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Tom Sermanni at the Matildas open training session at Leichhardt Oval in the April 2025 international window. Photo: Texi Smith

The Matildas continued their run of good form, clean sweeping the two-match series against South Korea with a 2-0 victory in Newcastle.

Interim head coach Tom Sermanni spoke about how delighted he was with the performance, calling it incisive and dynamic football.

“I thought we made a lot of good decisions in possession. [We] still need to do a little bit better in taking care in possession at times, and some of those turnovers could have cost us, but other than that the way we played tonight, and considering we’re backing up from three or four days ago, I thought was excellent,” Sermanni said.

Clare Wheeler, Courtney Nevin, and Mary Fowler came into the starting side in place of Jamilla Rankin, Caitlin Foord, and Winonah Heatley, with a rather nervy start to the game for the Matildas greeting the 28019 fans who turned up.

Sermanni’s side struggled to build any sustained momentum, and had multiple scare opportunities with the Korean’s ready to play from the start, bypassing the hosts with long balls in behind the defensive line and threatening to score, but were unable to string together a finishing product.

A nasty collision in the 33rd minute that saw Tameka Yallop and Alanna Kennedy collide looked set to curtail the Matildas momentum, with both players receiving treatment for several minutes, and Kennedy picking up a rather unwanted souvenir from her trip to the Hunter.

Sermanni said both players pulled up fine, but acknowledged that Kennedy’s knock would likely worsen overnight but that early signs were no lasting damage or injury, and it contributed to her substitution in the second half.

Just before half-time, Fowler would provide the magic for the hosts, scoring the games opening goal with some swift movement that looked similar to her time at Manchester City under Gareth Taylor this season.

Speaking about her goal, Fowler praised the pass from Emily van Egmond that allowed her to find the back of the net.

“In all fairness, the hardest part was probably EvE’s pass. It was perfectly weighted,” she said.

“I actually thought it wasn’t going to get through, but she told me have a little faith.

“I think in those sorts of things, it’s just habit almost. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t.

“I think credit to EvE for the pass. That’s where the chance was created mostly.”

The Matildas were able to put the pressure on in the second half, shutting down South Korea’s offence regularly while responding with their own, and quite literally forced a second goal in the 63rd minute after a multitude of shots, although Torpey might be able to consider herself lucky at being given the goal as it appeared to be going wide before defender Lim Seon-joo put it over the line in an attempt to save it.

There were several nervy moments throughout the second half, but the defence stepped up when it was required, as did the offside flag the one time something got past Teagan Micah, who in the little work she had to do, showcased why giving Mackenzie Arnold the starting role back would be a mistake.

With all of the talk around the future of Sermanni, it is still unclear whether this would be his last window in charge or whether he will still be at the helm for the two-match series against Argentina in May.

Reflecting on his favourite moment from his third stint in charge of the Matildas, he said that he did not have a definitive favourite moment per se, but rather a series of moments.

“It wasn’t the SheBelieves Cup, I can rule that one out straight away,” he said, drawing a laugh from the journalists in the room.

“If I’m being honest, the favourite moments for me is when we played games at home and I’ve walked out and I’ve seen the crowd and I’ve seen the reaction to the Matildas.

“I’ve been in the system with them for a long time, and when I see that now and when I feel like I’ve got the privilege to actually be in amongst it, that’s my favourite time.”

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