Matildas: Thousands of fans turn out for the Tillies’ first game in regional WA at Bunbury’s Hands Oval

A shock loss to Panama did not put a dampener on Bunbury’s enthusiasm for the Matildas’ first game in regional WA at Hands Oval on Saturday. Gloomy conditions were braved by a crowd of 10,272 people in the State’s largest regional city as the visitors secured a shock 1-0 victory, which came courtesy of a second-half goal from substitute Sherline King. The clash came only a few weeks after last month’s historic AFL game between North Melbourne and West Coast in the South West, which drew a ground-record 12,715 people to the newly-redeveloped venue. After a cagey first half, the visitors broke the deadlock in the 59th minute through King smashing home a rebound from a Teagan Micah save. Despite being urged on with chants from the crowd, a young Matildas outfit without several of their stars and featuring four debutants was unable to produce an equaliser. Born-and-raised Bunbury local Tracy Bratby said she never could have imagined having the chance to see the Matildas take to the pitch in her home city. “Having a (women’s) team play down here, it’s good to show girls can do it too,” she said. “It’s a good environment down here. It shows Bunbury can hold events like this and have fun.” Angela Smith, a junior coach with local club Collie Power, said the booming popularity of the Matildas had been the driving force behind the sport’s rapid growth in the region. “We’ve got so many more girls teams since the World Cup, which has been amazing,” she said. “We’ve made it to all the Perth (games) but it’s awesome to see them so close to home.” Among the side’s superfans who made the trip down from Perth for the game was 19-year-old Libby Jones, who was occupying one of the temporary grandstand’s front row seats with a homemade diorama of the team. “I worked on (the diorama) pretty hard, I’ve been to the last two games and we decided we were going to go pretty hard this time,” she said. “It was the World Cup and Cortnee Vine’s goal — from that moment, I was just in love.” Bunbury mayor Jaysen Miguel said he was delighted to see supporters turn out by their thousands for the game. “It clearly shows the region loves sport, there’s a lot of soccer fans out there,” he said. “We’re continually showing that we can host these (events). Whatever other opportunities present themselves, we’re happy to put our hand up and say we can have it here.” Apart from paint covering the AFL game’s line markings, Hands Oval’s surface presented in perfect condition, which Mr Miguel said was a testament the venue’s ability to host major events. “It’s the reason we invested in these facilities, to allow these kind of things to happen,” he said. “It’s interesting that this week there’s been a bit of media about playing surfaces across the country — I felt like texting into the talkback I was listening too and saying ‘we can do it at Hands’. “It’s as good as anywhere in Australia. The team’s done an amazing job.” After his third game in charge of the side, new Matildas coach Joe Montemurro said the turnout for the game was “absolutely brilliant”. “We’re very lucky we’ve got a great following, I apologise we didn’t give them the result they wanted today, but we’d love to come back and fix that,” he said. “I remember (coaching in) in the A-League playing on a couple of ovals, but the surface was good, the . . . welcome was fantastic. “I can see a lot more games happening here. It was a great little event. Goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln said the side was loving their chance to get outside of the country’s major cities, having also played in Geelong and Gosford in recent years. “I’m from a regional town myself, so I know how much this will mean,” she said. “Despite the result, we’re definitely really happy that we got to get out into the community. “We’re really appreciative of everyone coming out, even if it hasn’t been the best weather.” Panama’s Carina Baltrip-Reyes said Hands Oval was a “really nice” venue. “The pitch was a bit different, because I guess it’s for football, not soccer, but it’s really nice, we’re happy to be here and grateful for all the facilities,” she said.