Mandalay: 16-year-old striker Mary Fowler starred, scoring five goals to help Australia move a step closer to the AFC U-19 Women's Championship Thailand 2019 Finals with an emphatic 11-1 win over Nepal on Friday.
Already a senior international, Fowler did her chances of FIFA Women's World Cup selection no harm, scoring a hat-trick within the opening 15 minutes, and adding two more goals before her 63rd minute substitution, as a rampant Young Matildas side surged to the top of Group A.
Australia's dominance was clear from the earliest stages of the match, as they repeatedly found their way behind the Nepalese defensive line to score simple goals, with Fowler opening the scoring with a fourth-minute tap-in, before netting a penalty after she was fouled while in the process of repeating the dose three minutes later.
The busy Susan Phonsongkham added a third in the 12th minute, before Fowler completed her hat-trick on the quarter-hour mark, then added her fourth, before Melinda J Barbieri had made it 6-0 in the 36th minute.
Manjali Kumari gave Nepal a moment to remember when she found the net with a superb left-foot effort to pull a goal back just before half-time, but the Australian avalanche continued after the break, as Fowler once again breached the defensive line to round goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar and easily slot her fifth.
Nepal may have been happy to see Fowler replaced just after the hour mark, but there was no let up from Gary van Egmond's side as Rachel Lowe and Kyra Cooney-Cross added goals number eight and nine, before substitutes Indiah-Paige Riley and Shadeene Evans completed the win in the dying stages.
Australia's attention now turns to group hosts Myanmar on Sunday, while Nepal will face Uzbekistan knowing a similar performance will see them eliminated.
Photos: Myanmar Football Federation
Source: the-afc.com