The Newcastle Jets have broken through for their first win of the season, now coach Ash Wilson wants them to back it up.
The Jets will be brimming with confidence as they prepare for Western Sydney Wanderers in the wake of a dominant 5-1 win over Wellington Phoenix at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.
The hard work of pre-season translated beautifully to the pitch against the A-League Women's newcomers with the Jets delivering a cohesive and clinical performance. But Wilson knows it will only carry weight with repeat showings as the Jets eye a return to finals football after a three-season absence.
"I think it shows the potential we have," Wilson said. "We need be more consistent and we need to have more performances like that before we can start to jump the gun.
"But, if we can put together performances like that, if we can be clinical, we'll definitely be very competitive. And, if we do make those finals, we'll hopefully be a handful. But it's very early and there are a lot of good teams.
"We need to make sure we're putting those performances together week in and week out. That's probably been a challenge for us in the past - to be consistent with winning performances week in and week out.
"So, it's important for us to start this roll and build on the momentum we generated from that game."
According to A-Leagues statistics, the Jets have not strung two wins together since the inaugural W-League season of 2008-09.
The short-term addition of home-grown, 110-capped Matilda Emily van Egmond proved pivotal on Friday night after the Jets had opened their 2021-22 season with a disappointing 3-1 loss to defending premiers Sydney.
It is not yet known how many games van Egmond will play before Women's Asian Cup commitments with the Matildas take over next month and Wilson will be making the most of the industrious midfielder as they chase maximum points in their next two outings at least.
They face Wanderers, who drew 0-0 with Wellington in round one and lost 2-0 to the Sky Blues on Saturday, this Friday in Blacktown before again taking on Phoenix in round four.
"You can't deny the influences she had just with her calmness on the ball and her ability to find things," Wilson said. "She worked really hard in attack to make forward runs and defensively she was solid. I think that had a really big impact on what other players were doing around her."
Also pleasing was the fact the Jets had four scorers in the four-goal rout. Defender Kirsty Fenton and attackers Tara Andrews, who bagged a match double, Sophie Harding and Marie Dolvik Markussen all got on the scoresheet.
"To be able to have girls coming off the bench and scoring, girls on the field scoring, fullbacks scoring, it was a good day," Wilson said.
"People were clinical, and to know that you've got those people that can do that is pleasing. We want to make sure that we keep driving that momentum forward into future games and that you still get those people looking at consistently creating those chances and finishing."
