Game 2 - Australia vs Ireland

So. No Sam Kerr. It shouldn’t matter against Ireland, you’d think, but a calf injury is worrisome. Many an Achilles has ruptured following a calf strain so let’s hope she really is good to go for the third game As the biggest star at the tournament (given she is playing at home) it’s disappointing but gives the likes of Mary Fowler the chance to shine.

The Sydney Football Stadium will be rocking tonight. A 75,000 sell out should mean a ferocious atmosphere and I expect a solid Australian win tonight. Those of you who followed/read my blog for the first game will now be seriously worried for the hosts!!

2 min: Noise is reverberating around the ground. A serious, serious atmosphere. Australia trying to get on the ball early and looking very good when they do. Ireland working hard, as you'd expect.

6 min: It's noticeable that the Aussies are maintaining their width, trying to stretch Ireland and drag them out of their defensive shape. Both sides flying into tackles - going to be a feisty one I reckon.

10 min: a lot of pace in this Australian side. Fowler is lightning and Foord/Raso are no slouches either. Carpenter, the superstar in their team (non Sam Kerr division), is getting a lot of the ball early on but her passing hasn't been great so far.

17 min: Initial thoughts - Gorry and Cooney-Cross are both tidy players but need to calm down with their passing as they are trying killer balls a little too often. McCabe the obvious standout for Ireland. Great balance albeit very one footed.....could say the same about Messi though! No chances for either side yet but the one time Ireland launched a free kick into the Australian box the defending was a little unconvincing. Otherwise, Australia mostly in control.

20 min: Oh Kyra Carusa. Looked like a decent ball from McCabe as Ireland broke things up in the middle of the park but Carusa didn't have enough conviction to get on the end of it.

25 min: An interesting match so far - Australia pushing four up front when in possession with Vine and Raso wide and Foord/Fowler through the middle. Ireland though are dealing with it handsomely and letting the Aussie midfield have the ball deep. Just as I say that Connolly misjudges a long all and Raso is almost through. Good cover from Quinn though. Too much long stuff from Australia - need to play through the lines a bit more.

29 min: Look, I'd be a bit worried if I was the Australian coach. They are clearly a better side than Ireland but whenever the Irish manage to break things up they look dangerous. A couple of decent crosses haven't quite fallen for anyone but the threat is evident.

35 min: Fowler's clearly a talent - one lovely touch to give an onrushing midfielder an opportunity but she isn't in the game enough. Quinn and Fahey are doing a great job, to date, in stopping her and Foord from finding any space in the final third.

41 min: A first booking for Ireland after a series of committed tackles. Maybe a bit harsh but O'Sullivan, who's worked hard, needs to tone things down a bit for the rest of the match. The free kick leads to nothing and, yet again, the Aussies launch a long ball pointlessly forward.

45 min: Ireland really not giving the Aussies any time on the ball when they get into the final third. Very good game planning so far. Ooh, almost the best moment for the home side. They get Vine in behind wide left and she pulls it back to Foord inside the box but her touch lets her down and Ireland clear.

Half Time: Not much to say really that hasn't been covered. The Irish are dropping off to the half way line whenever Australia has the ball which, in effect, means that everything is being squeezed into thirty or forty yards. The Aussies are struggling to find space and, in my view, are a bit too flat up top which is making it relatively easy for Ireland defensively. Caitlin Foord has had a couple of moments where she's almost wriggled free but other than that they haven't much to show for 60%+ possession.

Ireland, for their part, have showed some promise on the break but haven't got a foothold in terms of general play. Not sure they'll care about that mind you.

49 min: It didn't lead to anything in the end but much better from Australia. Fowler finally drops deep to receive a pass and feeds Vine who is almost through. They need to continue to try and drag one of the central defenders out of their line.

51 min: Penalty - looked like it at first glance. Yep, Sheva just finds herself on the wrong side, loses her balance and pushes Raso in the back. Catley to take. Perfect penalty. Top left hand corner, no chance for Brosnan. Decisions now for Ireland. I suspect they won't change much yet - no need to panic. But that's what they do, giving the ball away and Fowler breaks but blasts over.

54 min: McCabe sucks Gorry in and a bit of niggle following the challenge. Raso resumes her feud with McCabe. Love it!

56 min: It all gets a bit frantic following the free kick and Ireland look ragged for a moment. Calm down....

61 min: Interesting. Vine and Raso have switched sides, perhaps a function of McCabe getting under the latter's skin. Australia are starting to find a few holes now. Fowler linking things more often and Catley pushing higher up with Raso inverting a bit more than Vine was when she was on the left.

64 min: Cool moment for Shamrock Rovers' 18 year old winger Abbie Larkin as she comes on for Marissa Sheva.

66 min: Not sure how to sum up Gorry. She looks so good on the ball but keeps choosing the wrong pass. Her movement, control and directness have been really impressive.

68 min: Gorry breaks again and only a very good block from Quinn denies her a shot on target. Looked a decent effort. Foord gets her head to the resultant corner but can't get enough on it. Australia starting to look very dangerous now.

73 min: Ireland being a little more adventurous when they get the ball - Heather Payne finding space on the right but hasn't managed to nail a decent cross as yet. Larking wins a corner through some direct running on the left. Decent delivery from the corner - that's two in a row that they have fired into the six yard box but Arnold, the Aussie keeper, has dealt with them pretty well so far.

76 min: This is excellent from Ireland. Larkin, Quinn, O'Sullivan all pressing high and they win another corner. Same again? Yep. Australia clear but there is clear intent to get bodies in the six yard box. Ooh, a long throw causes havoc and a couple of half chances for Ireland. Aussies looking rattled all of a sudden. Can they regain control?

78 min: Not yet. Another corner. Good keeping from Arnold. Catches the ball high, under severe pressure, and wins a free kick. Arnold stays down. A professional injury break shall we say?

83 min: End to end all of a sudden. McCabe loses out to Fowler in the middle of the park and the break ends with a blocked Gorry shot, Ireland break, Australia disrupt, two more shots before Ireland break again and win a corner. Chances are coming.....

84 min: Australia looking to shore things up - Polkinghorne, very much a defender, coming on for Fowler, very much not. Back 5 now for the Aussies.

90 min: Well, well. A rash challenge from Hunt gives Ireland a free kick right on the edge of the box. Left hand side, a couple of yards from the edge of the D. A corner surely? Decent effort from Connolly which flicks off the wall and goes over the bar by a foot.

92 min: This has been a cracking last 15 minutes. Arnold flaps a bit and its another corner. Headed over. Australia hanging on.

96 min: Oh wow. Larkin wins a challenge on the right and breaks clear before squaring to McCabe. Unfortunately it fell to her right foot and, as I noted earlier, it isn't her strongest. Australia fail to clear and a cross comes to Quinn at the back post who heads wide. Those were the chances we were expecting.

FULL TIME: Australia win 1-0 but man it was a frantic last 20 minutes or so. From Ireland's perspective it will be interesting to see how they approach the rest of the tournament. When they committed players forward, particularly Payne late on, they caused Australia problems. I'm hoping they take heed of that and play a little more expansively against Canada in their next match. On today's performance they could definitely cause a shock.

Australia. Obviously they missed Sam Kerr but the problems can't be solely attributed to that. It was a paradoxical performance in that they went out there with serious attacking intent but it was that game plan that led to them looking ineffective. Pushing 4 players high is fine but other than the first 10 minutes they didn't manage to get Carpenter or Catley into any dangerous areas because they had nowhere to go. They allowed themselves to get squeezed by Ireland resorted to too many long balls which were meat and drink to the Irish central defenders. They'll be better against teams that attack them a bit more but Nigeria are unlikely to do so in the next match. I'd be playing a number 10 rather than two strikers next time out to try and drag defenders out of their safety zone.

WOTM is a difficult one - Gorry was great in terms of general play but her passing was terrible. McCabe and O'Sullivan were the classiest players in the Irish team but neither did much to hurt the Aussies. My picks are a bit more left field - I thought Louise Quinn and Niamh Fahey were great at the back for Ireland, keeping Foord/Fowler relatively quiet. On the Aussie side I thought Alanna Kennedy was solid at the back and Catley's set piece delivery was decent (and she took a brilliant penalty) but WOTM was Quinn for me.