Newcastle Jets emerged 2-0 victors in a breathless in a Female Football Round encounter with Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday evening.
Jason Hoffman tucked away a tidy finish after being teed up unselfishly by Nikolai Topor-Stanley midway through the first half, before Ronny Vargas powered an emphatic finish in second half stoppage time to hand the visitors their maiden win of the 2018/19 campaign.
Ernie Merrick’s side rode their luck at times throughout a frantic 90 minutes, and Western Sydney will lament their failure to dispatch several gilt-edged opportunities either side of Hoffman’s 26th minute opener.
Chances flowed freely at Spotless Stadium from the early minutes, where Abraham Majok missed the first of several chances to grab a goal on his first Hyundai A-League start.
The 20-year-old found himself unmarked to meet Josh Risdon’s cross at the back post but sent a misjudged header back into the path of Glen Moss.
Oriol Riera’s radar was also off target in the opening 45 minutes: the Spaniard headed Raul Llorente’s cross into the side netting with Moss stranded on the cusp of the interval.
Both Moss and Wanderers gloveman Vedran Janjetovic were called into action regularly in a frenetic second stanza.
Janjetovic denied Hoffman a second before pulling off a smart double save from Vargas, while Moss was out quickly at the other end to smother Riera.
Bruce Kamau nodded another superb Risdon cross wide from point blank range and Majok couldn’t turn the ball home from an acute angle after rounding Moss in two other golden chances for the Red and Black, who were left frustrated on their first visit to Spotless Stadium of the campaign.
