AUSSIE GIRLS START WFC 2009 WITH VICTORY OVER THE NETHERLANDS

After taking the first day of the tournament as a rest day, the Aussies converted their first match to their first victory. It wasn´t as simple as that, however, as the Aussie girls opened their World Floorball Cup division B in Vasteras, Sweden with a victory over The Netherlands 6-2. It's the first step on the way to qualifying for pool A, which only the division B winner will do. With the changes in the format from men's WFC2010 onwards, this means automatic qualification for WFC2011.

Only a day earlier, "Oranjes" suprisingly defeated Slovakia, but this match was another story. The Aussies took the lead after only 38 seconds thanks to Melanie Cathie, nine minutes before Jemima Kanerva, who plays first league in Finland for Tapanilan Erä, doubled the margin.

The key moment of the match came early in the second period, when Jill Roberts was given a 5 minute penalty. Her team was 4-2 up at the time, but The Netherlands never came close to scoring in the extended powerplay. The Aussies killed the first 4 minutes of the penalty time, before the match went to 4 on 4 with the Dutch captain also given a 2 minute rest. After five players were restored on both sides, the Aussie girls added two more goals and finished the game 6-2 to the good.

Cheered on with waving national flags and life size Keithy Kangaroo in the crowd, they made six different goal celebrations, from riding a floorball stick like a horse to acting like the goalscorer taking a team photo with no camera in her hand. That's when you love floorball and have fun… and there was a big reason: The Aussies have waited for two and a half years for this important victory.

Thanks to Pavel Kriklan from florbal.cz for his view on the first Australian match for WFC 2009.

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The Aussies were confident in their preparation but really didn't know what to expect from themselves in the opening match, particularly as they had watched the Dutch team easily account for the favoured Slovaks yesterday. They had worked very hard to build the close knit group that had arrived in Vasteras and every girl was keen to get into the tournament after the rest day on day #1.

From the first minute, Australia set the tempo for the match and began to control possession with clean passes and well thought out forward moves.

Solid defence kept the Aussie Angels steady as they worked hard to shut down any opportunities the Netherlands were able to create. Leith Woods was well supported in the goals and herself had an excellent performance.

Congratulations to Team Australia and we hope the girls can continue to improve their form as we move closer to the final days at the end of the week.

Special mention to the following players for their first international match: Jayne Aitken, Joanne Allan, Nicole Allsopp, Karen Bowden, Jemima Kanerva, Alexandra Maskell, Tania Perpoli and Fiona Wainwright.

Final score: Australia 6 defeated The Netherlands 2 (3-2, 1-0, 2-0) [Jill Roberts 2 goals, Melanie Cathie, Tash Glass, Jemima Kanerva, Jessica Laidler 1 goal]

Player of the Match AUSTRALIA - Melanie Cathie

Kevan Lyons - Team Manager

CLICK HERE TO READ IFF INTERVIEW WITH MEL "BUBBA" CATHIE