Cameroon (3) v (3)* Australia

By Tom Lyons

THE Australian women’s team faced off against Cameroon today at Federation Square stadium in a nail-biting showdown that went to a gripping penalty shootout after a 3-3 result.

The Australian women’s team started off well against Cameroon with Whelan deservedly scoring the first goal after some very hard work, a great 21st birthday present for the Australian Captain.

A great opportunity presented itself soon after for Sheree, she slotted it beautifully and Australia were up 2-0.

The Aussie’s were dominating early with Miki Kobyashi leading the way, working hard in defence and providing a great drive forward to bring the score up to 3-0.

Just before halftime, an Australian mistake led to a Cameroon penalty which was duly converted, making it 3-1 at the break.

Sheree continued to cause plenty of trouble for the Cameroon defence, but some great passing from the African team allowed them to claw another goal back to make it 3-2.

The match became tense as both teams desperately tried to win the ball and push it forward. An unlucky ball which deflected off the Cameroon crossbar from Kobyashi after splitting the defence, had the crowd groaning with agony.

With less than a minute to go in the game Cameroon equalised with a great finish into the top corner.

As the crowd was building and becoming more vocal, the match went to penalty shootouts. Sheree was first up, she was unable to convert because of a good save from the Cameroon goalkeeper. The Australian keeper, Tracy, produced a similarly impressive save.

The tension mounted and the crowd cheered and drummed on the floor as after three shots each, neither team was able to put the ball in the back of the net.

Sheree took the first sudden death shot and put the ball in the top left corner. Tracy then denied the Cameroon player.

The crowd went wild - Australia had won.

Photos: Photoworx