The Westfield Junior Matildas have booked their spot in September’s 2019 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after an excellent win over Vietnam in qualifying on Tuesday.
After a 3-0 win over IR Iran on Sunday, Rae Dower’s youngsters continued their impressive form at the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Round 2 qualifiers by seeing off Vietnam 1-0.
The Westfield Junior Matildas dominated much of the contest but had to wait until two minutes from the end to get the winner.
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It was Jordan Jasnos that scored the decisive goal, with her excellent finish too good for the Vietnam keeper to ensure the young Aussies made it two wins from two.
“I’m so very proud of the entire team following that hard-fought victory against Vietnam in extremely hot, oppressive conditions,” coach Rae Dower said.
“We completely dominated the match and played some outstanding football.
“Once again though we didn’t capitalise on the mountain of chances we created in the final third and still need to work on being more clinical in our finishing.”
Dower was thrilled with the way the team stuck to their game-plan and how they remained composed in the face of a deep-lying Vietnam defence.
“Today was another great learning moment for these players and for the team. We’re relatively young with players ranging from 14 - 16 years yet we showed a real winning mentality today,” Dower said.
“That ‘Never Say Die’ spirit that’s served Matilda’s teams well over the last 40 years was on display and I couldn’t be prouder of the team.
“It’s ‘mission accomplished’ in relation to progressing to the Asian Cup later in the year, but we have a really tough match against Laos on Thursday night and we want to finish this tournament on a high and win three from three.
Upcoming Matches | Westfield Junior Matildas
Westfield Junior Matildas v Laos – 2019 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Qualification (Round 2)
Date: Thursday, 7 March 2019
Venue: New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane, Laos
Kick-off: 6.30pm (local); 10.30pm (AEDT)
Live stream: www.matildas.com.au
