Melbourne Victory striker Holly Furphy has broken her 22-match goal drought to lift her team to a 2-1 A-League Women win over the Newcastle Jets.
Victory opened the scoring in Saturday's match in Shepparton via a 64th-minute own goal from Claudia Cicco, before the Jets hit back through a controversial penalty 10 minutes later.
Furphy entered the fray in the 63rd minute having not scored an ALW goal since a 2-0 win over Canberra on March 9, 2025.
But the 23-year-old didn't look like a player stuck in a rut when she unleashed a beautiful left-footed curling strike in the 82nd minute to power Victory to the win.
The result lifted Victory (20 points) from seventh spot up to fifth, while Newcastle (16 points) remain ninth.
"It was actually a really nice day in Shepparton today, it was 38 degrees, and then just before kick-off the wind came out of nowhere," Victory midfielder Rhianna Pollicina said.
"The first half the Jets had the wind and they had a lot of shots.
"We dug deep in that first 45, we got to halftime at 0-0 and we knew we'd come out with the wind at our back."
Melbourne entered the match having posted four losses and two draws from their past six matches, while the Jets were looking to bounce back from their 5-1 flogging at the hands of Wellington.
Victory enjoyed 62 per cent possession in the first half, but it was Newcastle who created far more chances, firing off 12 shots to seven, including six on target.
Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Courtney Newbon was busy early, making five saves in the first 17 minutes of the match.
Newbon dove to her left to save a low drive from Newcastle's teenage striker Alexis Collins.
And one of her other big saves was a sharp palm-away to deny Josie Allan's long-range effort.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 64th minute when Jets defender Claudia Cicco attempted to clear a corner but could only scuff the ball into her own net.
Newcastle were awarded a soft penalty in the 73rd minute when Allan went down in the box under a light nudge.
Kelli Brown put away the penalty, but Victory would have the last laugh via Furphy's late stunner.
