Matildas continue Olympic charge

In-form striker Kate Gill and her strike partner Sarah Walsh have led the Matildas to its second successive big win in the Olympic Games qualifiers, this time a 10-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in Taipei.

In-form striker Kate Gill and her strike partner Sarah Walsh have led the Matildas to its second successive big win in the Olympic Games qualifiers, this time a 10-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in Taipei.

Gill, who scored five goals in her last two internationals, could not quite match that effort, but still managed a hat-trick of goals, while Walsh bagged a hat-trick of her own in the rout. Jo Peters grabbed two goals, while Cheryl Salisbury and Jo Burgess rounded off the scoring late in the match.

After eclipsing Hong Kong 15-0 in Coffs Harbour last week, the girls were expecting a tougher challenge from Chinese Taipei. However it soon became apparent that the Matildas were in no mood to go easy on their hosts and the five goals in each half, could quite easily have been a few more, if a few guilt edged chances were not wasted.

It didn-t take long for the Matildas to start where they left off last week - just 6 minutes in fact - with Gill lashing home an angled shot after receiving a ball over the top from Collette McCallum.

It was 2-0 in the 18th minute, when Walsh netted her first from close range, after going around the keeper. Ten minutes later, Gill had her second and the Matildas third, tapping home from close range from Walsh-s low cross from the right.

Walsh then had her second in the 32nd minute, when she gathered a Heather Garriock cross from the left and buried the shot past the keeper from 8 metres out. Jo Peters rounded out the first half scoring in the 42nd minute, after she was released by McCallum, and blasted her shot through the keeper from a tight angle.

The carnage didn-t stop after the break, with Walsh grabbing her hat-trick with a simple tap-in from right on the goal line, after the keeper had dropped a low cross from Garriock.

Quick goals from Peters (57-) and Gill (59-) kept the scoreline moving rapidly, as a real blowout looked on the cards. Gill-s goal was her third successive international game where she has scored at least a hat-trick.

The scoring however stopped for a little while, as the Matildas took their foot off the pedal, although Salisbury made it 9-0 in the 81st minute, with an excellent goal, while Burgess added the team-s 10th two minutes later, slamming home after yet another cross from Garriock.

With two wins and a +25 goal difference from their opening two games, the Matildas can go into June-s two matches against group favourite DPR Korea with a good deal of confidence.

These two games will in effect decide which team from this group will represent the AFC at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

DPR defeated Hong Kong 14-0 in the other group match played today.

The two teams last met at the 2006 AFC Women-s Championships in Adelaide, the score finishing 0-0.

Match Details

Chinese Taipei 0 Matildas 10 (Kate Gill 6-/28-/59-, Sarah Walsh 18-/32-/47-, Jo Peters 42-/57, Cheryl Salisbury 81-, Jo Burgess 83-)

Matildas Line-up: Melissa Barbieri (gk); Di Alagich (Rhian Davies 72-), Thea Slatyer, Cheryl Salisbury, Heather Garriock, Jo Burgess, Lauren Colthorpe, Collette McCallum, Sarah Walsh (Clare Polkinghorne 77-), Kate Gill, Jo Peters (Lisa De Vanna 60-)

Table Standings - after 2 rounds

Australia - 6 points (+25) DPR Korea - 6 points (+22) Chinese Taipei - 0 points (-18) Hong Kong - 0 points (-29)