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Ireland survived a fierce final-quarter comeback from Australia to post a thrilling 45-44 victory in the series opening International Rules clash at Subiaco Oval last night.
In front of 35,153 fans, Ireland looked to have the game sewn up when they shot out to a 17-point lead four minutes into the final quarter.
Five unanswered overs saw Australia claw to within one point of the visitors but it wasn’t enough, with Ireland holding their nerve in the dying minutes to win 3.6.9 (45) to 0.12.8 (44).
The match featured little biff but Hawthorn hardman Campbell Brown was given a yellow card in the final term for a ferocious hip-and-shoulder on Ireland’s Finian Hanley.
Marc Murphy starred for Australia with four overs while Ireland captain Sean Cavanagh led with a goal and two overs.
Australia struggled with the round ball early as Ireland nailed the first over of the match through Cavanagh.
The home side had the chance to hit back when Matt Campbell was brought down in the box but the North Melbourne forward fired the penalty kick straight at the goalkeeper.
The visitors took a 9-1 lead into the first break and shot out to an 18-4 advantage when Leighton Glynn slammed home the first goal of the match.
From there the Aussies took hold, Scott Thompson nailing two overs and Marc Murphy and Campbell landing their own to lift Australia back into the contest.
They could have led by more than a point at half-time but a fantastic save from Ireland goalkeeper David Gallagher denied Murphy a goal and the home side was ahead only 19-18.
Ireland kicked away in the third quarter with Cavanagh’s goal at the four-minute mark the highlight of the match.
After receiving a cute chip from Kieran Donaghy, Cavanagh spun around and slammed the ball past Australia goalkeeper Nathan Bock from the tightest of angles.
Ireland was in cruise control when Leighton Glynn’s over put them ahead 45-28 at the four-minute mark of the final term but Australia finally clicked into gear, with two overs to Murphy and others to Leigh Montagna, Michael Osborne and David Rodan ensuring a thrilling finish.
Australia coach Mick Malthouse admitted his team struggled to handle the round ball.
“I thought our first quarter was good defensively but we kept giving the ball back to them, which is probably understandable because we’ve been training with the ball for only one week,” Malthouse said.
“Our hand-passing was quite ordinary at times.
“I suppose we just haven’t been able to master that ball but I reckon the one week we have (before the Melbourne game) we’ll improve our skill level.”
Ireland coach Sean Boylan said the game could have easily gone the other way.
“The common thing about this game is that at a certain point it becomes frantic and you certainly saw that out there,” Boylan said.
“Twice we had a big lead and the way Australia came back, the way they pegged it back it could have quite as easily been the other way around, they could have been a point ahead.”
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