Taiwan women’s side were decisively routed in Geelong on Saturday after an impressive display of technical brilliance by Australia. Have no doubt; the home side were dominant in every facet of the game. But critically, they also showed a decisiveness that had been lacking in the last meeting between the two sides. That additional ruthless would quickly spell doom for Taiwan, who looked exhausted at the final whistle.

Indeed, the full-time stats made for sobering reading. Australia had an incredible 78% ball possession, with 23 total shots attempted. By contrast, Taiwan only conjured up three total shots (none of them on target). Australia’s ball retention was so glaring that they made 628 passes during the game compared to Taiwan’s 255. As dominant performances go, this was pretty indisputable.

Much like the first game, Australia started strongly and once again, scored twice in the opening fifteen minutes. The opening goal was a subtle but brutal reminder about the difficulty levels in international football. Pu Hsin-hui momentarily lost track of Leah Davidson as the ball was being crossed in. That lapse of judgement lasted half a second but it was immediately exploited as Davidson nodded home.

The second goal was just as tough. With Australia pressing, Wang Yu-tung made a poor pass out of the box, which was intercepted by Tameka Yallop. The Australian then danced around two players before shooting low past Wang in the Taiwan goal. Wang looked visibly distract at the costly error and briefly laid on the ground with her head in her hands.

But whereas Taiwan steadied themselves last time around, Australia had no intention of letting that happen again. With halftime looming, Australia added a third via a powerful Emily Gilnik header just to compound the misery.

By the second half, Taiwan looked completely shell shocked and they soon conceded again. Just outside her penalty box, Wu Kai-ching turned the ball over twice in five seconds as she tried to pass around Australia’s players. Sensing the uncertainty, Remy Siemson snatched the ball away and played it across to Michelle Hayman for the tap-in goal. The striker looked almost sheepish when celebrating but it was further proof of Australia’s dominance.

With one side wilting under the physical onslaught, things began to get messy. Australia got their fifth when Nastasha Prior headed home from a free kick. It was a routine goal, made possible by Prior’s canny off-the-ball run. But the physical difference were also telling. Prior, at 5″11, was such towering presence that she knocked Su Sin-yu and Teng Pei-lin to the ground like bowling pins as she rose to head the ball.

The sixth and final goal arrived when Australia began to target an obviously tired, rattled Wu on the right flank. A long ball out of defense created a one-vs-one battle between Wu and Karly Roestbakken. The latter, just on as a substitute, was fresher and stronger than the Taiwan fullback. In the foot race that followed, Roestbakken left Wu stranded on the turf before shooting past Wang.

The full time whistle arrived soon after. Taiwan had done their best but Australia were in no mood to goof around. Having played with their food in the last outing, this time the Matildas had devoured everything in sight.

PHOTO CREDIT: Matildas.com/au