The damp pitch, a result of the daily storms, did nothing to slow the start of the match with a corner delivered by Walters being neatly slotted in by Tabain on the far post in the 5th minute of play.

Australia’s second came shortly after in the 11th minute after a combined run which finished with Simon scoring from close in front.

The 23rd minute saw Westfield Young Matildas down to 10 players with O’Neill shown her second yellow card.

Despite this, there were numerous shots on goal for Australia during the remainder of the second half until eventually one of those opportunities was converted - again by Simon, just before the break.

The Young Matildas allowed Iran few opportunities and capitalised in the 71st minute with a great effort by van Egmond who weaved her way through the defence to claim Australia’s fourth. Minutes later, after good combined play, goal number five was delivered by Butt.

After being substituted on in the 82nd minute, Kerr scored Australia’s sixth goal of the match in the 91st minute to seal the win and ensure the Young Matildas' qualification for the 2009 Championships.

“It was a courageous performance, especially given 70 minutes of the match was played with only 10 players and yet again, we were competing in hot and humid conditions,” said coach Alen Stajcic.

“We will need to work on improving our quality of play in front of goal. We have another opportunity to do this with our final qualification match against Thailand on Friday.

“This result ensures our qualification for the Championships next year which is a great outcome.”

Match Details
AFC U-19 Women’s Championships 2009 (Qualification)
5 November
IR Iran v Australia
KLFA Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
6.30pm local, 9.30pm AEDT
(Please note that not all details are available at the time of distribution)

IR IRAN, 0 - AUSTRALIA, 6 Marianna Tabain 5’, Kyah Simon (11’, 45’), Emily van Egmond 71’, Tameka Butt 79’, Samantha Kerr 91’

AUSTRALIA LINE-UP: Sian McLaren; Christine Walters; Jessica Seaman; Alesha Clifford; Samantha Spackman; Teresa Polias; Karina Roweth; Angela Fimmano (Emily van Egmond 58’); Linda O'Neill; Marianna Tabain (Samantha Kerr 82’); Kyah Simon (Tameka Butt 58’)

Yellow cards: Linda O’Neill (10’ 23’), Angela Fimmano 36’
Red cards: Linda O’Neill 23’