Substitute Martine Puketapu responded to her halftime introduction with a bullet header four minutes into the second spell, rewarding Briar Palmer’s well-flighted cross.
With 13 minutes remaining at AFA National Team Headquarters, Emma Rolston capped solid build-up play through the thirds, finally blasting home after Hannah Carlsen’s shot was tipped onto the post by the Argentine goalkeeper.
Coach Paul Temple had called on his team to improve on Saturday morning’s performance and says the second half delivered what he asked as his side build for the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan.
“We talked about performances on this tour and weren’t too focused on the result but at the same time it was nice to get a win in the first game having not played as well as we could have,” Temple said.
“The first 45 minutes today was a little bit better overall than the first game but in the second half we put in a really pleasing performance. The changes made a big impact.
“We pressed and defended well and passed through them at times. I’m really happy that we reached that level of performance against a big name South American side.
“The challenge now is for us to maintain those levels heading into the U-17 qualifiers in April.”
Argentina U-17: 0
New Zealand U-17: 2 (Martine PUKETAPU 49’, Emma ROLSTON 71’)
Halftime: 0-0
New Zealand: 16-Ronisa LIPI (GK / 1-Lily ALFELD 30’), 2-Meikayla MOORE (17-Chloe KNOTT 70’), 3-Laura MERRIN (13-Chloe WILSON 70’), 4-CJ BOTT (c), 5-Emily JENSEN, 6-Hannah CARLSEN, 8-Tessa LEONG (12-Daisy CLEVERLEY 30’), 10-Emma FLETCHER (7-Jasmine PEREIRA 70’), 14-Lauren DABNER (11-Briar PALMER 46’), 15-Briar MCNAMARA (9-Martine PUKETAPU 46’), 18-Emma ROLSTON
Coach: Paul TEMPLE
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz

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