Leticia McKenna at the double as Matildas’ next generation help trounce Haiti 7-1

A brace from young midfielder Leticia McKenna, a debut goal for Daniela Galic, and further strikes from Caitlin Foord, Clare Wheeler and Holly McNamara helped the Matildas to a 7-1 win over world No 47 Haiti in both teams’ final October friendly in France.

Making her starting debut to bring up just her fourth cap for Australia, McKenna book-ended the first half with goals from midfield, powering a Wheeler cut-back into the roof of the net 80 seconds into the game before crashing her second in off a tackle just before half-time to finish her own attacking move.

Related: ‘So, so grateful’: Nathan Cleary confirms reason behind Mary Fowler’s Matildas absence

The rallying-cry of captain Sam Kerr in the huddle before the match was “we should beat sides like this”, and while the Matildas struggled to break down an organised and physical Haitian side in the first half, with OL Lyonnes midfielder Melchie Dumornay and forward Brittany Raphino an ever-present threat, Australia’s next generation made their impact in a five-goal blitz in the second half.

Having made four changes to the starting XI that lost 4-2 to Germany on Saturday, including a new-look back-line of Kaitlyn Torpey, Courtney Nevin and Charlotte Grant, alongside McKenna and Alana Murphy in midfield, Joe Montemurro used the opportunity to establish depth in specific positions and develop chemistry in new combinations, with just four international windows left until the Women’s World Cup next June.

They took some time to find their feet, however. The Matildas often struggled to find clear passages through Haiti’s midfield, while the usual starting front three of Foord, Kerr and Hayley Raso were largely held at arm’s length by some impressive collective defending.

Supported from the stands by a raucous home crowd and a bouncing brass band, Dumornay’s second-minute equaliser – a charging solo run that began in the centre circle and ended with a low, hard shot into the far corner – served as a reminder of the talent brimming within this emerging Caribbean nation, and kept Australia on notice.

Wheeler was one of Australia’s most impressive first-half performers, covering acres of grass and providing bounce-passes for her teammates, while also enforcing the midfield areas and earning a yellow card for a stomp on Dumornay. Her energy gave Murphy and McKenna, now playing together at Nottingham Forest, more space to navigate, with the latter offering multiple penetrative late runs into the box to latch onto several crosses and cut-backs.

Haiti could have snatched an unlikely lead just after the half-hour mark, though, when a scything through-ball from captain Nérilia Mondésir was missed by Winonah Heatley, allowing Raphino to poke a hopeful toe at the ball in the box. It ricocheted off Mackenzie Arnold and then Grant before bouncing perilously towards an open net, only for Wheeler to hook the ball off the line.

But McKenna settled Australia’s nerves in the 44th minute after Raso sent a cut-back into a crowded penalty area. The young midfielder kept the play alive, offering a bounce-pass to Raso, whose shot was blocked before falling right into McKenna’s path, whose strong tackle saw it spin past Naila Louissant and into the net.

The second half was a far more convincing showing from Australia as Montemurro rang in the changes and Haiti began to tire. The floodgates opened in the 52nd minute after a quick transitional pass from Wheeler found Foord down the left wing, who ran at Haiti’s defence as she waited for Kerr to run off her shoulder. The Gotham forward slipped between two defenders before receiving a perfect through-ball, trying to clip the ball past the keeper only for it to deflect off the boot of a sliding Kethna Louis and into the net.

The two veteran attackers swapped roles barely 10 minutes later as a poor pass from Haiti, whose entire back-line was pulled out of position in an attempt to counter-attack, found Kerr instead. The captain then spread the ball wide for Foord, all alone out on the left, who took a few unchallenged steps into the box before firing past the keeper to make it four.

This goal triggered four changes for Montemurro’s side, with more emerging Matildas in McNamara, Galic, Remy Siemsen, and Alexia Apostolakis coming on for the final half hour. Galic made an almost immediate impact, scoring her debut goal six minutes later as she controlled a fizzing Murphy through-ball that sliced past two lines of Haiti players before the 19-year-old turned and caressed the ball into the far corner.

The inexhaustible Wheeler was finally rewarded for her efforts, with a cross-shot from just inside the right side of the box floating over the fingertips of the leaping Louissant before nestling into the far side of the net, while the substitute McNamara made it two goals in two games after she broke a tired offside trap and slipped the ball through a gap in the keeper’s arms to make it 7-1.

In a window that has seen two generations of Matildas face up against the depth of Germany and the individual threats of Haiti, the gap between Australia’s established core and the players expected to replace them is slowly but surely closing. With a two-game series against Colombia up next, Montemurro now has a happy headache in much-needed depth.