Three Ninja A-League stars scored their first ‘A’ international goals to inspire the CommBank Matildas to a 3-1 win over Chinese Taipei at AAMI Park on Wednesday night.
Newcastle Jets defender Natasha Prior, Brisbane Roar winger Sharn Freier and Melbourne City forward Bryleeh Henry all put their names on the scoresheet on a special night for players based at clubs around the Ninja A-League.
GET YOUR TICKETS TO ROUND 5 OF THE NINJA A-LEAGUE!
Melbourne Victory forward Emily Gielnik made her first start in Matildas colours since mid-2022, Melbourne City midfielder Leah Davidson debuted for the Matildas, while a total of 10 Ninja A-League players received minutes in the win in front of 26,795 fans in Melbourne.
Western United’s Chloe Logarzo made her first Matildas start since 2021 (and her first appearance since October 2022) – but the midfielder’s dream night took a turn when a nasty head knock in the first half led to an early substitution.
Post-game, Matildas interim head coach Tom Sermanni provided an update on Logarzo’s wellbeing, refraining from ruling her out of selection in Australia’s second friendly against Chinese Taipei at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong on Saturday night.
“We don’t know that yet, the docs are still looking at her,” Sermanni said.
“She’s got the old egg on the side of her head at the moment. She feels good, she’s obviously, as you can imagine, devastated by having to go off.
“She’s waited quite a long time to get back in the team, to get an opportunity, and had a run of injuries, so I think I feel really, really disappointed for her. Hopefully, it’s not too bad, and hopefully, she might come into discussions for the next game.”
Logarzo’s withdrawal at the half-hour mark came after the Western United star played a key role in putting the Matildas in front at AAMI Park.
R5 PREVIEW: What you need to know in the Ninja A-League
Having played short from a corner routine, Logarzo whipped a dangerous cross into the box which was pounced upon by Prior at the back post.
The Jets defender’s first Matildas goal came in her very first start but if you expected the 26-year-old’s mind to be racing after becoming an international goalscorer, Prior revealed it was quite the contrary as she reflected on the moment post-game.
“It’s going to be quite a short answer – honestly, it was quite blank in my head,” she said.
“(In training) we worked on me being in that back pocket. I was there, got on the right side of my defender and the ball hit my foot and went in.
“There’s not much more to it than that, really. But it’s nice we practiced it and it ended up being pulled off in the game.”
Two minutes later the Matildas led 2-0 and it was Brisbane Roar winger Freier who found herself in the right place at the right time to double the advantage.
Freier had scored in Matildas colours before – but her first strike came in a ‘B’ international against Canada. This was Freier’s first ‘A’ international strike – and the moment that set the young winger on course to earn Player of the Match honours.
“Getting my first official goal is very exciting,” Freier told Network 10 post-game.
“The girls came out very strong and created some opportunities, and I think I was lucky to bag one tonight. Very excited.
“It’s a good opportunity for girls who haven’t had as much game time. We just have to grab every opportunity we get, put our best foot forward and do what we can. I’m very privileged and grateful I got the opportunity for some more minutes. It felt good.”
GET YOUR TICKETS TO ROUND 5 OF THE NINJA A-LEAGUE!
Chinese Taipei struck back before half-time through Jin-wen Chen to make things interesting at AAMI Park but City winger Bryleeh Henry ensured victory for the Matildas with her first international goal in the 78th minute.
Post-game, Sermanni expressed his delight as seeing goals come from multiple areas of the pitch and encouraged his squad to continue spreading the goalscoring load in games to come.
“It’s great. I think it’s very important for the team to (have) multiple goalscorers,” he said.
“Hopefully, it will continue… the more people you can get on the scoresheet the better for any team.”
Next match
Matildas v Chinese Taipei
Date: Saturday, 7 December 2024
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEDT
Venue: GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
Broadcast: 10, 10 Bold, 10 Play and Paramount+
GET YOUR TICKETS TO ROUND 5 OF THE NINJA A-LEAGUE!
