It was an evening of milestones for the Newcastle Jets at No. 2 Sportsground on Sunday.
Not only did the Gary van Egmond-coached outfit prevail 3-1 over Adelaide United to finish the year on a high, the 31 December victory was the club’s 50th win in the A-League Women’s (ALW).
Gema Simon also made her 150th appearance, becoming only the sixth player in the history of the competition to do so.
Then, for good measure, Natasha Prior chalked up her maiden ALW goal.
While everyone performed wonderfully, the injection of teenagers Zoe Karipidis and Emma Dundas into the starting line-up provided an extra spark in attack and defence.
And, in fairness, the Jets should have won by a bigger margin.
Newcastle flew out of the gates, with Sarina Bolden (third minute) and Sophie Hoban (fourth) both causing early trouble for rival goalie Annalee Grove.
But, against the run of play, Dylan Holmes put Adelaide in front.
The midfielder received a through-ball from Emily Hodgson and stepped up keeper Izzy Nino to make it 1-0 in the 10th minute.
The Jets responded almost immediately.
Lorena Baumann chipped beautifully over three defenders to Libby Copus-Brown, whose right-footed strike hit the target to level the fixture at 1-all.
That soon became 2-1.
In the 20th minute, Copus-Brown’s deft corner found Prior, with the centre-back scoring from close range, much to the delight of her team-mates.
Newcastle defender Claudia Cicco was then shown a yellow card for fouling Holmes, who later suffered a heavy head knock.
Each side enjoyed several opportunities in the latter stages of the half, however respective No. 1s Nino and Grove rose to the occasion.
At the end of 52 entertaining minutes, the Jets maintained their 2-1 advantage.
It didn’t take long for Newcastle to reassert its authority.
Lauren Allan fired a terrific pass to Bolden, who easily evaded the outstretched arm of Grove to extend the scoreline to 3-1.
Hoban, Baumann, Copus-Brown and Melina Ayres also went agonisingly close.
One of the highlights, however, was Ayres’ “bicycle kick”, which narrowly missed.
But, special mention must go to Nino, who denied United countless times.
For more sports stories:
- ALM: Jets break home drought and end 2023 with 2-0 win
- Upper Hunter league product ends season on a high
- REAL NRL SEASON REVIEW: The only way is up for Seagulls
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