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October 2, 2004 Australia U-19 loses to China U-19 in first game of series Australia 1 China 2   Australia U-19 National Team v China U-19 National Team Series 1-9 October 2004 Western Australia  The two teams return to Perth for the second match at Members Equity Stadium. on Monday night October 4th. at 7.00pm kickoff     Match one Friday, October 1, 2004 Soccerdrome, Bunbury, WA Pitch in fair condition Attendance -approx 500 No breeze, 12°C   Scoring China Sun Yongxia, 11 China Zhang Ying, 25 Australia Leena Khamis, 59   Australia U-19 National Team 1- Logue, Alison 4- Shipard, Sally 5- Somi, Nicole (12- Brogan, Danielle, 66') 6-Jenna Tristram (13- Cannuli, Catherine, 70') 7- Carroll, Kim (11- Bazi, Julia, 79') 8- Beaumont, Ellen 9- Kuralay, Selin 10- Khamis, Leena 14- McCallum, Collette (3- Holcombe, Briony 70') 15- Cooper, Caitlin 17- Colthorpe.Lauren   Substitutes not used 18- Jackson, Monique (GK), 22 Favretti,Yasmin (GK). Match report The Australian U-19 National Team (the Qantas Young Matildas) lost 2-1 to China U-19 National Team in last night's opening game of a three-match series held at the Soccerdrome in Bunbury, WA. It was a solid first game for Australia playing together for the first time.The series is part of the preparation for both teams leading into November's FIFA U-19 World Championship in Thailand, with the final Australian team selections only announced yesterday from what had begun as a 26-player camp roster. China were strong in the first half and were rewarded by two goals before half-time. A freekick from 30 metres out on the left saw Sun Ling provide a looping ball in behind the home side defence, with Sun Yongxia converting with the header. China doubled their lead in the 25th minute, again set up by a freekick from wide left. A flat ball in picked out Zhang Ying whose deft header found the target just inside the near post. China had a golden opportunity to go to a three-goal lead five minutes before half-time, but the close-range attempt was sprayed high. The Young Matildas settled into a much better form after the break and pulled a goal back. They displayed some flowing moves early after resumption to set the tone for their more polished second half assault. Their reward came in the 59th minute from one such neat build-up, setting up Tristram to unleash a towering chipped ball from the left. Leena Khamis was on hand to finish with a close range header past the keeper. Two minutes later, Khamis had an opportunity to equalise but miscued her strike. The Matildas kept up the pressure on the Chinese defence, and midway through the half, a pinpoint Sally Shipard freekick set up Lauren Colthorpe for the header, but the chance sailed high. China lifted their game once again and Australian goalkeeper Alison Logue kept her side in with a chance with six minutes remaining, making a fantastic diving save to deny a long range Chinese strike.   Post game quote Assistant National Youth Coach Alistair Edwards was happy with the performance of the newly-selected team in their first game. "It was a solid start to our preparation for the world youth cup," said Edwards. "Some of the players didn't have any previous international experience, and it was the first time the world cup squad had played together. So the slow start in the first half wasn't entirely unexpected. In the second half, the amount of improvement and the way the team performed gives us a great deal of optimism. We still have room for much more improvement, but overall it was a very pleasing start to the campaign. Looking forward to the next game."