Goal shark Brittany Palombi rescued a last-gasp point for Canberra Croatia on Sunday, pouncing on an under-hit Tayla Hampson backpass to snatch a 2-2 draw against Canberra United Academy.
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It was the second strike of the game for last year's Women's Premier League leading goal scorer, and ensured the reigning champions grabbed something from the season opener against their younger opposition.
Anna Hunt opened the scoring for United's Academy which held firm until the 73rd minute until Palombi lashed home from the top of the penalty area.
Hunt grabbed her own brace eight minutes from time with a penalty before Palombi's late heroics broke Adacemy hearts.
Meanwhile, the Matildas have endured a sobering return to international action, being outclassed in a 5-2 defeat by Olympic champions Germany in Wiesbaden.
In their first match since qualifying for the Tokyo Games, new coach Tony Gustavsson admitted Saturday's painful afternoon was a "reality check" for the Australian national side, who chased shadows for much of the afternoon against the world's No.2 team.
Even two late goals from Emily Gielnik couldn't hide the gulf in class between the two sides as the Matildas really did look like a team who hadn't played an international together for 13 months.
With their defence in disarray, rusty attack blunt and looking disjointed throughout the team, superstar captain Sam Kerr was not about to make excuses.
"I don't think we were very good," she said.
"We need to pick it up.
"It was difficult. New players, new coach, a lot of people haven't played at international level ... We've got to learn from it."
Swede Gustavsson was also acquainted with the tough job ahead, admitting: "We need this reality check. We need to see where we're at right now.
"Is it tough? Yes, but we need that toughness to know exactly what we need to do in order to prepare for the Olympics."
His side were lucky just to only be one goal down at halftime to Sjoeke Nusken's 10th minute strike, having at that point not had a single attempt on goal themselves.
Yet Germany only seemed to improve after half-time and proceeded to run riot.