The Subway Joeys have completed their PacificAus Sports Football Tour with a 3-3 draw against the Vanuatu U-19 at Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila.
In wet conditions and on a challenging surface, Australia’s U-17 side raced to a 2-0 lead at half time through Logan Sambrook and an own goal before conceding three quick goals in the second stanza. Samuel Stanway equalised for the Subway Joeys in a frenetic end to the match.
Subway Joeys head coach, Brad Maloney, said the match was a perfect learning opportunity for the team.
“It was another great experience for the players, with a lot of lessons to take out of the game,” said Maloney.
“It was great that we got off to a good start, but when leading 2-0 at half time and to concede three goals in a row, that was disappointing. Nonetheless, it’s those learnings which will provide us with things to work on moving forward and I know the players will take plenty away from today.
“The players have been very resilient and mentally strong, not just today but in all three matches. They never stopped playing, and they kept competing with the older opposition. We had three or four 15-year-olds on the pitch for the last 40 minutes today, which was good to give them that experience. For the boys to come back from 3-2 down was pleasing, but we’d like to improve on the defending side of things, on conceding goals, and taking our chances at the other end.
“This tour was a great learning experience, on and off the pitch. Any international game is an invaluable experience and provides exposure for our players. Culturally and mentally, we’re learning that things don’t always go your way, sometimes you’re on the wrong side of decisions or difficult conditions to play. Today was obviously a little bit slippery, a bit wet, and the surface wasn’t ideal. All of those factors play a role in determining the outcome of the match and it’s good for the players to experience that.”
With the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai, in attendance, Australia got off to the perfect start when they opened the scoring after 70 seconds. A fantastic run by Max Anastasio saw the midfield drive into space before playing the perfect killer ball for Sambrook who placed his first-time shot into the net.
Vanuatu U-19 soon had the chance to equalise when the referee pointed to the spot for a foul that did not exist. Thankfully for the Joeys, justice was served when Maliwan Thomas’ penalty attempt hit the post and bounced out.
It was soon Australia’s turn to be the beneficiary of a referee decision when the Subway Joeys were awarded an indirect free kick for a back pass that looked very harsh. From the free kick, the ball was tapped to Anthony Didulica with his off-target attempt being deflected into goal by Peter Pual.
An unfortunate own goal for Vanuatu in the seventh minute of first half additional time.
Despite a 2-0 advantage at the break, the match turned on its head within nine minutes when two decisions led to two Vanuatu U-19 goals.
The referee awarded the home team a penalty, incorrectly judging that Charlie Parkin had grabbed the jersey of an opposition player. This time there would be no error from the spot, with Sergio Waute converting to half the deficit.
Soon after and a Vanuatu U-19 player tripped himself over while dribbling by stepping on the ball and losing balance. The referee mistook the slip for a Subway Joeys foul, with Manuel Loren’s resulting free kick slipping through Oskar Von Schrenk’s hands and into the goal.
Only six minutes later and a shell-shocked Subway Joeys found themselves behind after a howitzer by Waute. Australia U-17s lost the ball in midfield and the ball reached Waute who scored his second of the game with a world class finish from outside the box.
From that moment, the Subway Joeys settled down and played themselves back into the game with several chances and near-misses. Yet despite dominating play and territory, it took a fortuitous moment of play for the visitors to equalise.
Attempting some quick combination play outside of the box, a heavy touch by Samuel Stanway wrong-footed everybody – including the keeper – creeping just inside the near post before Vanuatu U-19s defence had time to react.
The Subway Joeys continued to pepper the Vanuatu U-19 goal with a combination of last-ditch defending and good saves seeing several Australian chances cleared off the line and/or denied by the keeper.
The match looked to have fallen Australia’s way in the ninth minute of additional time when Akol Akon hit the ball hard and true, but the winger’s powerful strike was matched by an even better save by the Vanuatu U-19 keeper to save the match for the home side.
“It was disappointing to be behind after leading, however, the players never gave up. They stuck to the game plan, worked hard to try and create further chances, and we could have pinched the win at the end. It was good for the team to get the equaliser, but even more pleasing that we kept searching for the winner, and at the end of the day, the match was very beneficial to both sides,” said Maloney.
Maloney said the tour was the perfect opportunity to improve on team and individual performances ahead of the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2025™ Qualifiers to be contested in Kuwait in October.
“We’ve got 14 new players that joined the program for this tour, so to give them exposure across three international matches was great, and to mix in with some of the core group that we had in previous tours helps us with our decision-making moving forward. It’s excellent preparation for us looking ahead to AFC qualifiers and beyond.
“It gives us greater depth in the playing pool. It helps us work directly with the individual players and see how their character is, see how they handle things on and off the pitch, and it’s really given us a lot more to think about when we look at selecting players for future tournaments.
“We’ve always got our eye on the AFC qualifiers, that’s our next major competitive tournament. The tour here was basically a component of us looking at players for that next call up and we’re always continually monitoring players. There was a handful of players that couldn’t make this tour, whether due to injury or clubs wanted to retain them in the A-League or NPL Finals, so that provided an opportunity for some of the new ones to come in, and some have really impressed.”
Reflecting on the tour as a whole, which saw the Subway Joeys play two matches against Solmon Islands U-19 followed by the fixture against Vanuatu U-19, Maloney said that the tour was beneficial to all nations involved in terms of both football and cultural development.
“It’s been a great tour. Both games in the Solomon Islands were fantastic spectacles, the crowd was excellent and it’s good for the players to play in front of big crowds and get used to that. Coming here to Vanuatu, there’s different conditions, wet and slippery, where the surface wasn’t suited to playing great football, but the players did their best and stuck to the game plan; their effort could not be faulted.
“Our impact in the Pacific has hopefully been a very positive one. The crowd in the Solomon Islands was fantastic. In both games they were very vocal, very supportive of both teams. This tour has brought a lot of positives to the region and hopefully we can visit sooner rather than later, come back and play some more games here, and hopefully other Australian national teams will be able to come and play here as well.”
MATCH DETAILS
Subway Joeys: 3 (Sambrook 2’, Own Goal 45’+7, Stanway 82’)
Vanuatu: 3 (Waute 53’ 68’, Loren 62’)
