TRAWSFYNYDD’S Mared Griffiths scored her first senior international goal for Cymru in the 2-1 friendly defeat against Australia at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.

The former Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor student, who signed her first professional contract with Manchester United Women in July, scored a stunning equaliser for Rhian Wilkinson’s Dragons to cancel out Courtney Nevin’s first-half free kick.

The hosts won possession in midfield and surged forward the ball fed to Jess Fishlock who was hoping to mark her final Cymru appearance with a goal.

The ball was knocked away as she was about to pull the trigger but Griffiths, making her first senior start and second appearance, was on to it in a flash to send a first-time cracker into the far post to the delight of the 11,000 crowd.

But there was a cruel blow for Cymru on 85 minutes as Caitlin Foord found herself in space and made no mistake as the Matildas regained the lead.

It proved to be the decisive goal as Cymru just couldn’t find a way back.

There was a standing ovation on the 90th minute as Fishlock was replaced on her final Cymru appearance after earning 166 caps and scoring 48 goals.

The 38-year-old spoke in the days leading up to the match about passing the baton over to the next generation, and this performance showed plenty of signs of a bright future for this group of players.

Griffiths was later awarded Wales' Player of the Match award, after her excellent account-opening goal which took real composure and technique.

Rhian Wilkinson speaking to BBC Match of the Day Wales: “We went for it, I think there was some great moments. We’re really showing that we can live with some of the best teams in the world, but we’re not fit enough yet to keep up standards to the 90th minute.

“This is an exciting time for Mared to come through our system and academy, we’ve got Scarlett Hill stepping on the field, Tiana Teisar, Gwen Zimmerman started for us. That’s what we need to see at the beginning of a new cycle.

“I’ll miss Jess a lot, she’s a phenomenal athlete, I was talking to Australia’s coach and it’s really a privilege to lead her a being her coach. I think she thinks she’s going to be walking away from the Welsh environment, but she’s not. My goal will be to wrangle her I just don’t know how yet.”

Griffiths studied Level 3 Business at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor’s Dolgellau campus until last summer, when she joined Women’s Super League club United.

She made her Manchester United Women first-team debut during the FA Cup fifth-round victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, appearing as a substitute and scoring twice in a 6-0 win.