Western Sydney Wanderers forward Rosie Galea scored her first two Westfield W-League goals to help the Red and Black register a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets on Saturday night.
The Jets refused to succumb to defeat, mounting attack after attack as they pushed for an equaliser until the final whistle, but Galea’s goals either side of Tara Andrews’ equaliser proved to be all Dean Heffernan’s Wanderers needed to clinch a first win of the 2020/21 campaign.
The Red and Black edged proceedings early on but the Jets went closest to scoring first when Rhianna Pollicina received the ball and drove to the edge of the box, cut inside and dispatched an attempt just beyond the top right corner of goal.
Just seconds later, however, the Jets found themselves behind when Galea pounced on a wayward pass from Cassidy Davis to tuck the ball past Claire Coelho and give the Wanderers the lead.
Newcastle refused to allow falling behind to alter their determination, and instead proceeded to up the ante and push for an equaliser.
Two penalty shouts within the space of five minutes were waved away as the Jets created multiple chances in the box before both Sunny Franco and Andrews failed to latch onto dangerous crosses from out wide and find the back of the net.
Newcastle’s strong finish to the first half bled into the second when they emerged from the break and instantly levelled the scores through an opportunistic Andrews tap-in, but the parity lasted just six minutes before Galea pounced on a rebound from Leena Khamis’ ingenious strike from distance to secure her brace and give the Wanderers back the lead.
Much like the opening stanza, the Jets lifted their game after falling behind once again, crafting a series of chances to draw level once more. Andrews, Lauren Allan and Pollicina all came close but Courtney Newbon stood tall in the Wanderers’ goal as the Red and Black held on for dear life to claim an important win and all three points.
