Canberra United clocked consecutive Liberty A-League wins for the first time in 23 matches with a 5-1 rout against Newcastle Jets.
Hosts Canberra were rarely troubled at McKellar Park and struck twice in the opening half-hour, with two delightful assists from winger Nicki Flannery helping United pinch the match-winning break on Saturday.
The vital win saw Canberra close the gap to the top four back to two points, as they push for a return to finals action.
But it was the form of Flannery that stole the show, giving the Jets’ defenders nightmares in a damaging display that saw her play a hand in her side’s first three goals.
Once on the fringes of Matildas selection before an ACL injury saw her miss the entirety of last season, Flannery said she felt like she was close to getting back to top gear.
“I’m stoked – it’s a win for me personally and a win for our team,” she told reporters.
“Today is the first day I started to kind of feel like myself on the field.
“Honestly, I’m just very happy to be on the field, and when you get to pass to a player and set one of your team-mates up, it’s better than a goal.”
Flannery’s first assist – a beautiful chipped pass to Michelle Heyman – was a highlight reel moment, while she also created Wu Chengshu’s goal for 2-0.
Canberra took over in the second half with Ellie Brush, Vesna Milivojevic and Heyman finding goals while Tara Andrews pinched one back late for the visitors.
Newcastle’s Lauren Allan also had a great opportunity, but blasted a shot into the side netting from close range shortly before half-time, while impressive Canberra goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln made an outstanding save to deny Allan.
It was another blow for the Jets, now having lost five of their past six games.
In scoring for a second straight game, Heyman took her tally to five goals for the season with the Liberty A-League’s all-time leading scorer continuing her hot form.
On finally winning back-to-back games, United coach Njegosh Popovich said his team had fired a warning shot to the rest of the competition by showing just how potent they can be.
“(Winning back-to-back games) was one of our bucket list items to get through during the course of the year and it’s just a good feeling,” he told reporters.
“I’ve got some selection headaches moving forward, but they’re good headaches to have.
“It’s a cliche, but when you’ve got players standing up that are coming off the bench and putting their hand up to be selected next week, and we’ve got players coming back from injury, it’s a really good space that we’re in at the moment.”
