Knowing that only a victory would keep their hopes of progression alive, Australia started like a team determined to accomplish that mission.

Marianna Tabain had an early effort saved, while Jessica McLean’s shot was tipped over. Captain Trudy Camilleri turned on a dime only to drag her strike well wide, before Jessica Au really should have buried an opportunity after cutting out an errant pass and being left with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Chinese Taipei found it difficult to get into the game, with moves often breaking down as passes went astray. Chen Ya-Chun and Chen Min-Huang had tame efforts saved, although the former nearly punished Australia’s profligacy with a header that flew just wide in the 18th minute.

The last chance of the half fell to Claudia Fruscalzo, whose shot was well smothered by Chu Fang-Yi.

Proceedings continued in the same vein when the restart came, with Chu being kept busy by two shots from Zoee Spadano and another from Tabain. Min-Huang then had to pull out a vital block to prevent Amy Barker from converting into an empty net, who also thumped another chance over shortly after.

While Liu Chih-Ling did test Sarah Easthope down the other end, it was a moment of rare respite for Chinese Taipei as their opponents kept trying to break the door down. 

They were indebted to Chu for keeping things level with a stunning fingertip save off Camilleri’s strike, although Alexia Karrys-Stahl then deflected Liu Wen Ling’s free-kick off the line.

Karrys-Stahl, Tabain and McLean were next in line to attempt a breakthrough, but it simply would not happen for Australia – and there was worse to come with four minutes left.

Pouncing on a poor pass, Chih-Ling found herself in a one-on-one situation and calmly buried the ball beyond Easthope to break Australia’s hearts.