Australia 1-1 Slovenia
by Kelechi Osunwa at HBF Park for Impetus (29/6/25)
Above: Winonah Heatley, who was outstanding for Australia, wins a tussle tonight in Perth. Photo: Cat Bryant for Impetus.
On a balmy winter night at Perth’s HBF Park, Australia and Slovenia played out an enthralling 1-1 draw in match two of their two-match series.
Australia took the lead early in the second half with a volley from Michelle Heyman to claim the rewards for a dominant first half. Slovenia remained resolute, stayed in the fixture and capitalised on a chaotic final 10 minutes to grab a late equaliser when Mirjam Kastelec reacted quickest to power home.
The result is likely to please both coaches, with Matildas boss Joe Montemurro happy with his team’s defensive connectivity and attacking patience, while his Slovenian counterpart praised their persistence in claiming a draw against a side he described as one of the best in the world.
With both sides ringing in the changes, and having that added level of familiarity, the early moments of the encounter were far less frantic than Thursdays, when Australia took the lead inside three minutes.
The inclusion of Winonah Heatley, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Michelle Heyman, and the repositioning of Amy Sayer into a more central ‘number 10’ position gave the Matildas an ideal balance of composure and solidity.
In Cooney-Cross and Sayer, Australia were able to dictate play from a central position, and the two were crucial to early attacking forays.
Sayer combined with Alanna Kennedy to slip in the overlapping Ellie Carpenter to fire a dangerous cross that was foiled by a desperate Lana Golob.
The Matildas continued to attack on their right-hand side with Carpenter a willing runner, much to the dismay of her counterpart Kaja Erzen, who had the unenviable task of tracking the fullback. Sayer and Carpenter combined again with Remy Simesen to send a low cross into Heyman, who fired wildly into the night sky.
Sayer seemed the have the freedom of HBF Park and began to conduct attack after attack. She broke into the box to collect a clever pass from Heyman, her low cross looked to find Kaitlyn Torpey, but a quick-thinking Sara Gradišek did enough to deflect the opportunity wide.
The Matildas’ press and high line was relentless, with Slovenia unable to beat it and often resorted to wild clearances to relieve some pressure. Where Slovenia had lived on misplaced passes and transitional attacks on Thursday, there were no opportunities to sustain the visitors in the first 30 minutes.
Australia could smell blood and almost took the lead when Cooney-Cross wriggled past two players to find Heyman. The striker drove towards the penalty area with options to her left and right. As the defence backtracked, she unleashed a powerful effort that narrowly flew wide.
Slovenia did well to quell the home side’s momentum and settle more into the match by forcing the Matildas to turn around, and Mateja Zver was tasked with sticking close to Sayer as halftime gave them reprieve.
Australia took the lead five minutes after the restart when Heyman volleyed home from a Carpenter cross. The Matildas won the ball in the attacking third, where Kennedy and Siemsen combined to find the overlapping Carpenter, who found Heyman. Her movement was subtle but effective enough for her to find a half-yard of space to finish unerringly.
The old adage of being most vulnerable after you score proved to be correct as the goal sprung Slovenia into an attacking flurry that needed a previously very quiet Mackenzie Arnold to spring into action on two occasions.
The most important of which was three minutes after the goal when substitute Lara Janež’s outstretched pass sprung Zver with only Arnold to beat. The Slovenian captain struck an effort with power and direction, but straight at Arnold, who was able to absorb the danger.
The match became stretched as Slovenia pushed for an equaliser, Prašnikar and Čonč grew in influence for the visitors, but their attacking forays left them vulnerable on the counter attack which Carpenter looked to single handedly exploit on several occasions with dangerous runs into and crosses into the penalty area that unfortunate to not find a teammate.
Despite only having a handful of sessions with the side, glimmers of Montemurro’s philosophy were on display. This was most evident when Heatley, Cross, Sayer, and Holly McNamara combined for Sayer to volley high and wide. The move incorporated composed playing out the back, direct dribbling, and vertical combination play; all elements that Montemurro will hope to see his team hone to a greater extent as they have more time together.
With the game in its dying embers, Slovenia made a raft of changes, and they threw caution to the wind.
Janež headed over the bar after a terrific Špela Kolbl cross to give the visitors some life. The Matildas failed to heed that warning and gave Slovenia encouragement when an errant pass from Courtney Navin caused chaos in their box that needed a clever save from Arnold before a well-timed block by Heatley to divert the danger.
Despite the warnings, the Matildas were punished minutes later when Slovenia claimed a much-deserved equaliser. Prašnikar did well to hold of her marker before finding the run of Janez, the midfielder found fellow substitute Naja Pope Mihelič who cut inside from the left and drove a low effort that cannoned off the post only for Mirjam Kastelec to burst past three defender to slam home and send the visiting dugout into a frenzy.
For Montemurro and the Matildas, the result would feel more fitting if it had come after Thursday’s more even encounter, but the controlled nature of the performance will leave them feeling like they are moving more and more in the right direction with a process they can trust.
Check out our Instagram page @ImpetusFootball for two galleries worth of Cat Bryant’s exclusive photography from the game.
AUSTRALIA (4-2-3-1): Arnold, Heatley, Hunt, Torpey, Kennedy, Sayer, Carpenter, Grant, Cooney Cross, Heyman, Siemsen. Substitutes: Nevin, Prior, Micah, Gielnik, Raso, Whyman, McNamara, Chidiac, Rankin, Nash, Murphy
Scorer: Heyman 50’.
SLOVENIA (3-4-3 ): Pasar, Golob, Agrež, Gradišek, Korošec, Kajzba, Zver, Čonč, Prašnikar, Eržen, Križaj. Substitutes: Meršnik, Mihelič, Kastelec, Testen, Kuštrin, Kolbl, Ketiš, Vindišar, Kramžar, Janež, Sternad.
Scorer: Kastelec 90+1’.
Referee: Anne Marie Keighley (NZL).
Attendance: 13,115.
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