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Catley stands up for Matildas in win over Ireland after Kerr injury blow

By Vince Rugari

Everything was going so smoothly. Too smoothly, as it turned out.

When the teamsheets were handed down an hour before kick-off on Thursday night, there was one glaring, breathtaking, unsettling omission for Australia: Sam Kerr.

All of a sudden, what had been a note-perfect preparation for the Matildas was derailed in the worst possible way – their best player ruled out with a calf injury suffered at training the day before. Not only would she miss this game, but next week’s clash with Nigeria too, and there are no guarantees she’ll be fit after that.

The energy at Stadium Australia shifted from a quiet confidence to crippling concern to – over the course of 51-and-a-half painful minutes – flat-out panic. Not just for this match, but the ones to come, and the team’s Women’s World Cup campaign at large.

Those worries can wait. The first hurdle, at least, has been cleared after stand-in skipper Steph Catley’s second-half penalty secured a precious 1-0 win over Ireland at a jam-packed Stadium Australia.

It wasn’t pretty. But it was enough.

Australia’s Steph Catley celebrates scoring their first goal.

Australia’s Steph Catley celebrates scoring their first goal.Credit: Edwina Pickles

This team is far less reliant on Kerr than it was a year or two ago, or so we thought. Without her, the Matildas struggled to create anything in attack outside of set pieces and hopeful crosses, which were obviously less effective than they would have been without one of the game’s best aerial threats in the box to aim for.

What’s more, Kerr’s absence meant there was one less option on the bench for coach Tony Gustavsson to turn to for a change-up if things weren’t working in attack – and they weren’t. The break-glass candidate was supposed to be Mary Fowler, who started in Kerr’s place, with Caitlin Foord moving into the No.9 role.

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It underlined what everyone already knew: that an early goal was pivotal, or else this brilliant, historic occasion was going to be absolutely no fun at all. Without their spiritual leader on the field to help calm their nerves, the Matildas were flustered.

As expected, Australia had all the ball and most of the territory, with Ireland content to sit back and frustrate. But for the first half, they seemed disconnected from one another, their passes too rushed and their touches too frantic – all except for Katrina Gorry, who was colossal in midfield, and Fowler, who navigated through tight spaces with ease.

Sam Kerr watches on from the sidelines.

Sam Kerr watches on from the sidelines.Credit: Reuters

It took 27 minutes before their first genuine sight on goal, and in truth, Hayley Raso’s back-post header from Catley’s corner kick should have been on target. Instead, it flashed just wide in a big let-off for the Irish.

That their next best hope was a brief VAR check close to half-time, for an unknown incident in Australia’s penalty area that escaped almost everyone’s attention, said it all.

But a few minutes after the break, the breakthrough came – and it was not crafted by Australian ingenuity, but an Irish blunder. Kyra Cooney-Cross sent another speculative diagonal ball into the box, but this time, Raso was clumsily brought down by Marissa Sheva. Referee Edina Alves pointed straight to the spot.

Foord initially looked poised to take the penalty but instead, she handed the ball to Catley, who marched into the moment with supreme confidence, and met it head on.

Caitlin Foord battles with Ireland’s Heather Payne.

Caitlin Foord battles with Ireland’s Heather Payne.Credit: AP

Penalty: buried. Tension: released. It was 1-0 to Australia.

Ireland had parked the bus. Now they had to move it. While that meant the Matildas finally had some space to play in, it also meant more a lot more threats to deal with at the other end, when previously there were almost zero.

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Mostly, those threats came through corner kicks, but the steady hands of Mackenzie Arnold saw them through – and the trusty heads, feet, shins and various other appendages of Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, late substitute Clare Polkinghorne, Catley and everyone else who jumped into the defensive trenches as they clung on for dear life in the final minutes, throughout which more than 75,000 hearts were in mouths.

Against another team, with slightly better control, it might have been different. But you can only play what’s in front of you.

Nothing tends to come easy in Australian football. The Matildas’ last World Cup campaign was also ruined by an injury to Polkinghorne, triggering a positional reshuffle that brought the whole team tumbling down like a house of cards. In 2006, the sight of a crocked Harry Kewell before the Socceroos’ round-of-16 clash with Italy triggered a similar shudder down the nation’s spine.

Losing Kerr like this, so early, is far worse – but if they can survive, like they did here, and if she can return in time, it might make this journey all the sweeter in the end.

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Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5dq1j