Womens 2007 World Cup; match 5

Group C, 12/9/07 in Hangzhou.

Australia v. Ghana

Australia: M.Barbieri, D.Alagich, K.McShea, C.Salisbury, C.Polkinghorne (T.Slatyer 83), S.Shipard, C.McCallum, H.Garriock, C.Munoz (L.De Vanna 45), J.Peters (A.Ferguson 62), S.Walsh.

Ghana: M.Sulemana, Y.Avoe (H.Abass 67), A.Ibrahim, L.Ankrah, M.Danso, O.Amoako, F.Okoe, A.Bayor, M.Darku, A.Amankwa, A.Amenuko (B.Kanda 67).

Australia always looked the likely winners in an open game. Although Ghana had more than their fair share of possession they found it difficult to break down an organised Australian defence.

When Australia attacked they found Ghana's defence far more generous.

The strong running Sarah Walsh was too much of a handful for the Ghanian defence from the word go and danger threatened whenever she ran at the opposition.

For all the dangerous situations created at one end the first real chance came at the other. The pacy Anita Amankwa produced a neat touch to release Florence Okoe into the box and her drive was only just wide of Melissa Barbieri's post.

Joanne Peters played Walsh in for her first clear sight of goal but Memunatu Sulemana in the Ghana goal made a fine save to keep the scores level.

On 15 minutes, however, Australia took a deserved lead when a right wing centre was worked to Walsh inside the box by Caitlin Munoz and her shot clipped the inside of the near post on its' way into the net with the entire defence static.

Amankwa, a gallant attacker, managed to force her way through several defenders only to have the ball whipped off her toe by Barbieri but Ghana seldom looked likely to equalise.

The second half saw Ghana abandon any semblance of a defensive shape as they desperately tried to find an equaliser and Australia were left with acres of space in which to counter attack.

Half time substitute Lisa De Vanna cut along the edge of the box before unleashing a fierce drive that Sulemana did well to tip onto the crossbar and over.

It was inevitable that Australia must exploit this space sooner or later and on 57 minutes they duly increased their lead.

Walsh was given the freedom of the right wing to run into and carried the ball right up to the six yard box. She could have shot herself but did the noble thing and squared to the supporting Lisa De Vanna whose low shot back across goal allowed Sulemana half a chance of saving but instead Ghana's keeper could only help the ball into her own net.

Australia's next goal came from a left wing centre that Heather Garriock met perfectly to head into the bottom corner and it looked as though Ghana might be in for a hiding.

Within a minute, however, the Africans had responded with a goal of their own. This was a fine effort and the work of their two most impressive performers.

Okoe made a run through the middle before clipping a fine ball in behind the defence for Amankwa to run onto and the forward cleverly turned back inside the chasing defender before rifling a fine shot into the top corner.

The last word would go to Australia, however. De Vanna chased a through ball and, having reached it first, found the keeper sitting down on the edge of her box for some reason. The winger was not put off by this unusual tactic and strolled round her to slot into the empty net.

Ghana had helped make the match an entertaining one but they will need to be careful with their defensive organisation or they might suffer a really heavy defeat before the tournament is over.

Full Time: Australia 4 Ghana 1