 85, 89) Korea Republic 4
Halftime 0-2.
New Zealand: Jenny BINDON (GK), Ria PERCIVAL (Elizabeth MILNE 75), Abby ERCEG, Kristy HILL, Anna GREEN, Betsy HASSETT (Annalie LONGO 72), Hayley MOORWOOD (Captain), Katie HOYLE ( Hannah WALL 62), Kirsty YALLOP, Amber HEARN (Sarah McLAUGHLIN 83), Rosie WHITE (Emma KETE 65).
Substitutes not used: Aroon CLANSEY (RGK), Caitlin CAMPBELL.
Head Coach: John Herdman
Four Nations Tournament
Standings 13.01.09
|
|
PL |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PTS |
GD |
|
| 1. |
China |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
+7 |
| 2. |
Korea Republic |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
6 |
+5 |
| 3. |
Finland |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
-5 |
| 4. |
New Zealand |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
0 |
-7 |
Results
New Zealand 3, Korea Republic 4
China 1, Finland 0
Remaining Schedule
January 14
New Zealand v Finland, Guangzhou (10pm NZT)
China vs Korea Republic
Story and image courtesy New Zealand Football Media
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