Wasteful Football Ferns held to 0-0 draw by Thailand
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
At Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch: Football Ferns 0 Thailand 0. HT: 0-0
The Football Ferns were held to a 0-0 draw by Thailand in Christchurch on Tuesday, three days after beating them 4-0.
They took 22 shots to one, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Thailand mustered one early shot – one more than they managed on Saturday.
Did the Football Ferns use up their supply of goals for 2024 in one go in their first match against Thailand in Christchurch?
Because despite taking 22 shots to one – and putting seven of them on target – they were held to a 0-0 draw by the visitors in the second match at Apollo Projects Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Ferns were equally as dominant on Tuesday as they were when they won 4-0 on Saturday, but were wasteful where it mattered most – putting the ball in the back of net.
The biggest miss of the lot came in stoppage time, when a header from Gabi Rennie fell to fellow substitute Meikayla Moore at close range with only the goalkeeper to beat, only for the centre back to turn the ball wide to the right rather than into the goal to her left.
Perhaps it was no surprise to see the Ferns come away with nothing, as the four goals they scored in 90 minutes in their win three days earlier were just one fewer than they managed in 1440 minutes of action in 2023.
Thailand did at least muster a shot in match two – an early effort by Nualanong Muensri that was blocked – but they barely earned the draw, with most of goalkeeper Tiffany Sornpao’s saves routine.
This result was almost entirely down to the Ferns’ lack of finishing in front of a crowd of 3503, as there wasn’t really any point in time where it looked like they might lose.
Coach Jitka Klimková made three changes to the team that won on Saturday, swapping Vic Esson for Anna Leat in goal, Claudia Bunge for Rebekah Stott at centre back and double goalscorer Katie Kitching for Indiah-Paige Riley in central midfield.
The Ferns’ best chance of the first half came after 27 minutes, when Hannah Wilkinson got a touch on a goal kick and Malia Steinmetz pounced to win the ball, but sent her volley just over the crossbar.
Jacqui Hand had earlier drawn a save from Sornpao after cutting in from the left and shooting with her right, while CJ Bott later had a left-footed attempt from the edge of the box stopped, though it appeared to be curling wide to the right.
Three changes were made at halftime, with Ally Green replacing Grace Jale on the left wing, Michaela Foster coming on for Ali Riley at left back and Indiah-Paige Riley replacing Macey Fraser in midfield.
Green found Wilkinson in the box for a pair of headers early in the second spell, but the first was easily saved, while the second was sent wide to the left.
Also joining the fray were Rennie (for Wilkinson) and Moore (for Bunge, making her first appearance since missing out on the squad for last year’s World Cup).
Hand met a cross from Indiah-Paige Riley on the right, but couldn’t put her volley on target, when she might have had time to control the ball and take a touch. She then met a cross from Green on the left with her head, but it was too close to Sornpao to cause any danger.
Indiah-Paige Riley then teed up Katie Bowen, who shot over from well inside the box, while Green had a go herself from the edge of it, then volleyed over when a Bott cross fell her way at close range.
Hand sent a header over in stoppage time meeting a Green cross, while the last major chance was the one missed by Moore, who shouldn’t have been in the position of needing to find a 96th minute winner.
Not long after that, with more than 99 minutes played, the final whistle blew and put those frustrated by the finishing – or lack thereof – out of their misery.
The big picture
The Ferns’ focus will now turn to facing opponents more in line with the three they will face at the Olympics – world No 3 France, No 9 Canada and No 23 Colombia.
When it comes to their squad for that tournament, it’s hard not to think that Leat and Esson will be the two goalkeepers; that Bott, Katie Bowen, Bunge, Ali Riley and Stott are locked in as defenders; Fraser, Annalie Longo – if fit – and Steinmetz as midfielders and Hand, Jale, Indiah-Paige Riley and Wilkinson as forwards.
That would leave four spots up for grabs and on the evidence of recent playing time, Mackenzie Barry – a centre back who can cover right back – Kate Taylor – a centre back and a central midfielder – and Kitching – a midfielder who can also play out wide – would be the favourites to claim three of them.
The other would likely be for a left back – either Foster – who could play in central midfield in a pinch – or Green – who could play as a left winger, as she did impressively on Tuesday to press her case.
What’s next
The Ferns are next set to be in action at the end of May and in early June, with the next women’s international window running from May 27 to June 4.
That will be the last window before Klimková finalises her squad for the Olympics, with another window to follow in early July before the tournament in France begins on July 26 (NZ time).
Ferns players now return to their clubs, with Bott playing in a women’s FA Cup semifinal for Leicester City against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday night (NZ time) and Stott and Wilkinson involved in the A-League Women finals series with Premiers Plate winners Melbourne City, who have a first-round bye this weekend.