England Women 0 v 1 New Zealand Women

Saturday 1st June 2019

International Friendly
Amex Stadium, Falmer
Admission: £10.00 (£7.50 with discount code)
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 20,076

After the unfamiliar (as a Charlton fan) feeling of jubilation and ecstasy I experienced at Wembley Stadium last Sunday, watching the Addicks beat Sunderland with a late, late goal to win the League One Play Off Final and seal promotion to the Championship for next season, I was tempted to end my groundhopping season on that amazing high. However, although I invariably enjoy watching women's football, I rarely get the opportunity to watch it, and so this opportunity to watch the national team fairly close to home in their final game before the Women's World Cup starts next weekend was too good to miss.

Today would be my seventh visit to the Amex Community Stadium since it opened in 2011, but the first time I would take a seat in the East Stand, having always previously sat in one of the other three stands. And as expected, my cushioned seat in the fifth row of the upper section offered excellent, unobstructed views. It really is an excellent stadium, but what does let it down is endless long queuing - to enter the stadium, to buy refreshments, and boarding the train home from Falmer station. The 44 page programme was a double issue, also covering last Saturday's fixture against Denmark and was printed in full colour but on non glossy, recycled paper and gave decent previews not only of the two games, but also of the upcoming World Cup tournament.

Arguably following some excellent work in promoting the women's game in recent years, with more investment, and the creation of the Women's Super League, England Women are a decent team these days, and will fancy their chances to win the upcoming World Cup. They are third in the FIFA rankings and reached the semi-final in their last major tournament, the European Championships 2017. England have fond memories of the last time they played at the Amex, when they saw off Montenegro Women 9-0 in 2014. An indication of the explosion of interest in women's football in England is clear to see looking back to that day, when only two stands were open and a crowd of less than 9,000 were present. Today, only the Upper West stand would be closed, and over 20,000 tickets had been sold ahead of kick off. New Zealand will also be involved in the World Cup, although that is something of a formality these days, no longer having to compete with Australia for the one automatic qualification spot from Oceania, and instead seeing off New Caledonia and then Fiji in the final, both by 8-0. Their ambitions for the tournament will probably be focused more towards earning respectability, and they were 19th in the World Rankings and they have never progressed beyond the group stages of a World Cup in the four tournaments they have competed in.

On a very warm and sunny day, this was a game of two halves, with England very much left to rue not converting their almost complete domination during the first half into goals. It was attack against defence for long periods, and with some calamatous defending by the New Zealanders at times, it felt like only a matter of time until England would score, and once they did, the dam would have broken and several more goals would follow. On 5 minutes, a poor New Zealand back pass was almost intercepted by Fran Kirby but the keeper just about managed to claim the ball. And on 9 minutes, the New Zealand keeper kicked the ball out but the intended recipient did not see it, allowing the England number 10 to steal the ball and play it forwards for Jodie Taylor to run onto and although the keeper managed to block the ball, she certainly clattered into Taylor, but no penalty was awarded. And on 15 minutes, yet another suicidal pass from a New Zealand defender, this time Katie Bowen passing straight into her own penalty area for Taylor to run onto , but her first time shot was smothered by the keeper. England were camped in New Zealand's half for long periods, creating plenty of chances, but somehow the scoreline for England would remain goalless at the break, and a minute before the break, it was New Zealand who had the standout chance to open the scoring when, after a couple of shots were blocked, Betsy Hassett struck a shot from inside the area which forced an excellent tip over by the keeper Telford.

After England's dominance in the first half, it came as a big shock when New Zealand took the lead on 50 minutes. After the ball was launched diagonally into the box, Alex Greenwood could only head the ball into the path of a New Zealand attacker, who laid the ball back into the path of Rosie White, whose first time shot was blocked by Telford low to her right, but she let the ball spill out, allowing  Sarah Grigorious to tap the loose ball home. That really seemed to take the wind out of England's sails as, although they still enjoyed the vast majority of possession, they really struggled to create chances as they had in the first half, indeed New Zealand looked at least as likely to score again, but in the end, England succumbed to a narrow, surprising defeat.

Although this was a friendly, and it probably was not the full first team playing, this was hardly the ideal send off for the team before they head to France for the World Cup, and they will need to be much more clinical in that tournament, opening against Scotland, who are one place above New Zealand in the World Rankings. It was a shame that a really impressive attendance was not rewarded with the result the vast majority would have wanted. But this was a classic example of, when a team does not put away its chances when on top, it will often end up paying a heavy price. As an England supporter, let's hope today will serve as a wake up call.

Video highlights from the BBC can be viewed by clicking here.