Matildas Fall Short In Celebration Of Sam Kerr's Milestone

Australian soccer superstar Sam Kerr etched her name in history books once again, yet sadly her 100th national match will be remembered for the wrong reasons.

The captain's milestone ended in a 3-2 loss at the hands of Ireland, in what was the first meeting in history between the two nations.

An Irish striker hit the post on her free-kick attempt, which led to a deflection from Aussie goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold inside the first three minutes.

The dreadful start was ruled an own-goal, but the Matildas sharply hit back with a strike from Mary Fowler.

After the Irish again took the lead, Fowler slotted her second goal right before the half time whistle.

In the second half the european nation regained the lead, going on to end a seven-game losing streak.

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson spoke on the women's efforts to dig deep for Kerr's 100th game, and concedes despite the best intentions the players weren't up for the challenge.

"We felt really motivated going into the game because there's been a lot of focus on Sam Kerr's 100th game, and we said we wanted to leave our captain with a memory for her life." Gustavsson said.

"She's going to remember this game for the rest of her life; we wanted to leave our captain with positive memories.

"But it didn't look like that tonight. We didn't look energised and passionate the way I'm used to seeing this team, and that's not okay."

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