Australia closed out their October international window with a 7-1 win over Haiti in Chambly, France, a scoreline built on a brace from Leticia McKenna, a debut goal for Daniela Galic and further strikes from Caitlin Foord, Clare Wheeler and Holly McNamara.
McKenna’s double came on her starting debut, in only her fourth cap for Australia. The young midfielder needed just 80 seconds to open the scoring, powering a Clare Wheeler cut-back into the roof of the net, and she added her second from midfield just before half-time, finishing off an attacking move she had started herself by crashing the ball in off a tackle.
An organised, physical Haiti — ranked 47th in the world — made the first half far less comfortable than the final score suggests. Captain Sam Kerr’s message in the huddle before kick-off was that Australia “should beat sides like this”, but Melchie Dumornay, the OL Lyonnes midfielder, and forward Brittany Raphino were an ever-present threat, and Dumornay levelled in the second minute with a solo run that began in the centre circle and ended with a low, hard shot into the far corner. Australia’s usual front three of Foord, Kerr and Hayley Raso were largely held at arm’s length, while Wheeler covered acres of ground, provided bounce-passes for her teammates and enforced the midfield, picking up a yellow card for a stomp on Dumornay. Haiti could even have taken an unlikely lead just after the half-hour, when a scything through-ball from captain Nérilia Mondésir was missed by Winonah Heatley and Raphino poked a toe at it; the ball ricocheted off Mackenzie Arnold and then Charlotte Grant before bouncing towards an open net, only for Wheeler to hook it off the line.
McKenna settled any nerves in the 44th minute. Raso sent a cut-back into a crowded penalty area, McKenna kept the play alive with a bounce-pass back to her, and when Raso’s shot was blocked the ball fell into McKenna’s path, her strong tackle spinning it past goalkeeper Naila Louissant and into the net.
Joe Montemurro had made four changes to the starting XI beaten 4-2 by Germany on Saturday, including a new-look back line of Kaitlyn Torpey, Courtney Nevin and Charlotte Grant and McKenna and Alana Murphy in midfield. With only four international windows left before next June’s Women’s World Cup, the coach used the fixture to establish depth in specific positions and build chemistry in new combinations.
The second half was a far more convincing showing, as Montemurro rang in the changes and Haiti began to tire. The third goal arrived in the 52nd minute after a quick transitional pass from Wheeler found Foord down the left; the Gotham forward ran at Haiti’s defence, slipped between two defenders and tried to clip the ball past the keeper, only for it to deflect off the boot of a sliding Kethna Louis and into the net. Barely ten minutes later the two veteran attackers swapped roles, Kerr gathering a poor Haitian pass after the entire back line had been pulled out of position and spreading the ball wide for Foord, who took a few unchallenged steps into the box before firing past the keeper to make it 4-1.
That goal triggered four more changes, with McNamara, Galic, Remy Siemsen and Alexia Apostolakis coming on for the final half hour. Galic made almost an immediate impact, scoring her debut goal six minutes later as the 19-year-old controlled a fizzing Murphy through-ball that sliced past two lines of Haitian players, turned and caressed the ball into the far corner.
The inexhaustible Wheeler was finally rewarded for her efforts, a cross-shot from just inside the right side of the box floating over the fingertips of the leaping Louissant before nestling into the far side of the net, and substitute McNamara made it two goals in two games, breaking a tired offside trap and slipping the ball through a gap in the keeper’s arms to complete the 7-1 scoreline.
In a window that has seen two generations of Matildas measured against the depth of Germany and the individual threats of Haiti, the gap between Australia’s established core and the players expected to replace them appears to be closing. A two-game series against Colombia is up next, leaving Montemurro with a happy headache in much-needed depth.