Holly McNamara has scored her first international goal, but the new Matildas coach Joe Montemurro was left with a lot to think after his side had scratched a non-convincing 3-0 win over Slovenia in Perth.
But perhaps the best moments of the victory on Thursday evening came after full -time, when Sam Kerr fans made enthusiastic by coming up with them and personally.
A young spectator broke out in tears of joy when she shared a moment with the wounded striker, who made a surprise trip to her hometown to train with the torms while she keeps fighting her away from a knee injury.
The third minute strike by Emily Gielnik in HBF Park received the 15th ranked Matildas to a flyer, but it was only when McNamara scored in the 86th minute that the victory was safe.
Hayley Raso added the icing on the cake in the 87th minute when she walked through midfield untouched before they unleashed a strike from outside the box.
Although the 3-0 score looked good on paper, the version was far from slippery for a crowd of only 8678.
Sam Kerr gave a fan the tension of your life when she came up close and personally with the crowd after the 3-0 victory of Matildas in Perth on Thursday evening
The young person was overcome after meeting Kerr, who shocked Tillies -fans by making a surprise trip to Perth to train with the side – but her knee injury meant she couldn’t play
Hayley Raso (left) celebrates with her teammates after scoring in the 3-0 win over Slovenia
The boisterous Matildas were wrong all night, especially in the defense where they tried to play their way out of trouble with every chance.
The possession plan of Montemurro would always have teething problems, but the enormous amount of errors will be enormous concern.
Things started clearly when Gielnik remained persistent in a goal to score the opener.
But the determination of the Matildas to retain the possession at all costs, led to numerous sloppy turnover, many of which should have been punished.
Time and again the Matildas chose to go backwards instead of finding the holes further – which led to problems when Slovenia could play the pass.
Such a turnover left Spela Kolbl the belt off the belt in the 15th minute, with her floating cross from the bar that was hurt from the bar.
The best chances of the Matildas in the first half came in general when defender Ellie Carpenter found some room to load forward, with her pace and physicality that turned out to be difficult to stop.
The worst defensive error of the Matildas of the Night arrived in the 52nd minute when Clare Hunt did not know that an opponent was lying on her when she tried a short pass.
Holly McNamara (photo) also came to the score sheet when the team started their new era under coach Joe Montemurro
Kerr was the star attraction on a night in which the Matildas showed that they have a lot of improvement to unlock
She was stripped of the ball, but continued to breathe in a huge sigh of relief when Slovenia striker Zara Kramzar shot directly on Matildas keeper Teagan Micah up close.
It was Alanna Kennedy’s turn to commit a horror error 10 minutes later when her clumsy attempt to control the bouncing ball while she was walking back to defend, resulted in an expensive deflection.
The Slovenian replacement Nina Kajzba bounced on the mistake, with her strike that forced Micah to save a nice dive.
McNamara, who endured three knee constructions during her career, was a threat during the competition.
The 22-year-old, who played her 10th international, finally received her reward when she hit a header on the distant pole after a sublime cross from Raso.
“She is a player who is very, very smart in space,” Montemurro said about McNamara.
‘And what I mean that she makes her very, very late, which is very difficult to mark.
“That’s a feeling – you can’t coach that.”
A minute after McNamara’s goal, Raso set off and curled in a precision attack from the edge of the box.
The Matildas went into the international window and missed a host of their best players, including injured superstars Sam Kerr (knee) and Mary Fowler (knee).
Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Katrina Gorry and Cortnee Vine are all on personal leave, while Clare Wheeler left the camp earlier this week for personal reasons.
Australia is once again facing Slovenia on Sunday in Perth, before taking on July 5 and in Perth on July 8 in Panama in Bunbury.
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