No Sam, no sweat: Matildas shake off Kerr plot twist to start wild Women’s World Cup ride with win

The Matildas had the bulk of scoring chances but something was missing in the finishing as Australia beat Ireland 1-0. Someone. The absence of Kerr was a twist nobody saw coming.

Australia’s stand-in captain Steph Catley celebrates scoring the penalty that secured the Matildas’ victory over Ireland in Sydney on Thursday night. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s just a crazy, wild ride,” Cathy Freeman told the Matildas before the World Cup.

Well, the Olympic champion was on to something. Australia beat Ireland on Thursday night after the bombshell withdrawal of captain Sam Kerr. Plot twist.

“Unfortunately I sustained a calf injury yesterday in training,” Kerr wrote on the bush telegraph of social media as 75,784 ­spectators poured into Sydney’s Stadium Australia.

“I wanted to share this with everyone so there is no distraction from us doing what we came here to achieve. Of course I would have loved to have been out there ­tonight but I can’t wait to be a part of this amazing journey which starts now.”

Day one of the cup started on a desperately sombre note: the ­fatalities of the shooting in Auckland. The Football Ferns scored a stunning 1-0 upset over Norway at Eden Park like they were taking it upon themselves to heal the ­nation’s broken heart.

Almost immediately, Kerr announced she was unavailable for the Matildas’ first two matches of the tournament. Her replacement as skipper, Steph Catley, slotted home a 52nd-minute penalty under crazy, wild pressure to blow the roof off the joint and secure a tense 1-0 win.

“You’re writing your name in history, ladies,” was Freeman’s other message to the Matildas.

But the biggest name went missing. No Kerr was unthinkable. She had given no hint of a potential problem in a jovial press conference on tournament eve. The player everyone came to see, the player who could win Australia the cup, the player expected to hit the tournament on Thursday night like a bolt of lightning – she was a late scratching and became the invisible woman.

Sam Kerr (L) observes from the sidelines after being ruled out from the Women's World Cup Group B football match between Australia and Ireland due to injury at Stadium Australia.

The show had to go on, ­although for a moment the ­temptation might have been to turn out the lights and send everyone home.

Six hours before kick-off – six hours! – I saw a young girl running towards the venue. She wore a yellow “Kerr” shirt and waved a Matildas flag.

That girl ended up among the masses who witnessed a complicated-yet-promising ­beginning by an ambitious group of Australian players who sincerely believe in their crazy, wild hearts, and team meetings, they can write their names on the trophy. Still.

Kerr’s only role was handing out the drink bottles. She was replaced as striker by young Mary Fowler.

Clare Polkinghorne and Clare Hunt of Australia celebrate victory after the FIFA Women's World Cup Group B match between Australia and Ireland at Stadium Australia.

We know there’s something about Mary. When she scored against France last week, we all hailed Mary, but this was a massive step up in responsibility. She performed admirably enough but it was Catley’s calmness under the extraordinary pressure of a penalty that got the job done.

It was a fast-paced, helter-­skelter, demolition derby of a win. An emotional rollercoaster at Sydney’s leviathan Stadium ­Australia.

Boos greeted every harsh, desperate, borderline egregious ­tackle from the Irish. They played rough. The Matildas had the bulk of scoring chances but something was missing in the finishing. Someone. The absence of Kerr was a twist nobody saw coming. The crazy, wild ride has begun.